City
When the subway system was shiny and new
As far as archival photos of Toronto go, those that depict the early days of the TTC are among my favourites. In fact, tracking the transformation of surface vehicles from horse-drawn trolleys to electric streetcars to fishbowl buses was one of the most entertaining aspects of our decade-by-decade historical photo series. What's somewhat strange, however, is that with the exception of the entry for the 1950s, the series doesn't include a whole lot of photos of the subway system. And since I miss compiling those posts, I thought I'd do a little digging for photos of the underground.
These aren't particularly hard to find. Both the TTC and Eric Trussler fonds at the Toronto Archives are a plentiful resource of scanned photo negatives. Trussler was a professional photographer whose main client was the TTC, so he's responsible for a large chunk of the documentation of the early subway system.
One of the things that so interesting about Trussler's images of the subway stations themselves is that he often overexposes them ever so slightly. These high-tone photos make the system look absolutely pristine, and in some cases they give it an almost "space-age" look (particularly those bereft of passengers).
So this little exercise is more aesthetic than it is historical. For more information about the history of the TTC, check out Transit Toronto's ample work in this area. The first group of these images date back to the beginning of the Yonge Line (opened in 1954), and the remainder derive from the opening of the University and Danforth Lines in 1963 and 1966 respectively.
Off the boat 1953
Subway Car 1953
Interior 1953
The First Run 1953
Eglinton Station 1954
King Station 1954
Ticket Booths 1954
Eglinton Station 1961
St. Clair Station 1961
Eglinton Station 1962, Duplex Exit (now gone)
Museum Station Entrance 1963
Museum Station 1963
Queen's Park 1963
St. George Station 1963
St. Patrick Station 1963
Near Castle Frank Station, mid 1960s
Between Old Mill and Royal York stations, mid 1960s
Bay Station 1966
Bay Station 1966
Bloor Station 1966
Yonge 1966
Bloor/Yonge Station Entrance 1966
St. George Station 1966
Bathurst Station 1967
All images from the Toronto Archives.
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What happened to King Station's white tile? It looks like Eglinton in these pics, but the reality of today's station is far different and much uglier.
http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects_and_initiatives/Spadina_subway_extension/Design/index.jsp
Brad
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http://www.cptdb.ca/index.php?showtopic=11259
e.g. Here's Sheppard West: http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects_and_initiatives/Spadina_subway_extension/Design/Sheppard_West_Station.jsp
I'll assume your question was rhetorical.
And is it me or did people just look and dress better back then? The thing that strikes me looking at the people in these shots is how *dignified* they look. As an example, those girls in the St. George station shot from 1966 are all uniformly lovely. I can't help but think that a society that demanded a bit more in terms of how people comported themselves translated into a better appreciation of everything around you, and that includes the transit system.
All of the subway stations between Eglinton and Union station had the same tiles called glass "vitrolite". Because the manufacturer went out of business, the stations were renovated in the 1980s (they were hated even back then).
The only remnants of these tiles are at Eglinton and Queen (the upper blue trim).
The attention to aesthetic details (in doors, tiles, signage, etc.) made the system look well polished. The neglect for these things is what hurts me the most these days.
In other words, yes, it is just you.
AND IT JUST OPENED.
Plus, no fatties were photographed because there are no shots of Dufferin station.
A nice crowd to spend your rush hour with - now, look at it.
http://www.leenks.com/gallery1213.htm
Also like that old logo on the '5000' train.
You mean, we had them and we ditched them for streetcars? Say it ain't so.
At least an electric bus can go around an obstacle. I hate streetcars so much.
It's a shame to see trolleys gone. They seemed to have relatively few disadvantages, and I can't imagine their infrastructure was particularly expensive to implement and maintain. Quiet, clean, and very capable in the cold Edmonton winters - they were also known for being able to negotiate a steep grade, more so than their diesel counterparts apparently.
I must admit, this look back at the TTC was great, with great photos of TTC property, but at the same time, I wouldn't trade living now for living then, no matter how clean the TTC was.
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Everyone complains about our simple stations, etc. Well have you ever been to New York, Philly, Chicago, or how about Rome, and countless other cities?
New York and Philly have some of the most grungy and dirty stations I have ever been in. Dark, dank, metal bars, roaches, etc.
Toronto's clean tile stations are actually not as bad as people are making them out to be at all.
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Here's an essay on the original station colours. Note that there was a pattern to the colour schemes, just as there's a pattern to the colour schemes of the Bloor-Danforth stations.
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