Toronto Terminals, Hydro Electric Railways, Toronto & York District.
The Toronto & York Radial Ry. is now being operated by the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario, and the old Metropolitan Division, running north from Toronto's north boundary, is designated the Hydro Electric Railways, Toronto & York District, Metropolitan Division. Consequent upon the Toronto Transportation Commission's lines on Yonge St. being extended to the north city limits, the radial railway single track line on Yonge St., between former southern terminal and the north city limits, was taken up, and a new radial line terminal at the north city limits became necessary.
As stated in Canadian Railway and Marine World for February, terminal facilities have been provided near the Toronto Transportation Commission's north Yonge St. loop, and to permit their construction, Doncliffe Drive, a street formerly running east from Yonge St., one block north of Glenecho Drive, was closed. Some of the terminal construction work was done jointly by the Hydro Electric Railways and the Toronto Transportation Commission; and the construction of facilities for use by the radial line alone, was done under contract from the Hydro Electric Power Commission's Railways Department.
The accompanying plan shows the layout of the new terminal and the arrangement of its facilities. Toronto Transportation Commission cars, from the downtown portion of the city, turn at the loop shown, while radial cars from the north of the city proceed to the station and interchange platform, between the loop track and the radial track, where the passengers change from one line to the other. The interchange platform, a joint facility, follows the loop tracks all the way around from Yonge St. to the former street line of Glen Echo Drive. This platform was the first unit of the new facilities to be completed, having been finished early in the winter of 1922-23. The station is a purely radial railway facility. The tracks to the north of the station and the interchange platform are exclusively those of the radial line, and consist of a main track, run-around track, a track leading to the freight house portion of the main building at the north end of the property, a connection between the two latter tracks, and a lead branching into three tracks entering the car barn. The building at the north end, also exclusively a radial line facility, is divided as follows, with reference to the lettering on the plan: A, office; B, perishable freight storage; C, freight house; D, car barn; E, blacksmith shop; F, machine stop; G, carpenter shop; H, lavatory and wash room. The portion of the building occupied by the carpenter shop and machine shop has a basement below it, in which are the boiler room and coal storage, and also has a second story, divided into an air brake, controller, etc. repair room, and an armature room.
Toronto Terminals, Hydro Electric Railways, Toronto & York District.
The station, which is also a purely radial line facility, is of buff colored brick and hollow tile construction, with concrete foundations and Spanish tile roofing. The length overall is 50 ft. The one story or eastern portion is 22 ft. wide and the two story or western portion is 28 ft. wide. The height to eaves of the two story portion is 18 1/2 ft., and of the one story portion, 10 ft. The west side is provided with a canopy, 9 ft. above the ground level. The interior is divided into a waiting room, 20×34 ft.; lavatories; a ticket office, 11×8 ft.; an annex for conductors, 5 ft. 5 in.×3 ft.; and a baggage room, 14 1/4×15 ft. On the second floor are the Superintendent's office, 14×13 ft., and the dispatcher's office 14×13 ft. The interior is finished in lath and plaster; the floor downstairs is of tile, which also extends to the windows, and the partitions between the rooms are of tile. The building is heated by hot water and electrically lighted.
The interchange platform is 352 ft. long, and ranges in width from 27 to 36 ft. It is of concrete, and is covered in part by an umbrella roof, which adjoins the station building, and extends for 150 ft. east. The roof eaves are 8 ft. above the platform, and the roof is 18 ft. wide and slopes to the eaves at an angle of 30 deg. to the horizontal. It is carried by steel I beam and angle supports, at 12 ft. centres, and is of steel truss construction, with wood rafters, and covered with wood and Spanish metal tiling.
The car barn, repair shop and freight house building is of steel truss and brick construction, with concrete foundations, and is divided as mentioned above. it is 173 1/2 ft. long overall, and 88 ft. 7 1/2 in. wide. The car barn portion is 141 ft. 1 1/2 in.×54 ft. One concrete pit, with 5 in. concrete floor on 8 in. cinder fill, extends underneath all three tracks, the bottom of the pit being 4 ft. 8 in. below the top of rail, and the tracks being supported on reinforced concrete piers. The track on the east side of the building is equipped with a 40-ton 4-screw hoist. Two sets of stairs lead into the pit at the north end of the building an done at the south. Sand storage space of 60 tons capacity is provided at the east side, the sand being dried by steam coils.
The freight storage portion of this building, 31 ft. 1 1/2 in.×141 ft. 1 1/2 in., includes the perishable freight room, 14 ft.×23 1/4 ft., and an office, 14 ft.×23 ft. 10 1/2 in. The freight shed is served by the westerly track entering the building. The flooring in the freight shed and perishable freight room is of 2 in. plank, with a top flooring of 1 in. white pine. The office portion has 1 in. maple flooring.
The shop portion of the building is of heavy mill type construction, and the various shops, the locations of which are given above, have the following dimensions: blacksmith shop, 21 1/2 ft.×19 ft. 10 1/2 in.; machine shop, 20 ft.×21 1/2 ft.; carpenter shop, 21 ft.×21 1/2 ft.; boiler room and coal storage, equal in area to the machine shop and carpenter shop, respectively, over which they are located. The blacksmith shop, machine shop and carpenter shop are fitted up to take care adequately of running repairs on electric car bodies and trucks, and the armature and air brake repair shops are equipped to take car of the motor and air brake work. A feature of the construction is that a hoist has been installed to lift armatures, motors, etc., out of the car barn portion of the building and to transfer them into the armature shop in the one straight line movement. Stairs leading to the boiler room and coal storage space in the basement, and leading to the armature shop and air brake repair shop in the second story, are located between the machine shop and carpenter shop. The building is heated by steam, with the low pressure system.
The interchange platform, provided jointly by the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario's Railways Department and the Toronto Transportation Commission, was built by Toronto Transportation Commission forces, and the umbrella shelter, also provided jointly, was built by the Metallic Roofing Co., Toronto. The contractors for the station, and the car barn, repair shop and freight house building, were Sullivan & Fried, Toronto. The buildings were designed by J. C. Crumm, Designing Engineer, Railways Department, Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Construction was in charge of T. U. Fairlie, Engineer, Railways Department, H.E.P.C., and the design and construction were carried on under the supervision of F. A. Gaby, Chief Engineer, H.E.P.C. Construction was begun about Nov. 1, 1922; all trackage and overhead work were completed Jan. 15, 1923, and the station and car barn and freight shed building were completed placed in operation March 15.
The new facilities will serve the Hydro Electric Railways' Toronto and York District, Metropolitan Division, including the branch line from Aurora to Schomberg, formerly the Schomberg & Aurora Ry.