Old Time Trains

UNION STATIONS AND TORONTO COACH YARD
Including John Street Roundhouse and Piggyback Yard

Most people think in terms of one Union Station, the present one on Front Street West covering all 850 feet between York and Bay Streets. Actually, this is the third Union Station, the second one having been located just to the west, on Esplanade West between York and Simcoe Streets, and opened July 1,1873; it too was shared by the GTR and CPR as the result of an agreement dated July 26, 1892. It was expanded in 1895, but increasing passenger traffic out grew this elegant stone building and another station was deemed necessary. The first Union Station of 1855 was shared by the Great Western and Grand Trunk Railways and was before the CPR’s time.

CP Express building was not owned by the TTR, but was built (opened January 1930) onto the Union Station at its northeast end located at 141 Bay Street. A three-storey office building was at that address and included the CPR Purchasing Department. A large cavernous underground shed beneath the tracks with 18 truck dock doors served a track level area of 3 tracks holding about 6 cars each. There was an exterior shed dock extension as well. It was closed after CPX stopped using passenger trains. It operated as a public parking garage until it was demolished in 2001. It was redeveloped as an intermodal GO Bus terminal partially opening on Saturday August 31, 2002 and fully in April of 2003.

Toronto Terminals Railway

Aerial views of John Street

This view from the CN Tower looking west towards Bathurst Street bridge, former Cabin D area, with Parkdale IMS yard in the distance. Foreground shows construction underway on site of former CNR Spadina Coach Yard, Flyunder with train exiting, GO Bathurst North yard at right. May 1987 Eugene D. Burles

Toronto Coach Yard

Bay Street level crossing cuts through the railway yard, a dangerous situation (note the policeman) that was to continue here and at Yonge Street for many more years until the massive Toronto Viaduct grade separation.
CPR 5996 one of two unique 0-6-4T engines. Looking west August 27, 1914

The Viaduct project required the relocation of large freight sheds to King and Simcoe Streets. The creation of a new coach yard capable of holding 229 cars ready for train, 23 being cleaned, 155 in storage, 25 under repair (inc. 9 inside the car shop), 6 for stores, and 12 on team tracks, for a grand total of 450 cars. (new A 1947 CPR description stated: South Yard 18 tracks, North Yard 10 tracks, Storage Yard 7 tracks, Local Yard 6 tracks, cleaning shed 4 tracks. Total 45 tracks). It included a Coach Shop 75 x 340 feet with three tracks, a Commissary and stripping shed. The Commissary supplied dining and sleeping cars and the stripping shed was where passenger cars were stripped of their interior fittings such as beds etc. before being shopped for periodic overhaul or for when "pearls" were reported. Pearls, was the telegraphic code word for bed bugs! The Bone yard was located at the north edge behind the Commissary, and held old wooden coaches used for heavy traffic and such specials as picnic trains, which were once popular. The North and South coach yards were separated by the engine terminal. A loop for turning trains ran behind the roundhouse. A new yard office was located on the west side of Bay Street at the south edge of the yard. A wash rack was added in 1954 in the South Coach yard to care for the new stainless steel cars of The Canadian.

BC Metapedia getting its air brakes tested at Glen Yard in Montreal. November 20, 1971. Ron Visockis
Note the incorrect spelling which was done the previous month during repainting. It was corrected when repainted in March 1975. There were four of these test carts at John Street used by the carmen to test air brakes of a consist or single car before being switched into the Union Station using the 110lb. ground air system.
Named business cars were only assigned to high ranking officials such as the President and General Managers and had a two man crew, BC Attendant and a chef. Numbered cars were assigned to Superintendents and had a one man crew. Referred to by the men as "private" cars, these travelling offices with living accommodations were, the Company insisted, "business" cars and they were always referred to as B.C. Metapedia etc.

The Car Department plays an important roll in the operation of any railway; none more so than one such as Toronto Union, which was responsible for the maintenance and repair of every passenger train operating out of Toronto.

Car departments traditionally divided up their operations between inspection and repair. Car inspectors examined every car upon its arrival at a terminal to determine its condition to safely continue on its journey. They also performed similar inspections on outbound trains, adding oil to the journals, or re-packing them if necessary. Carmen also perform air-brake tests prior to a train leaving a yard. Should defects be detected, particularly wheels, the car will be "shopped" and sent to a repair track (RIP Track = Repair In Place) or into a shop.

Carmen are Journeymen Mechanics who achieve their qualifications either thorough a four-year (later, three-years) apprenticeship or by experience whereby Carmen Helpers working as a Carman Trainee for a similar period of time and then passing examinations.

Coach yards were staffed by a large number of employees due to the nature of passenger trains. Not only was a higher level of maintenance required for passengers than for freight, cleaning of both the interior and exterior of cars added greatly to the staff. Approximately 45% of the Toronto Union Car Department Staff of approximately 500, were car cleaners!

A General Car Foreman was responsible around-the-clock, seven days a week as was the case in all departments and locations on the CPR. There was also an Assistant General Car Foreman along with three Assistant Foremen (one each for coaches, sleeping and dining cars and washing), on day shift. An Assistant Mechanical Foreman was the sole boss on afternoons and nights.

