Today marks 94 years since the John Street Roundhouse was first opened by Canadian Pacific. Given that we currently occupy several of its locomotive stalls, the TRHA/TRM naturally covers the present structure’s history on numerous channels and mediums. Normally I would be publishing something about its history for this anniversary as well, but I decided to take a slightly different approach. Back when my interest in local railway history began, I was surprised to learn the John Street Roundhouse we know today was neither the first roundhouse on the site, nor the first that bore the John Street name. Most of the visitors I talked to while I was a docent at the museum were similarly surprised about this when I was asked about the roundhouse’s history. While today marks the opening of our roundhouse, it also marks the gradual closure of the one that came before it. In this post, we will explore the first John Street Roundhouse’s 34-year operating history in full detail. This will be the first in an upcoming series of posts covering the railway enginehouses and maintenance facilities that existed in Toronto from 1853 to the present, in no particular order.

The Move to John Street

When the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in Toronto in the mid-1880’s through a proxy called the Ontario & Quebec Railway, it took control of two other railway companies which were already established in the city. They were the Credit Valley Railway and the Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railway; both of which entered the city from the west. As such, their existing locomotive repair facilities were located in Parkdale and Queens Wharf respectively. The Toronto, Grey & Bruce’s Queens Wharf facilities were razed almost immediately while the Credit Valley roundhouse in Parkdale was temporarily adopted by Canadian Pacific as a repair facility for their passenger fleet. An additional roundhouse designed specifically for storage and repair of locomotives in freight service was constructed at West Toronto, which made sense for its proximity to the new freight yards that were built there. Parkdale, however, was in an inconvenient position relative to Union Station. Canadian Pacific almost immediately began pushing for facilities closer to downtown, but in doing so would become involved in a long-running dispute between the City of Toronto and its railways.

Canadian Pacific’s only waterfront property at this point in time was a small lot they inherited from the Credit Valley Railway. It contained only a freight shed and had little room for anything else. Canadian Pacific began purchasing land to establish their own passenger terminal east of Union Station in 1885, but this was quashed by an injunction from the City of Toronto three years later. The city was embroiled in discussions with the railways over the Esplanade, which was originally intended to beautify Toronto’s waterfront but had been filled with railway tracks over the previous three decades. The solution was ultimately to fill in the lake even further, requiring the construction of bridges over the rail corridor to provide access to the new waterfront while maximizing safety for citizens. Canadian Pacific was contractually obligated to build one of these bridges at York Street, while the Grand Trunk had to build one at John Street. The new fill between these two streets was initially eyed by Canadian Pacific as a potential site for a passenger station, but according to the May 27th, 1891 issue of the Toronto World:

“[Canadian Pacific] consents to aid in the erection of a proper Union Station on the site of the present one. Its original site for a station, as per plan, will be utilized for yard room”.

The “proper Union Station” mentioned in the article would only turn out to be an enlargement of the existing structure between 1892 and 1896, but it came alongside numerous improvements to the surrounding rail corridor. Canadian Pacific was also able to establish an eastern entrance into Union Station with the opening of their Don Branch in 1892, which meant its trains no longer needed to run in reverse through Parkdale to access Union Station. Shovels broke ground on the new yards east of the John Street bridge in August of 1897. In addition to several new tracks south of the former Credit Valley freight shed, an entirely new freight shed was also built just east of where the new roundhouse was planned to go. The roundhouse first opened on November 13th, 1897, and was originally made up of 15 locomotive stalls. It was referred to by some sources as the “Simcoe Street shops” early on, though it seems the John Street name was adopted soon afterward due to its proximity to the new bridge. A wooden coaling tower and water tower were located nearby to refuel the steam locomotives that were stored there. Not only were employees relocated from the Parkdale Roundhouse to John Street, but even the 70-foot turntable from Parkdale was moved to the new roundhouse and reused. According to an issue of the Toronto Globe from the date of the roundhouse’s opening, “the old Canadian Pacific shops at Parkdale are no more” and the new facilities “will henceforth be the headquarters of the T. H. & B., O. & Q., Credit and Bruce passenger locomotives”. The Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway (TH&B) was a comparatively small company which intended to link its namesake cities, and the Canadian Pacific and New York Central Railroad had each gained 50% control over it in 1895. Effective May 30th, 1897, mere months before the opening of the John Street Roundhouse, the Grand Trunk Railway permitted Canadian Pacific to run passenger trains over its line between Hamilton and Toronto. While all of these trains were operated by Canadian Pacific crews east of Hamilton, some of them were run-through passenger trains of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway which enabled that railroad to provide service to Union Station. These trains often used a mix of locomotives and passenger cars from Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo, Canadian Pacific, and New York Central. In addition to the equipment of Canadian Pacific, both John Street Roundhouses were responsible for servicing TH&B and NYC equipment for a combined 81 years.

