News   Mar 18, 2024
 664     0 
News   Mar 18, 2024
 2.4K     4 
News   Mar 18, 2024
 752     0 

Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

TN 1129 Danforth 1965.JPG
 

Attachments

  • TN 1129 Danforth 1965.JPG
    TN 1129 Danforth 1965.JPG
    351.7 KB · Views: 1,697
Looks like a fresh streetcar track rebuild in the "then" photo (when did they start using concrete bases? was it for the pending CLRV cars?)
 
Looks like a fresh streetcar track rebuild in the "then" photo (when did they start using concrete bases? was it for the pending CLRV cars?)

They actually started using concrete as early as 1969. Before that it was mostly asphalt replacing, or over top of the granite setts. The trackwork done in the 1980s was notoriously cheap (just new rails on top of old or untreated ties) and was totally falling apart by the late 1990s and early 2000s.
 
They actually started using concrete as early as 1969. Before that it was mostly asphalt replacing, or over top of the granite setts. The trackwork done in the 1980s was notoriously cheap (just new rails on top of old or untreated ties) and was totally falling apart by the late 1990s and early 2000s.

as a child, I thought those were just normal bricks between the tracks. I wonder, if when they were removed, if the granite was re used for something else or just disposed of????
 
as a child, I thought those were just normal bricks between the tracks. I wonder, if when they were removed, if the granite was re used for something else or just disposed of????

I think landscapers ended up with some of them. I've seen some walkways and driveways in Rosedale paved with granite setts. They've turned up in other places as well, such as the retaining wall along the south-west corner of the Manulife Centre at Bay & Charles. There are also some used around the east side of Nathan Phillips Square along the edge at Bay St. If you look for them you'll probably see them here and there around the city.
 
Last edited:

Back
Top