CLRV / ALRV Quest:

 

            In 2019, the TTC retired their CLRV and ALRV streetcars in favor of new low floor streetcars. The CLRVs had served Toronto for 40 years and the ALRVs for 30 years.

 

            There were 196 CLRVs and 52 ALRVs (plus a prototype ALRV #4900 that was scrapped in the 1980s). There are two groups of CLRV streetcars and one class of ALRVs. CLRVs 4000-4005 were the six prototype CLRVs built by SIG of Switzerland. CLRVs 4010-4199 were built by Hawker Sydney in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The production ALRVs were numbered 4200-4251 and were built by UTDC in Kingston, Ontario. Other than the ALRV prototype, there are at least two surviving members of each class of car in preservation across Canada and the United States. I have begun a new quest to visit the surviving cars as I did with the last of the PCCs. The survivors are as follows:

 

            Until I visit the car at its respective location, I will use photos taken of the car in revenue service with TTC.

 

            The oldest surviving CLRV is #4001. #4001 has been retained by TTC as a historic car like PCCs 4500 and 4549 and Witt #2766. Prior to the end of the CLRV era was repainted. #4001 was used for a special trip on the last day of CLRV operation carrying 30 people who had won a contest to be on the last CLRV. I officially visited it for the first time post 2019 in 2022.

 

 

            The second surviving SIG car is #4003. #4003 is presently preserved at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum. While the car has run under its own power at the museum, it hasn’t carried passengers. I visited the car in 2019.

 

 

            CLRV #4010 is the first Ontario built CLRV. #4010 is preserved at the Halton County Radial Railway, but is their least reliable CLRV. It was hidden in 2019 and I only first got to see the car in 2021.

 

 

            CLRV #4024 is one of two CLRVs heading for the American Mining Museum in Ohio. The museum is actually building a line for the CLRVs to run. In the meantime the two CLRVs are being held at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum. I saw the car at Halton County in 2021. However in the fall of 2024, the car was stripped of parts and later scrapped.

 

 

            CLRV #4034 is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum. The car went straight to IRM from TTC. IRM also acquired a spare set of CLRV trucks to regauge to standard gauge. In the meantime, 4034 is stored on a short stretch of TTC track gauge. The car has run back and forth on its track a few feet in either direction and is the first CLRV to operate in the United States in the 21^st century. I first visited #4034 in 2024 on my Kenosha Make-Up Trip.

 

 

            CLRV #4039 is at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum. It is the most reliable CLRV which is ironic because the car was initially acquired as a source of spare parts. I first visited #4039 in 2019 and rode it then. In 2024, I would actually get to drive #4039 at HCRR Members’ Night.

 

 

            In 2020, the Halton County Radial Railway acquired CLRV #4040 as a source of spare parts. The car is presently parked in the museums yard #2. I visited #4040 in 2021.

 

 

            The Halton County Radial Railway Museum also acquired CLRV #4053 also as a source of spare parts in 2020. I first visited #4053 in 2024 as it had previously been stored in Barn #1 which was inaccessible to museum visitors.

 

 

            CLRV #4068 is owned by the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine. Presently it is being held at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum until Seashore is able to bring the car to their location. #4068 was moved to Maine in 2023. #4068 was one of the six CLRVs running on the last day of CLRV service in Toronto.

 

            Seashore acquired CLRVs because in the early 1980s three CLRVs were loaned to Boston for a trial alongside the unreliable Boeing LRVs. However #4068 is not one of those cars. Ironically, it would have been more appropriate for the car to go to the Illinois Railway Museum because IRM is close to Kenosha. In 1996, the car was used to tow PCC #4615 to Wychwood carhouse for storage. #4615 of course operates in Kenosha.

 

            I first saw #4068 at Halton County back in 2021.

 

 

            CLRVs 4081 and 4089 are still on TTC property. One of the cars is going to be a historic car while the other is being used as a work car. What it will do as a work car, I don’t know.

 

            At this time I am unsure which car is going to be used as a historic car and which as a work car. When I know more, I will revise the page. I saw #4089 in 2022 and have seen #4081 at Russell carhouse, but from where it is, I can’t get a good photo of it. In the meantime, I am using a photo of #4081 from the last day of CLRV service in Toronto.

 

 

 

            CLRV #4124 is still on TTC property. The car is to be used as a work car of sorts. I have seen #4124 at the carhouse, but like #4081, I haven’t been able to get a good shot of it so in the meantime here’s a picture of #4124 on the last day of CLRV operation in Toronto.

 

 

            CLRV #4133 was also acquired by the Seashore Trolley Museum. As with #4068 it is being held at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum. However Seashore changed their minds about #4133; instead choosing to just acquire a spare set of CLRV trucks which HCRR agreed to supply. The fate of #4133 is in the air and it might be a source of spare parts in the future. I first saw #4133 at the Halton County Radial Railway museum in 2021.

 

 

            CLRV #4170 is also owned by the American Mining Museum alongside #4024. Like #4024 it was held at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum until 2023 when the car was moved to Ohio. I visited the car at Halton County back in 2021.

 

 

            CLRV #4178 was the last CLRV the general public could ride. A few months before the end of service, the car was done up as an art car. Both the inside and outside of the car was decorated. Its paint scheme reminds me of a special paint scheme CLRV #4000 wore in 1984 for Ontario’s birthday.

 

            After retirement, CLRV #4178 was donated to the Halton County Radial Railway Museum where it operated. I visited the car in 2021 and got to ride it then.

 

 

            The highest numbered surviving CLRV is #4187. The car is preserved on a farm in Priceville, Ontario which is half-way between Orangeville and Owen Sound.

 

            The car was saved when it and the last remaining CLRVs on the TTC’s roster were put up for action. A transit fan entered the lowest possible bid on the car and won. The enormity of what he had done then sank in upon him. Luckily his parents let him put the car on his farm after a short piece of track was built for the car. Halton County got CLRVs 4040 and 4053 from the same auction.

 

            I have been trying to get in contact with the person who owns #4187 but haven’t gotten a definitive answer on when I could go and visit the car. In the meantime here’s a picture of the car in service.

 

 

            ALRV #4204 was the first ALRV in service. It was also the last ALRV in service in 2019 as well. ALRV #4204 is preserved at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum. I first visited the car back in 2019.

 

 

            Finally, ALRV #4207 is preserved by the TTC as a historic streetcar. It’s ironic the car is now a historical car when it’s younger than my sister and I! ALRV #4207 was the second last ALRV in service.

 

            The original plan was for #4204 to be kept by TTC and #4207 was to go to Halton County. However some seats had been removed from #4207 for a music video. When TTC realized this, they asked if Halton County could take #4204 instead which they agreed to. The seats have since been reinstalled in the car. I visited #4207 for the first time in 2022 though I rode in back in 2019 a month or so after it had been retired! However, the CLRVs were still in service and wouldn’t be retired for a few more months.

 

            One thing about #4207 was back in 2013; I had ridden the car to Dundas West subway station and was filming the car departing. However as it departed, the car ran over a pigeon! I was filming at the time and I shook the camera at the moment the car hit the pigeon. I saw the pigeon on the tracks when the car was a fair distance away and kept thinking to myself, “I hope the pigeon moves.” It didn’t. Since then, my friend Larry who was with me at the time and I refer to #4207 as the pigeon killer. It was sadly ironic that this car was one of the two ALRVs to make it into preservation.

 

 

 

            As you can see, a good number of cars made it into preservation. However there are a few cars I would have liked to have seen preserved for various reasons. Click here if you want to read the list:          Significant scrapped CLRVs and ALRVs