Visiting Toronto

[Kenneth Josephson]

R2dupuis at aol.com wrote:

> (Ken, rec'd e-mail with cryptic, incomplete instructions about the list.
> Would you be my conduit for the moment? R.)
>
> Mr. Schneider,
>
> > The point being made by Mr. DuPuis is, TTC regards
> >  its land as private property like you and I do our own homes.
>
> More than that, TTC is concerned about safety and security.
>
> >I never had any problem getting into TTC yards legally as long as I had a
> clear
> >purpose in mind and expressed it first in the company offices!
>
> My response was intended for those visitors who might be tempted to skip the
> niceties of official permission and go exploring on their own recognizance.
> The sort of people who aren't FW Schneider III and wouldn't have the brains
> or justification to get permission. The same sort of people who do dangerous
> things during fan trips and ruin it for the rest of us. There's one in every
> crowd. I know of at least one who is a Torontonian and ought to know better;
> he's been escorted from Hillcrest more than once.
>
> That, and Toronto is changing. TTC has beefed up security on the system, and
> especially in the subways following several high-profile crimes including
> pushings. While the city and system are still resoundingly safe, TTC special
> constables take their job very seriously, and have been known in recent times
> to question railfans who linger in one place too long in the subway. To wit,
> streetcar buffs on public property really ought not worry about that.
>
> I, too, have known the pleasure of officially-sanctioned visits to Hillcrest,
> by the way. My last call was made about eight months ago, when I saw the two
> ex-Cleveland PCC railgrinding cars on a storage track near the railway
> siding. They appeared not to have turned a wheel in some time. If they are
> still on the property, I hear their days are numbered. "Rail rubbers" they
> were dervsively called by one employee, who said they had become all but
> useless.
>
> Please advise if you have heard anything more regarding these cars.
>
> With kindest regards,
> Roger DuPuis
> Rochester, NY, USA