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Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

Nice pic, Goldie! Here's another one, from 1927, showing the tracks along the Esplanade being relocated for the "new" Union Station:

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It'd be nice to have a "Now" from that angle. Where's that 'drone' when we need it?

Here's something regarding the upcoming anniversary of WWI:

TN12thYorkRangersgoingdownSimcoeStreet1914_zpsb1ecb156.jpg
 
One of my ancestors was CO of the 12th York Rangers (127th Battalion). When they formed up, there was no room left in the Exhibition grounds for training, so they got permission to occupy the newly finished Kodak building in Weston.

They were invited to take part in the Division marching competition at Exhibition park, marching from Weston to arrive at the gate to the race track at a stated time. “It was for us to work out our marching time to arrive at Exhibition gate at the time required. We went over the ground carefully and noted where we would take our 10 halts. It was nine miles for us to march and we were to march at attention for 10 minutes after each halt with the band playing Bonny Dundee…. My final talk to the men was to take a firm step so as not to jar the body, and to cover off correctly so that the head of the man in front would cover the head in front of him. I told them to take extra care on their corners so that they would not swing out of line…. The hill down Bathurst St. was a picture taken by many spectators – a thousand men marching four abreast down the west side of the street with four straight lines of heads in perfect lines." They arrived at the Exhibition gate three minutes early and were awarded a large silver cup given by “the York newspapers†for the best-trained battalion in the Division.
 
If they knew the exact distance it would be fairly easy to to calculate how long it would take them to cover that distance. If they were doing a quick march it was 120 paces per minute and if a rifle march 140.
 
AGREED! Your date corrections are quite accurate, thanks.
The archive supplied date of 1914 is certainly mistaken.

I guess you can't "take the librarian out of the boy" but when one of us (or you) find errors in Toronto Archives photo captions do you report them so they can be corrected? If one did would they do so?
 
If they knew the exact distance it would be fairly easy to to calculate how long it would take them to cover that distance. If they were doing a quick march it was 120 paces per minute and if a rifle march 140.

I guess it was rifle march (140 paces per minute). The march Bonny Dundee was played for 140 paces per minute. From the memoirs: “They would march 300 feet in a minute and 5,000 yards in an hour, which included 10 minutes rest at the end of each 5,000 yards.” I wonder if such precise march training still happens today.

The battalion had formed up in Aurora, then marched to Weston for training. “The Aurora citizens gave us a wonderful send-off and presented us with 30 trumpets and eight drums."
 
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Your earlier pic, Mustapha, and the glimpse of Redpath Sugar, reminds me once again what an urban design (and architectural ) disaster it was to build that parking garage and social housing building at the foot of Church Street, thereby blocking the view of the water enjoyed by most other north-south streets. Unfortunately, a building that will probably be with us for quite a while....

1910:



1913:



1910: Church Street Slip (note St. James spire behind):



Filling in the slip, 1927:


A follow-up pic from 1933:

churchstreet1933.jpg
 

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Then and Now maps of the harbour:

1816:

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1848:

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1907:

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1912:



Today:

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I would trust the date on the pic given it's a dated TTC subway construction pic (not an Archives note). Also, the old Coronet Theatre (formerly the Savoy), was not a first-run house.
 
I guess it was rifle march (140 paces per minute). The march Bonny Dundee was played for 140 paces per minute. From the memoirs: “They would march 300 feet in a minute and 5,000 yards in an hour, which included 10 minutes rest at the end of each 5,000 yards.” I wonder if such precise march training still happens today.

The battalion had formed up in Aurora, then marched to Weston for training. “The Aurora citizens gave us a wonderful send-off and presented us with 30 trumpets and eight drums."
The CF (or CAF) standardized on 120. It made parades easier if everyone was marching the same pace :) They even taught us Navy (then still officially Maritime Command) officer cadets how to march. We did however have an Army instructor. A long time member of the PPCLI taught us very well. When doing rifle drill one guy dropped his rifle. The master warrant stopped mid stride. "If you EVER drop your rifle, you had better be under it before it hits the ground!" and carried on. One day after a long session in the hot sun he cracks "How about we hum a few bars of 'There's no life like it'?".
 

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