A photo extravaganza today. Did you know that the word is derived from the Italian stravaganza? Did you know that the study of word origins is called etymology?

Then: 1926.

At one time, there was a level rail crossing (Grand Trunk Railway, now CN) at Queen and Degrassi streets 

There was also a rail station  — Riverdale — that served this area. It was located within the present-day Bruce Mackey Park. That this was a "suburban" station at the time is now a quaint thought in the present day.

A number of accidents at this and other level crossing locations led the City and rail authorities into a program of eliminating them.

The following pictures depict — in our customary Then and Now format — the progress of construction. The Now pictures were taken in June 2011.

Let me take a moment to reflect on how the Toronto Archives, and in particular their website — probably one of the best of its kind in the world — has made this thread — and others like it in cyberspace — possible.

Finally, our last picture: A Then picture that shows the overall big picture. I regret I was unable to climb to the top of the present-day embankment to take a Now picture. The fences were rather daunting.