Maps of Toronto's old rail lines?

[vic]

Here are a few good remnants from around the Junction Triangle. Let's start with the Barrie line:

1) Old track remnants behind Sterling Rd. / Merchant Lane / Ruttan St. The slight curve of the properties and buildings hints at it, and the old track poking through the asphalt and even right into the former Moloney Electric building gives it away. https://goo.gl/maps/XQG3kEk4Gsn

2) At the north end of Campbell Park at Antler St., the line of trees along the railway corridor curves west. It's hard to see from Streetview (even harder from satellite view) but I believe this was to follow an old spur that curved off from there. https://goo.gl/maps/AsDv5eXKjkm

3) And just north of there at Dupont St., between the Skor Cash & Carry and the future 299 Campbell apartment / Library development, follow the shape of the properties and buildings: https://goo.gl/maps/SFcjL1sVXup

4) North of Dupont, you can see where the tracks curved off to service the old GE factory. https://goo.gl/maps/XHGiRVwQALx

And a few from the Kitchener line corridor:

5) There's a spur that came off of the Old Bruce (now West Toronto Railpath) to service the Nestle Chocolate factory. This was apparently the last factory to use the Old Bruce Service Track before it was abandoned. https://goo.gl/maps/bfxwpbqLVL82 (History: http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR_Toronto/old_bruce_service.htm)

6) Between the "Brownstones" On Wallace and the former Solway Metal Sales, you can see the obvious former siding curvature of the property line and crash berm. https://goo.gl/maps/syHvewr5jEq Before the Solways property was razed, bits of the track were still visible, servicing the north side of their building.

 

[robmausser]

There is a map of old toronto rail lines up at the roundhouse. I took a pic of it

The Canadian Northern line route was proposed to be used for the Scarborough RT in 1969

Part of it ended up being used for the subway extension to Kennedy. The rest was taken over by properties. You can still see the route however as houses follow it.

If the city had the foresight not to sell off the Canadian Northern corridor, we would probably have the Bloor subway continued along its entirety, just like was done for Victoria Park to Kennedy.

We'd have an above ground subway running to Scarborough Centre, Centennial College and directly to Malven Centre.

 

[muller877]

There is a map of old toronto rail lines up at the roundhouse. I took a pic of it

I've tried to overlay the Humber River Belt line on the current street grid and never could figure where it originally went (the street grid changed as well over the past 100 years). Does anyone have any idea? Pure curiosity.

 

[Allandale25]

There is one train a week down there, to deliver to the Ashbridges Bay water treatment plant and one other industry. It goes down there late Tuesday evenings, close to or shortly after midnight.

- Paul

The new Canada Post sorting facility will remove the spur track that served the City's waste treatment plant at Ashbridge's Bay. The March 15, 2018 staff report however notes it will be relocated. I wonder where it'll be relocated and when?

Site and Surrounding Area The 5.16-acre (2.1-hectare) site is located at the southwest corner of Commissioners Street and Leslie Street. The property is currently vacant and the Port Lands rail spur runs through the site for the transporting of goods. This track will need to be removed and relocated. Various industrial uses surround the site to the north, east, west, and south.

Here's the site plan submitted to the City on June 22, 2018 where you can see the placement of the building and where the track used to run through the site (arrows added):

 

[DSC]

If you look at the Survey Plans on the Application Site there is a somewhat clearer plan and from that it seems that the section of the rail line (that goes to both Ashbridges Bay and to the Toronto Harbour west of Cherry@Unwin) which will need to be relocated is the part just south of Commissioners Street. It would seem feasible to move the crossing of Commissioners a bit to the west and thus have the whole of the track that runs south of Commissioners Street to the west (back) side of the new Canada Post Building. (Though the track that goes to the harbour looks as though it has not been used in decades, the Ports Toronto folk did major repairs to it about 4 years ago and were recently replacing rail along Unwin Street, just west of Leslie. When they were doing the major repairs a few years ago, I asked them why they were repairing an unused section of track and was told that they were obliged to keep it in working order and expected it would be used. (Naturally, I have seen no sign of any use since!)

