Click on each picture for a closer look!
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Last weekend, the TRHA team of volunteers once again adressed numerous tasks remaining in the development of the miniature railway. Highlighted above is the equipping of the crossing signal with what are called "crossbucks" which are lettered to warn of the "railway crossing". Below we have pictures of TRHA volunteers tracing the lettering on the side of the caboose to capture its design accurately. Also shown below is ongoing testing of the track using the miniature F7 diesel.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Bob Dickson and Lance Gleich
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Click on each picture for a closer look!.

Some of you have asked whether our Pyke crane is operational. It is in fact operational except for one problem with the slew motion drive that we intend to fix. Below you will find a video of the TRHA and the Toronto Terminal Railways staff testing the crane last winter to determine if it is truly still operational.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Video by Dave Wetherald
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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In the picture series shown here, we find a typical small railway crane. This one belongs to the Toronto Terminal Railways (TTR) who are responsible for the maintenance of the rail corridor in downtown Toronto. It is now surplus to their needs and is in the process of being donated to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. The TRHA are currently working with the TTR and others to work out the logistics of how to move it to the museum.
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The smaller railway cranes such as this one were typically used for track maintenance while larger cranes were used for wreck removal. For more information on railway cranes, click here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Lance Gleich
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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In this final chapter of our report on the Christmas Train Show, we will highlight a number of exhibits which may be of interest to our readers as follows:

#1: At this booth, Jon Hull, Tom Landers and Russ Milland of the Railway Simulations Group of the TRHA demonstrated railway simulations systems and especially the Toronto Railway Lands simulation which was developed by a team of 10 of us for future use in an interactive exhibit at our museum. For more information about our plans in this area, click here.

#2: Track Motorcars of Ontario, a group of enthusiasts who restore motorcars (also known as speeders) exhibited two of their motorcars as well as videos of the periodic trips that they take with these motorcars on various railway lines throughout North America. They have and will participate in our annual Doors Open event at Roundhouse Park.

#3: This retired gentleman has built a very interactive small layout in an effort to provide youngsters with an interactive experience in running it. This is always a popular attraction at the show. It provides an excellent seed idea for what might be developed for our museum as well in due course.

#4: This is partially completed example of one several small "micro-layouts" on display built by members of a local group called "Narrow Gauge Madness"" They specialize in building these very small very portable layouts and then super-detailing them. They too participate in our annual Doors Open event as well as hosting an annual Train Show of their own in the spring. Watch for an announcement of their show here in 2010.

#5: This is an example of just how small a layout one can build if you use what is know as Z-Scale model trains which are built to 1:220 scale. Using this scale, layouts have been built in spaces as small as pizza boxes.

