Toronto streetcar loops
Turning loops of the Toronto streetcar system serve as termini and turnback points for streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The single-ended streetcars require track loops in order to reverse direction. Besides short off-street track loops these can also be larger interchange points, having shelters and driver facilities, or be part of a subway station structure for convenient passenger interchange.
Some loops include separate unloading and loading stops, some have a single stop, and some off-street loops have no stops and passengers are not allowed to ride around the loop. If streetcars loop clockwise, the track entering the loop must cross over the track exiting, and any loading or unloading platforms must be inside the loop; if anticlockwise, any platforms must be on the outside.
The minimum radius of curvature may be as short as 36 ft (10.973 m).
Loops have various shapes according to the space available. For example, the "loop" track may actually be mostly straight, using on-street trackage to complete the looping motion (as at Bingham Loop or Oakwood Loop), or there may be a single sharp curve through almost three-quarters of a circle (as at Union Station Loop or Wolseley Loop).
Some loops consist only of a single track and are blocked when occupied by a stopped streetcar. Others have a side track or dead-end "tail track" where a streetcar can wait, or a track that allows a streetcar on the loop to make a complete circle (or equivalent) and reenter the loop.
Clockwise loop through the Roncesvalles Carhouse trackage, at Roncesvalles Ave. and the Queensway, 43°38′21.5″N 79°26′48.0″W / 43.639306°N 79.446667°W, a possible turnback point for westbound 501 Queen and for 504 King in either direction. Streetcars on King or Queen westbound or Roncesvalles southbound can run onto the Queensway westbound, then turn northbound to enter the loop. They can exit the loop onto Roncesvalles Ave. northbound or southbound, with the latter leading onto the Queensway westbound or King or Queen eastbound.
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