Russell Carhouse
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Russell Carhouse
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| Location | 1433 Queen Street East Toronto, Ontario Canada |
| Coordinates | 43°39′51″N 79°19′22″W / 43.66417°N 79.32278°WCoordinates: 43°39′51″N 79°19′22″W / 43.66417°N 79.32278°W |
| Operated by | Toronto Transit Commission |
| Tracks | 21 |
| Construction | |
| Structure type | Maintenance and storage facility |
| History | |
| Opened | 1913 |
| Rebuilt | 1924 |
The Russell Carhouse, located at Queen Street East and Connaught Avenue just east of Greenwood Avenue in Toronto, is the Toronto Transit Commission's second oldest carhouse.
When the TTC contracted with Bombardier Transportation to replace its fleet of streetcars with modern, low-floor streetcars, some consideration was given to refurbishing the maintenance facilities at the Russell facility to accommodate the vehicles, rather than build a new half billion dollar facility. The site chosen for the Leslie Barns carhouse was only a few hundred yards away from the Russell facility. Local city councilor Mary-Margaret McMahon argued for improving the Russell facility in 2011. In the end the new Leslie carhouse was built. But the Russell facility will remain open, and will store new vehicles that do not need maintenance work.
Russell Carhouse was built in 1913 by the Toronto Railway Company as a paint shop. When the King Carhouse burnt down in 1916, the Russell was rapidly turned into a carhouse. After the TTC took over and amalgamated all the existing streetcar systems within the city limits in 1920, they found that the foundations were faulty and the facility was sinking. They called for tenders for its demolition and the construction of a new carhouse which opened on December 13, 1924.
In 1922 the TTC added fire equipment to its St. Clair Carhouse, Danforth Carhouse, Russell Carhouse and Lansdowne Carhouse.
Between 1927 and 1936, radial cars for the Scarboro radial line were stored at Russell Carhouse. The TTC took over Scarboro radial operation in 1927 and connected the radial line to Bingham Loop for carhouse movements.
The facility services half of the system's streetcars; exclusively for the 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Road routes, and sharing with Roncesvalles Carhouse for the 501 Queen, 504 King, 505 Dundas, 506 Carlton, 509 Harbourfront, 510 Spadina and 514 Cherry routes.
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