#6: There is an active group of modellers using Lego's model train systems to build extensive layouts. Here we show a small portion of their layout.
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Posting and Pictures by Russ Milland
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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Our Sweet Creek locomotive was appropriately displayed in the display area hosted by the Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers (GHLS), one of the three miniature railway clubs in the Toronto area. Our locomotive was assembled and tested by a team of miniature railway enthusiasts, most of whom were drawn from all three local miniature railway clubs. In the pictures shown here, we see some of the other fine engines owned by members of the GHLS club. Next summer, we we likely see some of the larger of these engines (the ones shown below) visiting Roundhouse Park's miniature railway and operating on our tracks.
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Posting and Pictures by Russ Milland
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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As mentioned in our last posting, our Sweet Creek locomotive was displayed at the Christmas Train Show just across the aisle from our TRHA booth. Michael Guy, Arno Martens and Mike Salisbury of the TRHA participated in numerous discussions with visitors who were blown away by the massive size of this "miniature" engine. It was a real treat to be able to show the movies of the engine operating at the TRHA booth and then point visitors to the "real thing" across the aisle.
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Posting and Pictures by Russ Milland
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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Many of us TRHA folk were busy this past weekend manning the TRHA booth and otherwise participating in the Christmas Train Show as described in an earlier posting. Saturday was quite a busy day with a good number of visitors while Sunday was somewhat quieter. In the pictures above we see the TRHA booth with our panels of pictures, both historic and more current. Orin Krivel, Derek Boles, Dave Wetherald, Jason Pelton and Bob Dickson primarily manned the booth. On Sunday, Jason and Bob brought in equipment that allowed us to show videos of the steaming of our Sweet Creek locomotive. The locomotive was also brought to the event and will be the subject of tomorrow's news posting.
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Meanwhile "back at the ranch" (i.e. Roundhouse) on Saturday, Bob Dickson and Jim Gardiner probed our CNR GP7 #4803's engine to discover that the sump had no oil in it so we will have to acquire 200 U.S. gallons or 757 litres of oil in due course before trying to fire it up. They also engaged in dialogue with visitors which often happens on Saturday mornings. Two of these visitors were from Belgium and were up in the CN Tower when they spotted Roundhouse Park and rushed down to find out more about us before heading home.
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We were also pleased to have two members of our TRHA online group visit us on Saturday from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. One of them, James LeFresne, is the owner of the Train Station Inn in Tatamagouche. In 1974, James purchased the station (originally built in 1881 for the Intercolonial Railway) when he was only 18 years old to save it from being demolished. He has since added 7 cabooses and a dining car to their bed and breakfast (and more) operation. They now offer what has been voted one of the top 10 unique places to stay in Canada. Do visit their website by clicking here and especially check out their rich history and their photo album. Below are some images from their website.
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Posting and Pictures by Russ Milland & The Train Station Inn
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Next TRHA Union Station Tour on Saturday, November 28th, 2009
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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The TRHA offers tours of Union Station on the last Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. Cost is $10 each payable on arrival for the tour. Reservations are not necessary and those interested should meet by the Traveler's Aid counter in the centre of the Great Hall at 10:50 a.m. For more about these tours, click here.

Click on each image for a closer look!
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In a news posting earlier this fall, we announced that on Saturday, October 17th, the Simcoe County Museum (just North of Barrie, Ontario) and the Historical Construction Equipment Association of Canada (HCEA) were presenting their last event of the year - The Last Blast. The HCEA is "dedicated to the preservation and restoration of heavy construction equipment and the history of the people in the construction industry that helped to build Canada.
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While I reluctantly couldn't make it as I was away on vacation in the USA, a number of our TRHA team members attended the event and we see above pictures of the old construction equipment being demonstrated at the event. Below we also have two brief YouTube videos which show two pieces of steam-powered equipment in action.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures and Video by Dave Wetherald
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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Earlier this week, the electricians working on the miniature railway depot building installed the mains transformer and the fume extractor fan (see image at upper left). In the spirit of reuse and recycle, we are using an older floor-model type transformer that was last used to power the roundhouse fire and security system prior to the current renovations. To save floor space in the depot, a TRHA crew fabricated new wall brackets to raise it above head height.
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This week, the roundhouse clerestory windows (see middle and right images above) are also being fitted with new exterior glazing to reduce heat loss. They are single pane sealed storm windows intended to still show the original multi-pane windows on the inside.
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Posting & Pictures by Michael Guy

Click on each picture for a closer look!
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The roundhouse has been fitted for many years with powered fan-type "Robertson" ventilators. Most of these are no longer used and are blanked off. But the museum stalls 15 and 17 will retain working units of this type. The ventilator above stall 15 was missing so TRHA took on the task of reconditioning a spare for use there. This weekend, a new wooden base was fabricated by Tom Murison and then waterproofed by the roofing contractor. The last photo (lower right) shows the "new" vent finally in place.
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Posting and Pictures by Michael Guy
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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In the Toronto area, there is only one major Train Show annually and it is held at the end of November at the International Centre across from Toronto's International Airport.
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The TRHA will once again be present with our booth to make the visiting public aware of the great progress that we have made in the past year. We will also be exhibiting our Sweet Creek miniature steam engine which you can see in the picture by Stephen Gardiner at the below left being loaded onto a trailer for transport to the train show. The other pictures show parts of last year's TRHA exhibit, our speeder on show as well as one of the Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers' nimiature steam engines.
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Here is what the show organizers say about this year's show:
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"All Abooarrd..... We are pleased to announce that we have been able to secure space at the International Centre for November 21 & 22, 2009. This will enable us to produce Canada's largest train show. You will be amazed at the over 50 displays and operating layouts in every gauge of trains. There is about 70,000 square feet of layouts, exhibits, clinics showing how to build layouts and scenery, toy trains, steam engines, videos, real roadania, photos, prints, books, apparel, Railway Historical Associations and Train Vendors of all kinds. WHEW!! It is some great show. Come and renew those magical memories of our train sets of old or come and get started on a layout for the grandchild (Ok maybe yourself). This is great family fun for all. This will be our 14th annual TORONTO CHRISTMAS TRAIN SHOW."

