Roncesvalles Carhouse

Roncesvalles Carhouse

Maintenance building for Flexity Outlook streetcars
Location 20 The Queensway
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates 43°38′22″N 79°26′52″W / 43.63944°N 79.44778°W / 43.63944; -79.44778Coordinates: 43°38′22″N 79°26′52″W / 43.63944°N 79.44778°W / 43.63944; -79.44778
Operated by Toronto Transit Commission
Construction
Structure type Streetcar carhouse, maintenance and storage facility
History
Opened 22 January 1895 (1895-01-22)
Rebuilt 1921

The Roncesvalles Carhouse, located at northwest corner of The Queensway and Roncesvalles Avenue in Toronto, is the oldest of the Toronto Transit Commission’s carhouses.[1] The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) first built a streetcar maintenance and storage facility on the site in 1895.[2] Like most other TRC facilities maintenance had been deferred as its contract with the city came up for renewal. When the City instead took over streetcar operations the Toronto Transportation Commission, its new transit agency, determined the existing facilities should be torn down and replaced. The new carhouse opened in 1923.

The carhouse is located west of the City's downtown core and maintains about half of the system's streetcars. The facility houses streetcars for 501 Queen, 504 King, 505 Dundas, 506 Carlton, 511 Bathurst, 512 St. Clair, and 514 Cherry routes.[3]

History

The Toronto Railway Company opened the Roncesvalles Carhouse on January 22, 1895.[2] When the TTC took over in 1921 they demolished the old car barn and constructed the current facility, with the tracks realigned north-south.[3]

26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) of new maintenance capabilities were added, at Roncesvalles, to handle the new low floor Flexity streetcars introduced in 2014.[4][5][6][7] Unlike the TTC's legacy streetcar fleet, where the vehicle's serviceable parts were under the floor, the low-floor vehicle house the serviceable parts above the ceiling. This requires a different infrastructure for servicing and maintaining the vehicles. An addition to the Roncesvalles structure, the TTC added two new bays capable of providing some maintenance for the new low-floor streetcar vehicles. This was the only facility built to service the first of the new vehicles in service, before the Leslie Carhouse opened, in 2016.

Sunnyside Loop

This is an anticlockwise streetcar loop, exterior to the southwest corner of the carhouse property. It is used to turn back westbound 501 Queen streetcars, which can only enter the loop westbound from The Queensway and exit southbound on Sunnyside Avenue to return eastbound. It is also used during rush hours by the 504 shuttle buses.

References

  1. ↑ "Public invited to tour TTC Roncesvalles Carhouse during Doors Open Toronto". News. TTC. 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  2. 1 2 Louis H. Pursley (1961). The Toronto Trolley Car Story, 1921-1961. Ira Swett. pp. 25, 125.
  3. 1 2 James Bow. "Roncesvalles Carhouse". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  4. ↑ "TTC Roncesvalles Carhouse Maintenance Facility: New Facility Addition And Renovation To Existing Carhouse". Strasman Architects.
  5. ↑ John D. Thompson (2014-11-11). "TTC goes low-floor". Railway Age. Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  6. ↑ "Roncesvalles Carhouse Maintenance Facility Extension for New Streetcars" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. 2013-11-12.
  7. ↑ "Procurement Authorization, Roncesvalles Carhouse Maintenance Facility Extension" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 2016-10-01. The Roncesvalles Carhouse expansion is required to maintain the new Low Floor Light Rail Vehicles

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