Maps of Toronto's old rail lines?

[Allandale25]

Updated today.

https://ontariomap.webs.com/

 

[Allandale25]

Vintage Ontario Maps | Mapart Toronto, 1980/81 edition | Facebook

Mapart Toronto, 1980/81 edition. Hadn’t seen this one before, I didn’t know they were using that cartography at that point. Radii from downtown are marked at 5km intervals. ”New Massey Hall”, not yet...

www.facebook.com

Vintage Ontario Maps Facebook group. Post by Tim Boyd: "Mapart Toronto, 1980/81 edition. Hadn’t seen this one before, I didn’t know they were using that cartography at that point. Radii from downtown are marked at 5km intervals. ”New Massey Hall”, not yet re-named Roy Thomson Hall, is under construction. The address on the back is in Brampton, not Oshawa or Whitby."

Lots of detail of all the former spurs and sidings.

 

[Kitsune]

... there is a historic plaque in the beaches stating CN wanted to put the railway along the shoreline in the beaches but forced to go there current route after the couple cottages in the area fought it (I guess thats where the beaches nimbyism comes from?) .... do any old maps of the proposed route exist?

 

[44 North]

... there is a historic plaque in the beaches stating CN wanted to put the railway along the shoreline in the beaches but forced to go there current route after the couple cottages in the area fought it (I guess thats where the beaches nimbyism comes from?) .... do any old maps of the proposed route exist?

Interesting. Where in the beaches and got a pic of the plaque?

 

[Northern Light]

Interesting. Where in the beaches and got a pic of the plaque?

Found this reference:

From here: https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/131959/bae5fdbe480bcf29d5dc7ce1c2d1ac849f515369/original/1dd-all-aboard-toronto-tpl.pdf?response-content-type=application/pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE/20211102/ca-central-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20211102T022257Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=9a94c26676fa983396202b159bd95d706446bd53ae0f3ae7975df1d5501f82d4

Also referenced here:

Beach Memories: Imagine if some of Toronto's past transit plans had been built – Beach Metro Community News

By GENE DOMAGALA There are great plans for our different transportation systems. The planners have great ideas for our subway systems, our roads, our

beachmetro.com

 

[Allandale25]

Not directly related to a map of the old rail lines in Toronto, but since the rail spurs and sidings in the Port Lands have been discussed here previously, here's a unique picture from Basin Street from 1994.

 

[ShonTron]

Found this reference:

View attachment 359910

From here: https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/131959/bae5fdbe480bcf29d5dc7ce1c2d1ac849f515369/original/1dd-all-aboard-toronto-tpl.pdf?response-content-type=application/pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE/20211102/ca-central-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20211102T022257Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=9a94c26676fa983396202b159bd95d706446bd53ae0f3ae7975df1d5501f82d4

Also referenced here:

Beach Memories: Imagine if some of Toronto's past transit plans had been built – Beach Metro Community News

By GENE DOMAGALA There are great plans for our different transportation systems. The planners have great ideas for our subway systems, our roads, our

beachmetro.com

This makes sense as CP was planning its new Toronto-Montreal mainline around this time to replace the older Ontario & Québec Railway that ran through North Toronto and Peterborough with a faster route through more populated areas. That became the CP Belleville Sub. (The O&Q route was relegated to a secondary line, and eventually abandoned east of Havelock.)

Canadian Northern was also planning its route eastward, but built through North Oshawa and Orono. That route, assumed by CN, was gone by the 1930s.

Grand Trunk, the original railway, had trouble with the old Lake Iroquois shoreline hills going east out of Toronto and west from Port Union. In the steam era, its freight trains often had helper locomotives to make those grades. A water-level route below the Bluffs would have avoided that issue.

 

[DSC]

EX31.13

ACTION​

​

​

Ward: 14​

Removal of Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard​

Origin​

(March 16, 2022) Report from the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services​

Recommendations​

The Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services recommends that City Council: 1. City Council authorize the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services to negotiate and enter into any necessary agreements and to seek the necessary approvals to remove the Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Deputy City Manager and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor. 2. City Council request the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services to, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, and other relevant stakeholders, develop an implementation plan for removing the Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard. 3. Request that the Board of Directors of CreateTO request the CEO CreateTO working in partnership with City staff, to report to the CreateTO Board with a summary of the implications and opportunities resulting from the removal of the Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard.​

SEE: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2022.EX31.13

 

[Allandale25]

^ Thanks for the update

 

[crs1026]

I can’t dispute that the line has lost much of its purpose and potential for business…. but the volume of truck traffic into the water plant, and the willingness to swap 168 railcars/year for 835 deliveries by truck, is …… oh, so Toronto.

- Paul

 

[Bordercollie]

I can’t dispute that the line has lost much of its purpose and potential for business…. but the volume of truck traffic into the water plant, and the willingness to swap 168 railcars/year for 835 deliveries by truck, is …… oh, so Toronto.

- Paul

They could keep the yard and use it to store GO trains during the day. And then we would loose rail access to the port forever.

Is that really what they want to do?

 

[DSC]

The report to Executive last month was sent back for further work, it's back with same recommendation. Remove it, or what's left of it.

Executive Committee consideration on May 4, 2022

(Deferred from March 30, 2022 - 2022.EX31.13)​

EX32.3

ACTION​

​

​

Ward: 14​

Removal of Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard​

 

[Bordercollie]

The report to Executive last month was sent back for further work, it's back with same recommendation. Remove it, or what's left of it.

Executive Committee consideration on May 4, 2022

(Deferred from March 30, 2022 - 2022.EX31.13)​

EX32.3

ACTION​

​

​

Ward: 14​

Removal of Harbour Lead Line and Keating Rail Yard​

At least it hasn't been decided. I dont think 400 trucks a year is going to be a good solution, is it too far from the dock to have it delivered by boat?

 

[DSC]

At least it hasn't been decided. I dont think 400 trucks a year is going to be a good solution, is it too far from the dock to have it delivered by boat?

I think it HAS been decided and all we are seeing is the formal approvals. The rails were removed at Leslie/Commissioners several years ago when the Canada Post building was built and are being removed, as we speak, along Lake Shore Blvd - in connection with the Lower Don lands and Gardiner rebuild work. I also prefer rail to road but this line has not served any purpose for a decade and I doubt strongly that (as PortsTO say) there is latent demand for it now.

 

[Northern Light]

At least it hasn't been decided. I dont think 400 trucks a year is going to be a good solution, is it too far from the dock to have it delivered by boat?

There is no active rail line, there hasn't been a train on this piece of track since 2018.

Additionally, Mx is set to remove the Harbour Lead's connection to the USRC (mainline), which it is within its authority to do, and there is no particularly logical alternative connection point.