The show dates and times are:

Saturday, November 21, 11 am - 4 pm
Sunday, November 22, 10 am - 4 pm

The show will be located in Hall 3 at the International Centre, 6900 Airport Rd., Mississauga which is just north of the Toronto International Airport.
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Note that you can print off a $2.00 discount coupon for the show by clicking here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Stephen Gardiner and Russ Milland
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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In the picture at the upper left (courtesy of the Toronto Public Library) , we see Don Station as it was in 1910 at the corner of the Don River and Queen Street. Tom Murison reports further on weekend progress on its restoration as follows.
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"We worked all weekend and have the cylindrical section of purlin installed around the turret, some of the rafters set on the west side, and most of the south side. We also installed the cap rail around most of the building with three small pieces left on the turret. We installed clapboard on the east wall and will be finishing that side tomorrow, moving on to the north side and then the two sunny sides.
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We took samples of the original v-joint for analysis and have two surprising colour schemes for the original and second paint. The first colours was a light brick brown, probably a sienna colour for the upper clapboard and lower V-joint with a light green accent on the windows, sills and caprail that ran around at the level of the sills.
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The second colour scheme was a light green, which was very similar to the trim on the tool shed and Cabin D, probably with a deep reddish brown trim at the cap rail. Both colour schemes would have been ....."snappy" .... with contrast and subtlety. The brackets and soffit appear to have always been a light colour of cream or off white so that is what they are staying as. I have colour chips for the TRHA so that you can record this particular combination in your records."
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To read more about Don Station on the TRHA website, click here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Tom Murison
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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All together we had a great weekend with good weather, a little sunshine, lots of help and plenty accomplished.
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Five volunteers turned out on Saturday. We especially welcome Brian (see picture at upper left) who took the train in from Kitchener to be with us for the day for his first work session. The mainline wye switch trackage was completed and much ballast spread in that corner (see picture at upper right) and at the crossover. We used our miniature railway work car, "Chester", to test the track as we progressed (see pictures at upper middle above and below). We also unloaded the miniature F7 Diesel from its trailer and ran it up and down the station platform track just for fun.
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On Saturday, we also attacked a number of other projects on our task list. The stall 15 roof vent re-installation went well. The trash was dumped and the depot transformer got a bit of a vacuuming out. Finally, we also loaded our Sweet Creek miniature steam engine and tender onto two trailers so they are ready to transport to the Christmas Train Show next weekend. We will post news about this event later this week!
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On Sunday, a smaller crew of three finished the details of the mainline wye switch and attacked the job of levelling the track over by the Bremner sidewalk west of the exit bunker. This area was substantially low, needing lifting and the addition of more ballast.
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Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by Lance Gleich & Stephen Gardiner
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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In today's posting we feature a panoramic photo of Roundhouse Park from the roof of the Roundhouse by Stephen Gardiner. In this shot, it is clear that some of the radial tracks for the storage of our railway engines are ballasted as per normal railway practice but others as can bee seen in the pictures below are set into the grass for aesthetic reasons. As you can see, the only evidence of the rails are the rows of leaves caught on top of each of the rails. Also clearly shown in these pictures are the very unique railway crossings so prevalent in Roundhouse Park with a standard gauge railway crossing a 7 1/2" gauge miniature railway at multiple points. In the final shot below, we see one the standard radial tracks passing Cabin D and its tool shed with these being positioned against the constantly changing skyline of the City of Toronto.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Russ Milland and Stephen Gardiner
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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On my recent vacation, I visited the the Strasburg Rail Road , one of the finest Heritage Railways in North America. The original railway was founded in 1832 and the earliest timetable found to date indicates that Strasburg trains were scheduled as early as December 1851. Originally used for passenger and freight transportation, the railroad's main purpose became a freight interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Following World War II, improved highway transportation decreased the need for the railroad. By the mid 1950s, the Strasburg Rail Road was nearing the end of its usefulness. In 1957, destruction of the tracks caused by a series of storms placed an immediate embargo on the carload freight. The owners were unwilling to invest in the necessary repairs.
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While petitions for abandonment were being considered, Henry K. Long, an industrialist and railfan from nearby Lancaster, along with Donald E. L. Hallock, another enthusiastic railfan with a vision, formed a group of interested individuals to save the railroad. With perseverance and a creative idea, the Strasburg Rail Road was saved. After repairing the worst spots on the four-and-a-half mile track, the owners began acquiring an inventory of historic locomotives and passenger cars from all across North America. Using the old feed mill as a station, the ambitious band of "rail barons" opened the railroad to visitors in 1958. 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of Strasburg Rail Road as a tourist railroad.
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We arrived in late afternoon after the daily trains had run so we did not see any of their steam engines and trains in action, but I did take the pictures shown here of their magnificently restored Pennsylvania Railway Control Tower, their passenger station and their beautifully restored passenger cars. These passenger cars were reinforced with truss rods under the floors so they definitely date back to at least the very early 1900's. The heritage railway is also unique in that it has a complete restoration facility and will restore anything which can be brought to their shops.
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The Strasburg Railway has eight steam locomotives and six of these are in operating condition. Their collection contains three former Canadian steam locomotives as follows:

