Last weekend I flew (unfortunately; due to time constraints, rail wasn't an option) to Toronto to ride a chartered PCC.
My only other experiences in Toronto were when I was two years old (and far too young for me to still remember much of anything from that trip) and two years ago (when I only had a couple of hours while transferring from the Maple Leaf to the Enterprise, and was too tired to go exploring by streetcar).
My trip started on Friday with a Midwest Connect flight aboard a Fairchild-Dornier 328 regional jet (a pretty good plane for a small jet). Unlike most airlines these days, which are cutting back on services to almost nothing (Northwest recently announced they will no longer offer snack pretzels), Midwest/Midwest Connect still make an attempt to provide passengers with good in-flight service. While no meal was served, we were treated with warm, "baked on board" chocolate chip cookies (actually prebaked, then frozen, then reheated on board). Anyway, enough advertising for the airline.
I took a bus from the airport to the Kipling station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line. From there, I went to St. George to transfer to the University subway, which I rode to Osgoode, near my hotel. After checking in, I walked around downtown Toronto for about an hour, noting that they were preparing the street behind my hotel for a movie shoot (which was set in "New York," and they were unloading a couple of buses, painted in the NYCTA scheme, off of flatbed trucks). I did not see any filming going on, and don't have a clue what the movie actually was that they were shooting.
Anyway, Saturday I got my first taste of Toronto's streetcars (well, I didn't literally *taste* them, I merely rode them). I rode the Spadina line, and then managed to photograph the Maple Leaf after it departed Toronto Union Station.
After the Maple Leaf went by, I took a King streetcar over to Strachan Avenue, where I met a friend that flew in from Chicago the previous night, and we watched a 23-car Canadian pass by.
We then spent some time riding TTC's various services, including (of course) streetcars, the subway, the SRT, and their oldest and newest buses. At noon, I met another friend (a Toronto resident), and we had lunch, and walked around downtown Toronto a bit more, before riding the Yonge subway up to its northern end. Returning, we stopped off and took photos of the Davisville yard, then went back downtown where I met up with a TTC bus driver/former streetcar operator. The four of us then did a bit more touring of the streetcar system, getting a quick look at the Roncesvalles carhouse, before riding a streetcar back downtown.
Saturday evening, I got a quick tour of the Wilson (bus) garage, located near the Wilson subway stop.
Sunday was the main reason I went to Toronto. There was a nice, six-hour PCC charter trip using one of the TTC's two remaining PCCs (#4500). We started at Russell Carhouse, made several photo stops, had lunch at Roncesvalles Carhouse, and made a few more photo stops before returning to Russell.
Sunday evening, I took GO from Toronto Union Station to Oakville and back. As we arrived in Oakville, the Toronto-bound Maple Leaf was just pulling away.
Anyway, it was a great trip overall. I have uploaded photos to my webshots page (the two Toronto folders). Go have a look.
My only other experiences in Toronto were when I was two years old (and far too young for me to still remember much of anything from that trip) and two years ago (when I only had a couple of hours while transferring from the Maple Leaf to the Enterprise, and was too tired to go exploring by streetcar).
My trip started on Friday with a Midwest Connect flight aboard a Fairchild-Dornier 328 regional jet (a pretty good plane for a small jet). Unlike most airlines these days, which are cutting back on services to almost nothing (Northwest recently announced they will no longer offer snack pretzels), Midwest/Midwest Connect still make an attempt to provide passengers with good in-flight service. While no meal was served, we were treated with warm, "baked on board" chocolate chip cookies (actually prebaked, then frozen, then reheated on board). Anyway, enough advertising for the airline.
I took a bus from the airport to the Kipling station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line. From there, I went to St. George to transfer to the University subway, which I rode to Osgoode, near my hotel. After checking in, I walked around downtown Toronto for about an hour, noting that they were preparing the street behind my hotel for a movie shoot (which was set in "New York," and they were unloading a couple of buses, painted in the NYCTA scheme, off of flatbed trucks). I did not see any filming going on, and don't have a clue what the movie actually was that they were shooting.
Anyway, Saturday I got my first taste of Toronto's streetcars (well, I didn't literally *taste* them, I merely rode them). I rode the Spadina line, and then managed to photograph the Maple Leaf after it departed Toronto Union Station.
After the Maple Leaf went by, I took a King streetcar over to Strachan Avenue, where I met a friend that flew in from Chicago the previous night, and we watched a 23-car Canadian pass by.
We then spent some time riding TTC's various services, including (of course) streetcars, the subway, the SRT, and their oldest and newest buses. At noon, I met another friend (a Toronto resident), and we had lunch, and walked around downtown Toronto a bit more, before riding the Yonge subway up to its northern end. Returning, we stopped off and took photos of the Davisville yard, then went back downtown where I met up with a TTC bus driver/former streetcar operator. The four of us then did a bit more touring of the streetcar system, getting a quick look at the Roncesvalles carhouse, before riding a streetcar back downtown.
Saturday evening, I got a quick tour of the Wilson (bus) garage, located near the Wilson subway stop.
Sunday was the main reason I went to Toronto. There was a nice, six-hour PCC charter trip using one of the TTC's two remaining PCCs (#4500). We started at Russell Carhouse, made several photo stops, had lunch at Roncesvalles Carhouse, and made a few more photo stops before returning to Russell.
Sunday evening, I took GO from Toronto Union Station to Oakville and back. As we arrived in Oakville, the Toronto-bound Maple Leaf was just pulling away.
Anyway, it was a great trip overall. I have uploaded photos to my webshots page (the two Toronto folders). Go have a look.