The majority of staff was on days with only inspection and minor repairs being done on other shifts. The coach shop worked only on days, but it was seven days. Carmen worked in three gangs of three men (plus a Lead Hand), 5 days per week to cover the seven day operation. This resulted in three extra men on Mondays to clear up backlogged work.

Top paying carmen’s jobs included (airbrake) triple tester, upholsterers, carpenters, painters, motor mechanic and welders.

Car Inspectors and their helpers worked in the North and South Coach yards as well as at Union Station. These are the men known as "car knockers" a nickname that came from their tapping a hammer on the side of wheels to detect decfects. A good wheel gives a true ring, a cracked one responds with a dull sound. A Carman would uncouple the road engine from the train and the cars would be inspected before the yard engine came to take them to the coach yard. Note: Only the Car Dept. would connect and disconnect steam heat lines, which were referred to as the Barco, for its manufacturer.

Car Repairers were carmen who worked at a number of tasks performing various repairs to passenger equipment. There were more than three dozen men were in this category.

An annex on the south side of the coach shop contained a wheel shop, roller bearing shop plus an office and lunchroom. Passenger equipment was the first to receive roller bearings, long before freight cars. Early roller bearings were oil-filled and had to be drained and refilled every seven days. Later, grease-filled ones were topped-up every 30 days. Finally, modern, sealed roller bearings came along and while these greatly contributed to improved safety they also reduced employment.

A carman helper known as the "kit man" supplied every train with necessary tools and emergency equipment such as different sizes of journal brasses and knuckles, hose bags, hand lamps, marker lamps first-aid equipment etc. This was all stored in the baggage car.

Carmen Helpers performed a number of tasks including the coal man who supplied coal for Baker heaters. (These small boilers supplied heat and hot water to passenger cars when they were disconnected from the locomotive or yard steam.) Two "Top" men, for loading ice through roof hatches on dining and café cars. Small blocks of ice were thrown up! These were the first men to get hardhats! There were two openings for ice and one for coal. Sometimes, ice would be dropped into the coal hatch by mistake, a small problem. On occasion coal would be dropped into the ice hatch! BIG problem! There were also large ice bunkers beneath air-conditioned cars where several hundreds of pounds of ice were carried. At one time ice was cut on lakes up north and shipped in 400 pound blocks. Later, it came manufactured from Lake Simcoe Ice and Fuel, (late 1950's it cost 35 cents per CWT for block ice and $3.35 a ton for air conditioning) and was stored in a concrete block refrigeration building next to the roundhouse. Three water men handled water hoses and two or three "ice and water" men supplied drinking water. These latter men wore white overalls and used a white wheelbarrow. There were two or three men working in the filter room where air-conditioner filters were given a weekly cleaning with steam and hot water, finishing up with a dip in light oil. Two helpers worked at the weekly steam cleaning of drinking water tanks, which were taken to steam tanks located near the midway. Two oilers did journals, two worked in the oil house and there was also a gas man who looked after those cars still having gas lighting. There was also a fumigator! This person responded to telegraphed messages using code words:

Pearls = bed bugs Diamonds = mice Sapphires = rats Rubies = roaches
Opals = lice Emeralds = dogs

Seasonal staff starting in May included Carmen Helpers to work on air conditioning equipment, 6 or 7 men on days, 2 each afternoons and nights. In cold weather, 1 man every shift for steam heating plus in winter (starting in December) 2 men each in the South and North Coach Yards.

The afternoon shift staff consisted of 5 or 6 Carmen, 3-4 Carmen Helpers, 1 carpenter, 1 steam fitter and 2 electricians. The night shift had a mere 2 carmen, 3 helpers, 3 electricians and 5 cleaners.

Coach Cleaners made up the biggest segment of the Carmen and about 45% of the entire staff! Some worked in gangs doing interior cleaning, while exterior washers worked in other gangs, one for the transcontinental trains, known as "Peg" (Winnipeg), a north side(of the cars)gang and a south side gang along with "end" men who did the dirtier work around vestibules etc. There were also two or three men known as "soapers" who used an acid bath to brighten up exterior paint. The top jobs, those most sought after, were the half-dozen men assigned to the Business Cars.

During World War II women replaced many men as car cleaners. To accommodate them a coach was assigned for use as a locker room. It was a dismissal offence for any male employee to be inside this car. If repairs were required to the interior, a foreman would have to be called before a man could enter the car.

Most of the men were represented by the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, Lodge 511, which included King Street and Parkdale. (West Toronto was Lodge 258 and included Lambton and Obico). There were separate seniority lists for both areas. The electrical shop had about 25 electricians who were in a separate union as were 9 steam fitters. There was also a small staff of labourers and four clerks, represented by two other unions.

NOTE: King Street men looked after the LCL Shed and team tracks. This small staff included an inspector, airbrake tester and a freight carpenter. This latter person did minor repairs to box car interiors. There was only one carman was on the afternoon shift.