• Strasburg's #7312 (formerly Strasburg #31): An 0-6-0 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (#32894) in 1908. It was Grand Trunk Railway's #118 (GTR) and then became #1708. As a Canadian National Railways (CNR) engine, it had the numbers #7157, #7240 and then #7312.

• Strasburg's #972: A 4-6-0 built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1913. It was formerly a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPS) engine and is currently being restored by the railroad

• Strasburg's #89: A 2-6-0 built by Canadian Locomotive Company in 1910. Originally it was GTR's #1009 and became CNR's #911 and then #89

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And to top it all off, right across the street from their station is the equally impressive Pennsylvania Railway Museum. I will post news and pictures of that museum in a subsequent posting.
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For more information about the Strasburg Rail Road, visit Wikipedia's entry by clicking here
and visit their website by clicking here.
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Posting and pictures by Russ Milland
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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We reached another milestone today in the developmentof the miniature railway in Roundhouse Park with the pouring of the final segment of the track which is to be embedded in concrete. In the pictures, we witness the pour as it happens and the final result. Prior to the pour, our TRHA team had to carefully examine and adjust the track to esnure that it was set up correctly and that the track would not move during the pour.
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Soon we will be able to test the railway!
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Jon Hull
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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Tom Murison reports on ongoing progress on the restoration of Don Station:
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"We have the purlins on the west and south side located and have cut the north and east sides. The curved purlin has been rebuilt and will go up to finish the loop around the brackets. This is a bit tricky since the roof varies from one side to the other, and the hips are not completely straight. We are adjusting to maintain as close a line as possible to the original, while not making the small variations noticeable.
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The rafters are all painted, as are the barge boards and much of the soffit material. We have also made and painted the cap rails for the v-joint (at the line of the window sills) so will start installing that too. We have nearly finished the brick below the floor and are leaving spaces for the vents that we have been asked to add to ventilate the crawl space. I am making these out of painted steel as there are none available that would suit our needs."
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Posting and Pictures by Tom Murison

Click on each picture for a closer look!
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On the occasion of today being Remembrance Day, we recognize the CPR's honouring of those who made magnificent sacrifices for out contry by reprinting a press release from Canadian Pacific Railways as follows:
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"November 9, 2009 - Calgary, Alberta and Sioux Falls, South Dakota