The CPC Building has its own thread at https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threa...rs-canada-post-1s-kingsland-architects.28597/

 

[DSC]

Well, so much for THAT theory. At the DRP it was stated that:

 

[Allandale25]

^ Thanks! I wonder what the "separate process" refers to?

 

[Kitsune]

Well it makes sense the rail spur needs to be relocated instead of removed, Ashbridges bay sewage plant I thought still uses it

 

[DSC]

Well it makes sense the rail spur needs to be relocated instead of removed, Ashbridges bay sewage plant I thought still uses it

Yes, at least one train a week takes 'stuff' from Asbridges Bay. It is also the start of the spur that continues past the Hearne to the harbour. This letter is never used but Ports Toronto repaired it a couple of years ago and a few weeks ago had people replacing ties on the section the is at Leslie and Unwin.

 

[TransitBart]

The new Canada Post sorting facility will remove the spur track that served the City's waste treatment plant at Ashbridge's Bay. The March 15, 2018 staff report however notes it will be relocated. I wonder where it'll be relocated and when?



Here's the site plan submitted to the City on June 22, 2018 where you can see the placement of the building and where the track used to run through the site (arrows added):

Wondered what on earth that was. Park? Hmm. Canada Post. Are they retaining the Eastern Ave plant too?

 

[Allandale25]

^ Looks like from this presentation it's part of a land swamp where they'll move their existing facility. @AlvinofDiaspar posted a presentation that was given to the Waterfront Design Review Panel in the thread for this development. See here.

 

[crs1026]

The water treatment plant is moving its materials by truck at the moment, so no trains going down there right now. RTE’s have told me they expect to be back by October.

- Paul

 

[steveintoronto]

1) Old track remnants behind Sterling Rd. / Merchant Lane / Ruttan St. The slight curve of the properties and buildings hints at it, and the old track poking through the asphalt and even right into the former Moloney Electric building gives it away. https://goo.gl/maps/XQG3kEk4Gsn

That building was served from both the mainlines to the east and west at one time. Back in the day (a few decades back) a lumber yard was served by the spur that the northeastern corner of the Moloney building was angled to accommodate, and the now lifted just last year rail into the building from the north was actually a reverse into the building. I used to work upstairs there with architects, and still have cause to do business there. Credit to the Romanos for retaining the building in good shape, and doing some restoration, even while jacking the rents sky-high.

Moloney was also served from the west, can't remember if it was from the 'CP service track' (Old TG&B) or the Georgetown main. There was also a varnish/paint factory just back from Bloor that was served IIRC along with the lumber yard from the spur running north from the old Moloney building.

I've tried to overlay the Humber River Belt line on the current street grid and never could figure where it originally went (the street grid changed as well over the past 100 years). Does anyone have any idea? Pure curiosity.

Yeah, did a lot of searching on that as a kid living at Jane/Annette and more recently living at Jane and Ardagh. Some of the embankment is missing just north of Lessard Park, but traces remain. Can you be more specific?

The line was extant up until the sixties to just west of Jane Street to serve "Standard Paving" from a connection (possibly the old Guelph Interurban ROW, much of which leaves clearly visible traces) as there was a switch to connect the tracks at one time where the hydro xfrmrs now stand, and one original track embankment completely removed for the old sewage treatment plant on Black Creek to the east of Rockcliffe. Con Smythe gravel may have harvested it along with the gravel beneath it. I still can't get a definitive answer on whether the spur was then served from the St Clair Stock Yards spur(s) rather than over the now removed bridge over Old Weston Road, but I highly suspect so. I remember CNR diesels using the alignment at the top of Rockcliffe Rd on what is now the Gaffney Park Trail. That was very late fifties/early sixties. Ownership of the Guelph Radial and that Belt Line (there were two) was Mann and McKenzie (sic?), and of course, no coincidence they were using the electric pylon RoW.

 

[crs1026]

^The City's Aerial Photography archives will help with some of those questions about old rail lines, including the old TSR. They have good aerial photos back to 1947. Somewhere I have seen photos online of the west end that go back even further, but the source is eluding me at this moment.

- Paul

Edit: Found more from 1942 here.

 

[Allandale25]

This doesn't have every single spur that was ever built, but does have most of them.

http://ontariomap.webs.com/

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

An updated version is now available. Accessible via the link above.