The Toronto Railway Historical Association is presenting a series of three illustrated lectures by Toronto Railway Museum historian Derek Boles. Each of these fast-moving presentations is illustrated with hundreds of photographs, original animations, maps, diagrams, railway documents, advertising and other ephemera collected over the years by Mr. Boles and combined with his commentary on Toronto’s railways.

Our first lecture was about the history and future of Union Station.  Our next two lectures are described below.

The Toronto Railway Museum is presenting these lectures with the cooperation and hospitality of the Leon’s at the Roundhouse furniture store located in the roundhouse adjacent to the museum. Admission is free and comfortable seating and fine viewing on multiple television monitors is guaranteed!

We ask that you pre-register for each event using the links below.

Part 2 – Saturday, November 22nd, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. – New York’s Pennsylvania Station

Pennsylvania Station in New York City was the largest and most monumental railway station ever built. The building and its infrastructure cost over $10 billion in today’s money. The architecture of Penn Station was a direct influence on Toronto and Ottawa Union Stations. Opened in 1910, Penn Station was demolished in the early 1960s. The station’s destruction galvanized the architectural preservation movement throughout North America. This presentation will illustrate one of the greatest civil engineering accomplishments in history and enable you to vicariously explore the greatest railway terminal in the world.

Click here to reserve your seat for the second lecture on November 22nd!

Pennsylvania Station

Part 3 – Saturday, January 31st, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. –  The John Street Roundhouse 

The Roundhouse was built in 1929 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and was part of the sprawling railway yards that extended from Yonge Street all the way over to Strachan Avenue. Today the roundhouse is all that remains of several dozen buildings and hundreds of miles of track that once serviced Canadian Pacific and Canadian National passenger trains at Union Station. This presentation will explore the history of roundhouses in Toronto and the transition of John Street from the largest combined passenger car and locomotive facility in Canada, through its decline and dereliction in the 1990s, to the Toronto Railway Museum that hosts over 60,000 visitors a year.

Click here to reserve your seat for the third lecture on January 31st, 2015!

John Street Roundhouse

Derek Boles, TRHA Historian

Derek Boles is one of the founding members of the Toronto Railway Historical Association and has written and lectured extensively on Toronto’s railway heritage. He coordinates the annual Doors Open event at Union Station and has led almost 2,000 people on his popular monthly tours of the station. He recently completed two terms on the board of Heritage Toronto and was the last chair of the Union Station Revitalization Public Advisory Group. Derek’s book, Toronto’s Railway Heritage was released by Arcadia Publishing in 2009. His most recent published articles include The Canadian Northern Railway in Toronto and Toronto’s Forgotten Suburban Trains: Commuter Rail Before GO Transit.

Click on each image above for a closer look!