On November 11th, network-wide, all Canadian Pacific and Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad trains will safely halt at 11 AM local time, observe two minutes of respect in silence and then sound a long train whistle in tribute. A Remembrance Day and Veterans Day service will also be held at CP's headquarters in Calgary.
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"On this day, Canadian Pacific will recognize the contributions our employees made in times of war. On land, at sea and in the air, at home and abroad, the company, its people, its resources, its ingenuity and expertise were needed," said Fred Green, Canadian Pacific President and CEO. "These brave men and women are a legacy and an inspiration, as are those 44 CP employees who are today listed military reservists".
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Canadian Pacific has been touched by the tragic impacts of World War I and World War II. Over 33 thousand CP employees served in the last century's two world wars. Sadly, 1,774 employees died in battle. In the two World Wars combined, 24 of 74 CP ships were lost to enemy action. In the air, CP pioneered the transatlantic delivery of bombers to Britain. At home, Canadian Pacific's efforts included transporting troops, supplies and equipment in addition to making its shops available for the output of Valentine tanks, engines for frigates and landing craft, naval vessel power equipment components, naval guns, anti-submarine devices and fire-control equipment.
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The tradition of service continues, with 44 Canadian and American employees currently listed as reservists. In Canada, CP moves Canadian Forces' equipment and is one of Canada's most supportive employers of primary Reserve Force personnel. In the United States, CP is a proud partner of the US Army PaYS program, which recruits soldiers interested in obtaining a quality civilian job following service to their country.
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These brave men and women will be recognized at CP's Remembrance and Veteran's Day ceremony. Canadian Pacific executives, employees, Police Service officers, pensioners, members of the Canadian Forces Calgary Highlanders Calgary 41st Brigade Group, and the Navy League Cadet Corps will recognize their service at a special ceremony at CP's Calgary Head Office, next to the Steam Locomotive.
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About Canadian Pacific:
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Canadian Pacific, through the ingenuity of its employees located across Canada and in the United States, remains committed to being the safest, most fluid railway in North America. Our people are the key to delivering innovative transportation solutions to our customers and to ensuring the safe operation of our trains through the more than 1,100 communities where we operate. Come and visit us at www.cpr.ca to see how we can put our ingenuity to work for you. Canadian Pacific is proud to be the official rail freight services provider for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games."
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The pictures presented here have been excerpted from an excellent article called Canadian Pacific Railway and War prepared by Jonathan B. Hanna, Corporate Historian of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The article may be downloaded from the CP website by clicking here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures from Canadian Pacific Railway and War by Jonathan B. Hanna, CPR Corporate Historian
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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Michael Guy, returning to the Roundhouse after a brief illness, reports that "Track laying continued on Sunday with the far eastern mainline switch to the wye now in place and connected. There is still some detail work to complete and a few feet of ties to screw in place but we should be ballasting that location very soon. Tom Murison's crew was present all day again making the most of the good weather to work on Don Station."
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Lance Gleich
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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We open this news posting with a great shot by Michael Guy (Image #1) of the recent testing of our track using a visiting speeder as reported previously.
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This past Saturday, James Rasor reports that "We had a good work party and welcomed a guest, Dave, from south of the border who is an active online fan of our venture and visits Toronto once a year for the Royal Winter Fair with his family. We started the day walking the site with Dave and reviewing the progress since he was here last year. Tom Murison gave us a review of the work-in-progress on the Don Station (Image #6) and showed us the woodwork that is being to replaced due to the old fire that damaged it in the past (Image #2) . Not wanting Dave to get too relaxed we put him to work helping us pull nails from wood that will be salvaged and put to good use later (Image #3). Others continued to work on switches and the restoration of the caboose. We also continued our quest to discover the true colours under all the paint layers on the TH&B caboose. Sadly, we could find no traces of any kind of any green paint schemes (Image #4). We had hoped that the caboose's historic paint schemes included a suspected early TH&B green scheme. We did enjoy a good laugh at all the different types of fasteners found on the Caboose metal sheathing (Image #5). "
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Posting by Russ Milland; Picture #1 by Michael Guy; Pictures #2 to #6 by James Rasor
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major events in Canadian history that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:
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"November 8, 1956:
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Eaton's Queen St. department store opens Toyland for the Christmas shopping season with a replica CN diesel locomotive pulling Santa's Express rather than the CN 6400-series steam locomotive that had delighted children since 1945. Both engines were amusement park sized replicas driven by electric motors. The new diesel was a model of Canadian National No. 6500, a General Motors FP9A. The steam locomotive is now on display at Exporail."
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If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Yahoo Group by clicking here.
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In 2007, Derek also provided us with an article with a brief history of "Toronto and Its Miniature Railways" which you can read in its entirety in the "From the Archives" section of the TRHA website by clicking here.
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This is the excerpt from that article that speaks to the Eaton’s Toyland operation:

"Another popular miniature railway remembered fondly by Torontonians who grew up in the years following World War II was the Toyland Treasure Train at Eaton's department store on Queen Street. The train was hauled by a replica of Canadian National Railway's streamlined No. 6400 steam locomotive introduced in 1936 and still the most modern passenger engine in Canada, since new locomotive development had virtually halted during the war. The scale locomotive was built by CN's Point St. Charles shops (see image at above left) in Montreal as they geared down from war production and were preparing the transition back to peacetime. Children paid a quarter to ride the train through the Rocky Mountain Scenic Canyon, Doll Land, Topsy Turvy Town and Santa's Northland Castle. In 1956, Eaton's replaced the engine with a miniature diesel locomotive. The original 6400 replica is now on display at the Canadian Railway Museum near Montreal. (see the middle image above)."
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In the image at the above right, we see an example of a miniature 15 inch gauge amusement park diesel which could be this actual Eaton's engine or at least is a very similar to the diesel used to replace the steam engine at Eaton's. The locomotive in this picture was found as a body shell only by Russ Milland in Wasaga Beach, Ontario. It was acquired by Michael Guy and fitted out with a new gas-hydraulic driven 7 1/4" chassis and has been operated by Russ and Michael for a number of seasons at the Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
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We reported on the resurrection of this engine in an earlier posting which can be viewed by clicking here. As mentioned in an even more recent posting, this engine will be used in the next few weeks to test our new miniature railway track at Roundhouse Park.
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Posting by Russ Milland

Click on each image for a closer look!
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I recently came across some slides I took of the roundhouse area on July 22, 1993. The roundhouse had been closed for five years at that point. Numerous proposals for turning the site into a railway museum had been put forward, none with any feasible plans for how to finance it.
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#1 shows the badly deteriorated northwest corner of the roundhouse. This was taken from behind the fencing advertising Southtown. This was a $1.1 billion planned redevelopment by Marathon Realty of the Canadian Pacific yards east of the roundhouse. It is believed that one of the reasons that CP donated the roundhouse to the City of Toronto was to secure their cooperation for this project. Relations between the city and the railway had been poisoned by CP's demolition of West Toronto station in 1982. The recession of the early 1990s put an end to the Southtown project and it's only in the past few years that this area has been redeveloped.
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#2 was photographed from the area surrounding the CN Tower. Cabin D can be seen in its first relocation around the turntable pit before it was moved adjacent to the machine shop around the back. The southern expansion of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in the mid-1990s required the dismantling of the eastern portion of the roundhouse and the stores building, the long, low structure seen on the left. The roundhouse was restored and later occupied by Steam Whistle Brewing. Although the stores building was never re-erected, the income from these projects provided the funding to restore and stabilize the entire roundhouse.
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#3 shows the east end of the stores building. Bremner Boulevard now runs
across the centre of this view. This image was photographed from behind glass,
hence the reflection.
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#4 shows the coaling tower in its original location, now the southwest corner of Bremner Blvd. and Lower Simcoe Street. The stores building is on the right.
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#5 shows the coaling tower sits in isolation two years before it was moved 600 feet to its current location, now by the Leon's entrance. All this area would be excavated in 1996 to make way for the Convention Centre. If anyone has access to photographs of this excavation, the TRHA would greatly appreciate seeing them and possibly sharing them on this website.
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Posting and pictures by Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
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Click on each picture for a closer look!
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While vacationing in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts two weeks ago, I took the opportunity to visit the Western Gateway Heritage Park museum in North Adams. This museum is in a restored railway station right beside a working railway line that leads to the Hoosac Tunnel.
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Wikipedia tells us that:
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"The Hoosac Tunnel (also called Hoosic or Hoosick Tunnel) is a 4.75-mile-long (7.64 km) railroad tunnel in western Massachusetts which passes through the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont's Green Mountains. Work began in 1848 and was finally completed in 1875. At the time of completion, it was the second longest tunnel in the world (after the 8.5-mile-long (13.7 km) Mont Cenis Tunnel through the French Alps). It was the longest tunnel in North America until the completion of the Moffat Tunnel in 1928, and remains the longest active transportation tunnel east of the Rocky Mountains."
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This is quite a small museum and, as such, could be the source of a number of ideas for our equally modest facility (in terms of space). In the picture at the left below, we see part of a small HO scale model railroad which models the area as it looked when the tunnel was beginning to be used. In the middle picture below we see the interior of a boxcar attached to a wall of the museum. The interior of the boxcar has been developed into a replica of the mine tunnel under construction with audio providing commentary on what we are seeing. At the right below, we see a picture of the tunnellers at the tunnel mouth.
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Posting and pictures by Russ Milland
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Click on each image for a closer look!
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Last Friday, the following press release was issued marking another milestone in the project to renovate Union Station.
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"Aecon awarded $196 million contract for Union Station Platform Renewal
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TORONTO, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) announced today that its Buildings Division has been awarded a contract by GO Transit, a division of Metrolinx for the $196 million refurbishment of the Union Station train shed.
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Under the contract, Aecon will refurbish Union Station's 360,000 square foot train shed covering 13 tracks and 23 platforms; replacing the existing roof with new a new steel roof and a glass atrium that reaches 50 feet above the platform level. Fifty new stair access points and nine new passenger elevators will be built to help move passengers from the existing concourse level to the newly-refurbished platforms.
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The project also involves the removal and repair of approximately 4,200 metres of existing track beds, as well as electrical and mechanical work including communication systems, signals, a new roof drainage system, and a snow melting system.
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The existing station is subject to a Heritage Easement administered by Parks Canada and will therefore undergo preservation and restoration to reinstate it to its original condition wherever possible. The refurbishment will be completed in eleven stages with each stage involving the closure of two tracks and two platforms. The project is scheduled for completion in November of 2014."
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In the above middle picture we see the impressive front of Union Station as it exits today. The other two pictures show union station and the train shed surrounded by the Royal York Hotel and the original downtown rail lands in the mid-1900's
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Posting by Russ Milland

