Visiting Toronto

[Kenneth Josephson]

Here is a reply from Roger DuPuis concerning visiting Toronto:

Day Pass is $7 CDN, one heck of a deal.
Valid after 9:30 AM weekdays, all day weekends. ALL DAY means until the 'end
of service' at 5:30 AM the following day. Few railfans will need it that
long, of course. Only two streetcar lines run 24 hrs, subway closes around
1:30 am. Buses pick up the slack overnight. If you REALLY want night shots,
do it in early evening when headways remain good. With 'regular' service on
most routes from 5:30 am to about 1:30 am, you'll have plenty of time to ply
the trade.

Whatever. The pass is an excellent deal, and is available at all subway
stations--not like in some cities. On Sundays and statutory holidays, two
adults can ride on one pass. It makes railfanning so much easier. Thanks to
TTC's good headways, getting off to snap pix is a breeze. Normally, 10-15
minutes is considered a 'long' headway for streetcars in Toronto--and that
includes weekend service on the busier routes.

The two heritage PCCs are 4500 and 4549. They normally live at Russell
Carhouse (aka Connaught), on Queen Street East. Russell Yard can be
photographed very easily from the public sidewalk. If the PCCs are there, and
in the front of the line, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. If they are
parked between CLRVs, forget about it, regardless of where you stand.

And as for going onto TTC property...As a polite caution, please do
yourselves and the rest of us a favor and don't ruin a good thing. TTC
streetcar staff usually are very polite and reasonably understanding when it
comes to railfans, but good pictures can be had from the street, so
trespassing onto carhouse property is dangerous, wasteful and foolish.

The subway is much tougher. The yards are strictly verboten, and security
does not always take kindly to photogs in the stations--which are not very
photogenic to begin with. Bridges over some of the open-cut sections are your
best bet. The bridge over the Yonge line south of Davisville affords nice
views of the mainline and Davisville yard, and it's safe and legal.

Some of my favorite TTC streetcar sites (and sights):

510 Spadina: From underground loop at Spadina Stn. of Bloor Subway, through
the heart of Chinatown, to Union Station undergound loop at the lakeshore.
Has turnback loops at King ("Charlotte Loop") and Queen's Quay (less
frequent). Runs on central reservation. Opened 1997. Well worth the visit.

509 Harbourfront: Opened this summer. Shares 510 tracks from Union Stn. to
foot of Spadina. It's a very short line, but the new track west of Spadina is
interesting. Runs along the lakeshore, with high-density condos across the
street. Great photo opportunities with the condos, CN Tower, waterfront,
looming grain silos, and more. Architecture and surroundings make for great
snaps. Like Spadina, it runs along a central reservation. Line west of
Bathurst shared with 511 cars to the Ex.

Intersection of Roncesvalles & Queen (where 501, 504 and the rush hour 508
cars come together): Streetcar heaven. The special work at this intersection
is amazing, and usually busy with regular service cars as well as pull-ins
and pull-outs from Roncesvalles Carhouse, which is located here. "Roncy" is a
little more awkward to photograph than Russell Carhouse, but, again, good
views are easily accomplished from the public sidewalks.

These are only a few of the great sights. Buy yourself a day pass and feel
free to explore at leisure. Most streetcar stops are in close walking
distance from a restaurant or at least a convenience store because the inner
city is not dead but thriving. Combined with good headways and safe
neighborhoods (by US standards), you need not worry about being stranded in
hostile or isolated territory.

Any other questions, feel free to email.

Roger DuPuis
r2dupuis at aol.com
http://members.tripod.com/~riid/index.html
Rochester, NY, USA