SPECIAL THANKS for the detailed information about the Car Department go to Vern Poirier, retired carman, who worked most of his 41 years of C.P.R. service at John Street Coach Yard where he was for many years Local Chairman of the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen.

The John Street Locomotive Department facilities were entirely replaced and included a 32 stall roundhouse with a 120 foot turntable, the largest size table on the CPR. It was the most modern roundhouse in Canada, featuring a direct steaming system to reduce smoke, and replaced the original 1897 roundhouse, (opened November 13, 1897 with machinery and turntable from ex CVR Parkdale roundhouse) which had been expanded in 1919. Only the first 28 stalls could be opened in October 1929, then the old lower level roundhouse was demolished, following which the remainder was completed. A 350 ton mechanical coaling plant and a 60,000 gallon steel water tank were part of the engine facilities. A large building, (361 ft. long, 40 ft. wide at the west end and 30 ft wide at the east end), known as the stores building, contained not only the Stores Dept. but also ancillary shops for both the Locomotive Department and the Car Department as well as office space. A Car Forman’s office was located at the east end and the Locomotive Forman's offices at the west end. About 1950 a single level extension was built on the west end with a stores truck platform, and offices which included the Booking In Room for engine crews.

Diesels first came to John Street in the early 1950’s, initially on the transcontinental trains, The Canadian and The Dominion, and Montreal-Windsor trains #21 and #22. Gradually replacing all steam locomotives. Yard diesels began to work in the downtown area beginning with 7020 at King Street in October 1944, however these diesel units were maintained at the old West Toronto roundhouse. Modifications, (primarily catwalks etc.), were later made inside John Street roundhouse to service diesels.

1271 and a Royal Hudson on the shop track in the late1950's Collection of Gord Billinghurst

Gradual dieselization reduced the amount of space needed inside the roundhouse at the same time as piggyback began. Pits 7, 8, 9 and 10 were turned over to the repair of pig flat cars. Later yet, the reduction of passenger trains permitted use of the coach shop for the growing piggyback fleet.

VIA Rail took over passenger train service in 1976 gradually ending the need for which John Street was built. By this time only the Canadian and two RDC runs, the Havelock and the Buffalo remained operating out of Toronto on the CPR. Eventually they were relocated to the VIA TMC in Mimico yard. The last run out of John Street was #188 to Havelock on September 6,1982 with VIA 6211-6135 engineer Ross Ostrander. The coach yard was turned into a storage yard for work train service equipment wintering between work seasons. The roundhouse was used for maintenance of yard diesels, self-propelled cranes, business cars etc. Truly, just a skeleton of its former self.

It was decided to dispose of the land and consequently operations were shut down entirely in July 1986. Marathon Realty, Canadian Pacific’s real estate arm proposed a development called Southtown just in time for the real estate decline of the early 1980’s. At the same time the roundhouse, stores building, water tank, coal tower and about 14 acres of prime downtown real estate were all given to the city for public purposes. A railway museum was the primary hope for the site. Neither Southtown, to the east of Simcoe Street, nor the Railway Museum to its west has yet to happen.

NOTE: The smaller number of locomotives assigned to John Street compared to Lambton meant a smaller staff however, some idea of the jobs can be had here: Lambton Locomotive Department Staff 1953

The CPR began operating a piggyback service between Toronto and Montreal on December 1,1952 handling merchandise previously carried in box cars. Effective October 9, 1957 a new service hauled highway truck trailers on a dedicated piggyback train and expedited schedule. It was the beginning of a new era that would lead to the present day intermodal operations featuring containers that travel by highway, rail and ocean.

End ramps for circus style loading were built on the west-end of tracks in the north coach yard. The traffic grew, and more of the yard was taken over at the same time as passenger trains were declining. The train number was 928, and it was a hot train! Four RS-18’s were dispatched from Lambton roundhouse, two hours ahead of train time. The tail-end crew came on duty at John Street. As traffic grew an early train (926) was added and a late train (930). All trains departed in the evening. On Saturday only one train operated, it was ordered early (6 p.m.) as an extra. It wasn’t so urgent due to its Sunday arrival in Montreal. This meant less power and more tonnage! It was usually assisted up the Don, something not done through the week as there was plenty of power for the fast run (65 mph instead of 50mph for regular freight trains). High wind drag slowed the train and required more horsepower to keep up speed. In the late 1950's a John Street passenger steam engine would sometimes be used as an assist engine.

Both CN and CP needed bigger facilities and both agreed neither would maintain a downtown Toronto yard if the other didn’t. John Street trains had grown so long, (120+ cars) that when 928 was built (around the loop) the engines and van would be side-by-side! A new, larger facility was built at Obico replacing the small Queensway Yard. For a time both Obico and the Coach Yard handled pig trains, but while it was desired to operate out of one location, neither CN nor CP wanted the other railway to have the advantage of a downtown location. Finally, both agreed that neither would maintain a downtown yard if the other didn’t. CN moved from Bathurst Street to Mimico and CPR to Obico. John Street was closed at the end of October 1971. .