This week Steam Whistle Brewing began work in their expansion space - roundhouse stalls 12, 13, 14 - on the floor and sanitary drains. When complete, the space will hold a new tank farm, a cooler room and new staff facilities. A TRHA representative was on hand for much of this week to advise on heritage matters while the floor cutting was proceeding. As previously mentioned in this blog the 1929 structural drawings were located in the Toronto Archive a couple of weeks ago, these have now received the attention of the archive's paper conservator and have been copied to a DVD. The information contained in the drawings was instrumental in avoiding inadvertent damage to the foundations during floor slab cutting.
The City of Toronto, as owner of the roundhouse, has set a high standard for preserving the heritage elements of the building, insisting that minor modifications necessary to accommodate tenants be totally reversible at the end of lease terms.
Both the City of Toronto and their tenant Steam Whistle Brewing are to be commended for their willingness to protect the building for the future by altering construction plans to take TRHA's heritage concerns into account. Some photos of the work are posted here: http://garrattguy.googlepages.com/swexpansionwork

Port Stanley Terminal Railway

Port Stanley, Ontario

Special to the TRHA

An antique, newly restored Woodings CBI speeder railcar was towed ignominiously into St Thomas Saturday morning by a Woodings type CBL railcar. Part owner of the CBI car, Michael Guy was reported to be "miffed and annoyed" by the sudden failure of an ignition system component on the Tecumseh railcar engine. His companion Lise St Germain was entirely unconcerned by the failure and said the lack of engine noise while under tow was an improvement while she continued her needlepoint work in the right-hand seat. Parties unknown initiated a board of enquiry at lunch to determine why the emergency flagging kit normally mounted on the right-hand side of Mr. Guy's railcar had disappeared and been replaced with a potted begonia plant. Organizers of the event described this occurrence as "highly irregular".

Michael Guy, VP - TRHA

On May 16, 1853 the first passenger train steamed out of Toronto from a wooden depot that was located near present-day Union Station. During the next century, the railways were to have a profound impact on the city.

This tour explores the railways' influence on downtown Toronto, with an emphasis on the Railway Lands and the old CPR John St. roundhouse.

LEADER: Derek Boles, Toronto Railway Historical Association
START POINT: N side of King St, just E of Yonge St
DATE & TIME: Saturday, April 21st at 11:00 a.m.
FINISH POINT: John Street Roundhouse, Rees St and Bremner Blvd
LENGTH: Approx. 2 - 2.5 hours
FOCUS: Historical, architectural
DIFFICULTY: Long walk on sidewalks, some stairs

The sites that I deal with in some detail include:

1. The CPR Building at King & Yonge.
2. Canadian Northern headquarters at King & Toronto.
3. Toronto Railway Company headquarters at King & Church.
4. The Gooderham (Flatiron) Building.
5. The Great Western Railway station at Yonge & Esplanade.
6. The Railway Viaduct.
7. Union Station (although only the public areas, not the restricted areas we access on my monthly tours)
8. Old Union Station.
9. Roundhouse Park.
10. CPR John Street Roundhouse (exterior only)
11. The Railway Lands

I will be leading this annual walk for Heritage Toronto. The walks are free and no reservations are required.

Derek Boles
Toronto Railway Historical Association

After a lengthy hiatus following the collapse of the Union Pearson Group proposal for Union Station revitalization, the City of Toronto is restarting the process of redevelopment. Many of the studies and technical data gathered during the UPG process is valid and still current so that time will be saved in formulating the new proposal. The Public Advisory Group (PAG), chaired by Janice Etter, will play a significant role in providing citizen input to the revitalization process. The Toronto Railway Historical Association has been a supportive member of the PAG since it's inception and urges those of you with railway and transportation backgrounds and interests to apply for membership in the PAG. The City of Toronto call for PAG membership applications follows below.

Orin Krivel, President, TRHA

COME ABOARD WITH US!

The Union Station Revitalization Public Advisory Group assists in planning for and provides community input and advice to City staff and Toronto City Council about the restoration and revitalization of Union Station.

Current members include citizen members at large and citizen members representing organizations in the transportation, business, community/neighbourhood, heritage and tourism sectors.

Organizational representation from the following specific sectors is sought at this time:

• Community/neighbourhood (resident/ratepayer or similar associations operating within the area bounded by the Don River, Bathurst Street, Queen Street and Lake Ontario)
• Heritage
• Tourism

In addition to organizational representation, citizen members at large positions are available.

Interested?

If you are interested in joining the Union Station Revitalization Public Advisory Group, visit www.toronto.ca/union_station/ for the criteria, or pick up an information package at the Access Toronto counter located in the rotunda at City Hall. For more information on the USRPAG, call 416-338-2361.

Application letters should be submitted no later than April 26, 2007.

An apparently complete set of construction drawings for the John St Roundhouse were located today at the City of Toronto Archives. Mostly negative Vandyke prints (white line on brown background) there are approximately thirty sheets in very legible, if rather brittle, condition, all dated 1929-30. TRHA has requested that digital copies be made of all prints in the file to allow use of the drawings while also conserving the delicate prints. Within the same file are two drawings of the Coach Repair Shop now demolished.

Michael Guy, VP, TRHA

On March 21st, a pair of spare turntable-drive compressed-air motors arrived from the Canadian Pacific steam program in Calgary. These are on long-term loan to the museum. They will be used as both a working interpretive exhibit and a source of spare parts for the main drives for our soon-to-be operating turntable .

Michael Guy, TRHA

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the TRHA, welcome to the new TRHA website which is being made public today. Join us in the excitement as we work to create a new heritage experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.

This news item will be the first of many which we will share with you. These news items will communicate to you about:

• New additions to our website as they happen
• News of further progress as we establish the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre
• Announcement of events related to our area of interest
• Vignettes of railway history

Bookmark this web page and return here often to keep intouch and informed.

We also encourage you to explore our new website. Feel free to use the "Contact Us" section of the website to provide us with feedback or request more information about the THRA and the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre.

Finally, I woud like to publicly thank the team of dedicated folks from the TRHA who pulled all of this together.

Russ Milland

Director, New Media for the TRHA