Yonge streetcar line
Passengers board a Peter Witt car at Yonge and College in 1937
|
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Status | discontinued |
| Locale | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| First service | 1861 |
| Last service | 1954 |
| Successor | Yonge Subway line |
| Former operator(s) |
Toronto Street Railway (1861-1891) Toronto Railway Company (1891-1921) Toronto Transportation Commission (1921-1954) Radial operators: Metropolitan Street Railway (1885-1904) Toronto and York Radial Railway(1904-1922) Hydro-Electric Railways (1922-1927) Toronto Transportation Commission (1927-1948) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 10 7⁄8 in (1,495 mm) |
Beginning operation in 1861, the Yonge streetcar line was the first streetcar line in Toronto and the first in Canada. It started off as a horsecar line and closed in 1954 operating two-unit trains of Peter Witt motors pulling a trailer. Under the Toronto Transportation Commission, the Yonge line was the busiest and most congested streetcar line in the city leading to its replacement in 1954 by the Yonge Subway line, also Toronto's first and the first in Canada.
On September 10, 1861, the Yonge streetcar line became the first streetcar line in Canada. It ran from Yorkville Town Hall (north of Bloor Street at Scollard Street and Yonge Street), south on Yonge Street then east on King Street to St. Lawrence Hall. The Toronto Street Railway operated the line using horsecars.
In 1873, the Toronto Street Railway extended the Yonge streetcar line to Front Street then west to York Street to serve the Grand Trunk Railway station at Simcoe Street. Yonge streetcars alternated running there and to King and Frederick streets.
In 1885, the Yonge streetcar line was extended north from Scollard Street to the CPR line where there was a wye to reverse the horsecars.
On January 26, 1885, the Metropolitan Street Railway started horsecar service on Yonge Street on north side of the CPR line to Eglinton Avenue. In 1886, the line was extended by 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) to Glengrove Avenue. Unlike the Toronto Street Railway's Yonge line, the Metropolitan line was a single track, side-of-road operation using double-ended horsecars. The northward expansion of the Yonge streetcar line is related to the history of the Metropolitan line.
...
Wikipedia