Suffering From Success

Almost as soon as it was built, the new roundhouse was slowly rendered inadequate by the increasing size of steam locomotives over the next two decades. The remaining space on the waterfront was also rapidly filled by railway yards as the demand for passenger rail capacity in Toronto increased. The first decade of the 20th century saw an expansion of the passenger car storage at John Street, resulting in the removal of the last vestige of the Credit Valley Railway anywhere near downtown. The former Credit Valley freight shed was demolished and a new coach yard comprising more than 20 tracks was built in its place. A new freight shed was then built to the immediate south of the existing one. Eleven additional locomotive stalls were also built onto the south side of the roundhouse at about the same time, indicative of the increasing amount of local passenger traffic being handled by Canadian Pacific. The new stalls were also longer than their 1897 counterparts which made them capable of storing the larger and newer passenger locomotives. This was just a few years before Canadian Pacific took delivery of their first 4-6-2 Pacific steam engines, which would be some of the largest on the CPR up to that point. Since these locomotives were almost exclusively used in passenger service they quickly became a common sight at John Street. Canadian Pacific would come to own hundreds of them in subsequent decades. The John Street Roundhouse’s original 70-foot turntable was replaced with an 80-foot turntable in 1911, the same year Canadian Pacific took delivery of its first twenty 4-6-4 Hudson locomotives. The turntable was enlarged once more to 85 feet in 1918 and the roundhouse was expanded with even more locomotive stalls the following year.

The eventual replacement of the first John Street Roundhouse is closely tied to the replacement of Union Station during the first three decades of the 20th Century. On April 22nd, 1905, the Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk entered a general agreement with the City of Toronto as to where a new Union Station would be built. While it would be shared by both Canadian Pacific and the Grand Trunk, the latter would be responsible for building it. The railways and the city agreed that the rail corridor needed to be separated from the city’s streets, but neither party could agree on how that would be done or who would foot the bill. A wartime materials and workforce shortage also contributed to the slow progress shortly after construction began in 1914. Grade separation of the rail corridor had been a hot button issue in Toronto since at least the 1880’s, and was only becoming more relevant with each injury or death at the many railway crossings near downtown Toronto. The Bay Street crossing was of particular concern as it was crossed by a grand total of nine tracks, five of which belonged to the east end of the John Street yards. The frequent switching moves at this end of the yard often resulted in the blockage of Bay Street at regular intervals each day, inconveniencing countless people and potentially risking their safety. It wasn’t until after the amalgamation of the struggling Grand Trunk and Canadian Northern into the federally-managed Canadian National Railways in 1923 that any progress was made on the grade separation front. A year later, it was decided that the rail corridor would be raised above the surrounding streets and that the railways would be responsible for it.

Raising the Union Station corridor would give Canadian Pacific the perfect opportunity to replace the facilities at John Street. An entirely new yard and roundhouse would be built in its place, which also entailed the removal of the John Street bridge. However, the work would need to be conducted in such a way that the original roundhouse could remain operational for all five years of construction. On October 22nd, 1928, the old John Street Roundhouse was pushed to its limits by handling the two largest locomotives it ever had up to that point. A pair of 4-8-4 Northern steam engines were delivered earlier that month and put into service on the overnight passenger trains between Toronto and Montreal, requiring regular storage and service at John Street during the day. These behemoths, comparable in size to CN 6213 in Roundhouse Park, could only just barely fit on the 85-foot turntable. With the increasing size of steam engines showing no signs of stopping, the original John Street Roundhouse was now more inadequate than ever. Luckily for Canadian Pacific, the first 28 stalls of their new roundhouse were opened on October 15th, 1929. Locomotives could now be handled on its gargantuan 120-foot turntable and serviced inside its engine stalls. However, the area where the remaining four stalls of the new roundhouse would be built, along with a car repair shop and coach yards, were still occupied by the old roundhouse and its coach yard. A new 150-car coach yard was constructed on the east side of the new John Street yards, enabling the remaining operations at the old roundhouse to be relocated there soon after. The original roundhouse was finally torn down in 1931 and, much like the surrounding terrain, the remnants were then buried under seventeen feet of fill.

The original John Street Roundhouse was largely forgotten until 64 years later when the Eastern Construction Company unearthed its foundation while working on the expansion of the Metro Convention Centre in 1995. The surface above the old roundhouse had been occupied by rail yards until the present John Street Roundhouse closed in the 1980’s, followed by its subsequent development with new commerce and housing. Archaeologists were able to identify the roundhouse foundation as such, and it was documented and photographed before expansion of the convention centre was allowed to continue.

Written by Adam Peltenburg.

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References

An Act to incorporate the Ontario & Quebec Railway Company. 1881. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08051_10_2/40.

The Viaduct, Esplanade and Don Improvement Questions, Letter from the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. to the Mayor of Toronto. 1890. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.25309/12.

Kennedy, Raymond L. n.d. “John Street Locomotive Department.” Old Time Trains. http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR_Toronto/JOHN_ST_LOCOMOTIVE.htm.

The Toronto World. 1891. “Coming to an Agreement.” May 27, 1891. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00367_18910527/1.

The Toronto World. 1897. “Railway Notes.” August 28, 1897, 12. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00367_18970828/10.

“In the High Court of Justice.” 1899. In Union Station Agreement. Toronto: Warwick & Rutter. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.08928/9.

Parsons, W. B., C. B. Smith, and C. H. Rust. 1907. Report of Engineers, Report of engineers on the separation of grades in connection with the railway lines along the water front and on the proposed Union Station. Toronto, Ontario: n.p. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.84023/9.