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NOW Magazine is published weekly as one of the major voices of the Toronto news and entertainment scene. It is distributed free across Toronto every Thursday. They also have a strong online presence here. On their website they prominently feature a "Best of Toronto" list which focuses on the best Toronto "things" in a number of categories as shown on the webpage displayed at the upper left and also found here. The best "things" are chosen either by the voting public or by their group of crticis. In the category of "Best Reclamation Project" under "Cityscapes" we are pleased to announce that the John Street Roundhouse was selected this year and sports an excellent description as follows:

"An oasis in a condo desert, the last of Toronto's rail roundhouses is the perfect link to our rich rail past and a reminder of its future potential. This National Historic Site wins as a mixed-use facility that houses the Toronto Railway Historical Society, a Leon's Furniture store and Steam Whistle Brewing. Check out Canadian National steam engine 6213 right in the middle of the building and be awed by days gone by."
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At their website, they appropriately reference our website and include a fine photograph by Paul Terefenko as also shown above.
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Another rail-themed location, the West Toronto Railpath, also won in the catgory of "Best Bike Path". Read about their win here. We also posted two news items in the past about the Railpath which can be read here and here.
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Read about the many other winners in their categories by visiting NOW's website by clicking here.
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Posting by Russ Milland

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As work finishes on Cabin D and winter closes in, work by Tom Murison and his team on restoration of the exterior of Don Station has accelerated. At the above right, we see his team dismantling the roof around the turret. The station had experienced two fires in the past. The burnt rafters are clearly visible in this picture and in the photos below. Tom's team is replacing the entire roof overhang. Tom advises that they have milled the new rafters and purlins, primed some of them and will be installing them this week, weather permitting. He further advises that the soffit for the roof is mostly primed as well and they will be waterproofing everything as they go.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Michael Guy & Tom Murison
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Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major events in Canadian history that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:

"November 3, 1871:

