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What TTC subway cars used to look like
A look back at TTC subway cars — and other associated maps and machinery — draws to a close my mini-series on the past life of our transit commission. No doubt the timing is pretty good for a collection of photos that depict what our subways used to look like. With the imminent arrival of the Toronto Rocket subways, the long-serving Hawker Siddeley H-series cars are due to be retired.
And, it's about time. Although you won't find the earliest H-series cars on the tracks any more, some of those still in service have been around for more than 30 years. Prior to the Hawker Siddely models, the TTC was served by a fleet of Gloucester Railway Company cars, which, on account of their colour, are often referred to as the original "red rockets" (that title actually goes to PCC streetcars).
I'm old enough to remember riding around on these before they were retired in 1990, and over and above their iconic colouring, these trains were noteworthy for the fact that their incandescent lights would periodically turn off because of the way that they were wired. Although the TTC was originally interested in purchasing Chicago PCC to service the Yonge line when it opened in 1954, a change of heart led to the purchasing of 104 of the Gloucester cars for $7,800,000. To put that into perspective, the contract with Bombardier for 70 Toronto Rocket trains is worth roughly a billion dollars.
Also worthy of note are the M1 cars that were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works and entered service in 1962. These were longer trains that the G-series, and though only 36 were ordered, subsequent trains maintained the dimensions of these cars, which were apparently the longest in the world at the time of their launch. These were finally scrapped in 1999, though like the rest of the trains mentioned here you can still see an example at the Halton County Radial Railway.
Along with the H-Series cars that are still hanging-on, the current TTC fleet features over 350 Bombardier T1 trains, which were built between 1995 and 2001. Once the Rockets are up to full service, the T1 trains will be found exclusively on the Bloor-Danforth line.
PHOTOS
Drawings for Gloucester Cars
Car 5000 (note no wheels) in 1952
Off the ship in 1953
Gloucester Wheels
Controls at Davisville Station 1953
Crazy-looking electrical unit 1953
Approaching Davisville Station 1953
Sitting at the Davisville Yards 1953
Interior of a Gloucester Car
Different Angle
A transfer in 1954
Route Map 1954
M1Car at the CNE 1962
New additions to the subway line
Carpeting! (This was installed on cars 5044 and 5045)
Ditto
Flourescent Lights on Gloucester Car in the 1960s (via Wikimedia Commons)
Hawker Siddeley Car
Route Map 1966 (via mencc1701)
Postcard 1960s (via Ebay)
Ditto
Hawker Siddeley at Broadview Station 1966
At Rosedale Station (note the tiles) in 1966
Rail-grinding car 1968
Tunnel shot 1960s
Gloucester Car in colour at Davisville 1971 (Via Wikimedia Commons)
Gloucester and H-series cars 1990 (by Robert Lubinski)
Pre-Spadina Line Route Map (via Buck Tracks)
M1 Car at Davisville Station 1973
H-series interior (via Wikimedia Commons)
H-series interior today (by Danielle Scott)
T1 Specs from Bombardier
Interior T1 Car (by dan cronin.jpg)
Ditto (by Zolk)
T1 Train at Yonge Station (by MrDanMofo)
Other Posts in the Series
- When the subway system was shiny and new
- What TTC buses used to look like
- A visual history of Toronto Streetcars
Photos from the Toronto Archives unless otherwise noted
Discussion
42 Comments
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Erm... the name on the wall is "Broadview."
Same with the Bixis! It would be nice if they were some bright colour so they’d have a unique appearance and stand out on the streets. Maybe something like that bike art project! Neon orange! haha. (or maybe not).
It's probably worth mentioning that many old trains have found their way to the Halton County Radial Railway (Museum)
www.hcry.org
They've got one of the red subway trains (or possibly a pair of them)
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/images/subway-5510-06.jpg
That's not true, actually. The perpendicular seats have their defenders among the community and the politicians they elect. People like facing forward when riding on the subway train. If TTC designers had had their way, they'd have all of the seats right up against the walls of the cars, facing the middle, as is the case with the Scarborough RT vehicles. The primary advantage is that it opens up the centre of the car for standees.
There was a fairly big fight between TTC designers and the politicians on the commission when the T1 cars were being designed. The TTC designers proposed the along-the-wall-facing-in approach for seats, and a number of councillors came forward, citing constituent concerns about losing facing-forward seats. The TTC designers then argued that the align-the-wall arrangement was safer as it prevented "suspicious packages" from being hidden (this during the aftermath of 9-11), and Moscoe called them out on their fearmongering. When he called the TTC design a "cattle car", he won the day, and the forward-facing seats remained.
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/images/subway-5503-07.jpg
That picture is copyright John Bromley and is used with permission.
The big reason the Gloucesters were painted and subsequent cars weren't were because the Gloucesters had a steel exterior, and subsequent vehicles tended to use aluminum. Thus the Gloucester cars were more susceptible to rust.
The idiocy of Moscoe's 'cattle car' comment is underlined by the fact that many of the world's great subway systems have (mostly) along-the-wall seating and, well, the fact that cattle cars don't actually have seats. Or windows.
In addition, when you have a group of friends riding the subway together, the squared-in seating allows for more face time. It may not be the most efficient, but I like that it provides character to our trains
It's too bad that the interior shots are mostly in black and white. The M1, H1, and H2/H4 had quite distinct colour schemes.
The M1s were bright yellow with robin's egg blue seats, for a very 1950s appearance. The H1s were beige, with dark blue/grey seats. The H2/H4, as seen in the H-series colour interior shots, are very 1970s orange/red/brown.
My favourite interiors were of the H5 trains, when the seats were orange mixed with brown.
And I really hate the dingy industrial grey that's been the TTC's interior colour for buses since about the 1990s Orions and the T1 subway cars.
The T1s are basically Hawker models with expanded doors and squished windows.
The Toronto Rocket is the first departure from the "Hawker" look
This is pretty shoddy reporting. 7.8 million 1954 dollars is 66.7 million 2011 dollars. You can't compare money at different times without taking into account inflation!
I wonder too if anyone complained that there were no announcements or signs telling you which way to exit. ;-)
That's not a train but a plane - as configured by British Airways, <i>all</i> of its seats were rear-facing. Made for interesting trips.
I remember too! But what I remember was that the windows were actually openable!! You could stick your hand out the window when you were in the tunnel! Awesome!
Something about it just creeped me out.. from the way it looked (similar to newer ones but vastly different), how high the windows felt in relation to seat... and yes, as mentioned, really felt like you were in the 50's.
I was wondering if anybody knows if the trains were mixed with different coaches (ie. H5 and H4). I remember seeing that.
It seems like yesterday I was riding in one.
http://www.blogto.com/upload/2011/06/201163-car-5000-1952-s0381_fl0236_id10434-7.jpg
This is a prototype car, never used on the TTC.
First Clue: The doors slide open along the outside of the car. The doors on all TTC subway trains (regardless of model) have always been pocket doors, which slide open into the space between the inner & outer walls of the car.
Second Clue: The logo was never used on TTC subway trains.
Third Clue: The vents on the lower edge of the body, next to the doors. Those vents did not appear on the Gloucester cars, or indeed on any other TTC subway cars.
The absence of wheels makes me suspect that this might have been the mock-up displayed at the CNE, before the actual cars were delivered.