The official opening of the Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railway (TG&B) between Toronto and Orangeville. Along with the Toronto & Nipissing, the TG&B was one of two narrow gauge railways to be built into Toronto in the 1870s. As the first Union Station had been demolished and the second was under construction, the TG&B occupied a temporary Toronto terminal at the foot of York Street. When the new Union Station opened in 1873, the northernmost track through the trainshed was built to 3'6" gauge to accommodate the TG&B. The primary advantage of narrow gauge was lighter engineering standards, hence cheaper construction costs, but this proved to be a false economy as the equipment was incompatible with connecting railways and both railways were rebuilt to standard gauge at great expense a few years later. The TG&B was briefly taken over by the Grand Trunk, then leased to the Ontario & Quebec Railway in 1883, which became part of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1884."
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If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Yahoo Group by clicking here.
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Rod Clarke of Toronto, Ontario, Canada recently published a wonderful book - Narrow Gauge Through The Bush - about the Toronto, Grey & Bruce and its sister narrow gauge railway, the Toronto & Nipissing, based on his decades of research into the history of these railways. One of the images above from the book shows Prince Arthur turning the first sod on the TG&B while the other shows a map of the two railways. In the middle image below, we see the first train to leave for Owen Sound once the railway had reached that far. In the other two images below, we see two of the original steam engines which were imported from England for use on the line. For more information on these railways, visit the book's website by clicking here and browse the website and then follow the links to other sources of information.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures from Narrow Gauge Through the Bush by Rod Clarke
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Sunday turned out to be a good dry work day, cloudy with some sun later in the day. Work on the TH&B caboose continued, notably removal of the heavy steel ash box adjacent to the wood stove. The last of the three bench-seat-locker/bunks was also removed.
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Meanwhile, out in the park, another crew completed the crossover switch installation at the south end of the platforms. This area now requires only ballast and levelling to be usable. There was still time and daylight at this point so we finished off the welding on the south wye switch. Work also took place in the machine shop on the switch destined for the far east side where the mainline splits to the wye and platform tracks. At our next track work session, we will install this to complete the main loop.
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Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by Lance Gleich & James Rasor

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Before reporting out on weekend progress, we are pleased to report that the fencing around much of Roundhouse Park's construction areas has now been removed. The pictures above show what these areas now look like. Only the areas around the "village" buildings remain protected by fencing as they are not yet completely renovated.
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Saturday was a very windy mixture of work and fun! We started the day in the machine shop working on the last switch mechanism. Given the aoppreciable work involved in the building of these switches, this is real progress!
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Another team continued to work on cleanup of the TH&B caboose. During this effort, we had a screaming gale outside blowing equipment and materials belonging to the roundhouse roofing contractor about overhead. In the van we removed a lot of 'new' 1960's vintage plywood panelling to expose the original walls which are in pretty good shape generally. The current plan is to replace any bad material with identical material and paint it thereby restoring the interior to it's original look.
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After lunch (about three p.m.) the weather had moderated considerably. Rod Wilson, one of the leaders of the local community which restores old speeders to operational condition, had brought his newly completed motor car along so we all used it to go for a run along track 40 through the village. This went well so we decided to bring out the people-mover hay wagon and try it too. The serious purpose of this was to ascertain whether or not a motor car can pull a loaded trailer over the rubber flangeway filler. It does work but the effort required is easily triple that of operating on plain track and stopping on the rubber is not recommended.
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Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by Lance Gleich & James Rasor
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In the picture at the above left, we find our CLC Whitcomb Locomotive #1, awakening on the turntable at sunrise with the moon looking down as preparations begin for another milestone event at Roundhouse Park.
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As mentioned in earlier TRHA News postings, Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major events in Canadian history that happened on that day of the year. Last Friday's posting documented an "instant historical item" item as follows:
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"Friday, October 30th, 2009
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The Toronto Railway Heritage Centre (TRHC) operates its first legitimate freight train (as opposed to just moving equipment around) when Steam Whistle Brewing took delivery of a new canning machine. The machine was loaded onto a custom rail car (see picture - middle above) at the end of track 33 under the coaling tower and moved to the turntable and then to stall 8 of the roundhouse using TRHC #1. The rail move was necessary since the new patio paving stones surrounding the turntable precluded a truck move from Bremner Boulevard."
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If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Yahoo Group by clicking here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Lance Gleich
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