You can go back in time and step inside a TTC subway train from the 1950s

Toronto's modern subway trains represent a significant evolution from the trains that first carried passengers on the city's rapid transit network in the 1950s. But while the TTC's original subway trains have long since been retired, there's still one place you can experience what it was like to ride them.

Decades before the current fleet of modern Toronto Rocket trains debuted in 2011, a ride on the TTC subway meant hopping on board one of the distinctive "G series" cars with their vibrant red exteriors.

The G series trains entered service when the TTC debuted its first subway line in 1954, and these workhorses were not retired until 1990, after having served 36 years across multiple expansions of the city's rapid transit network.

Manufactured from 1953 to 1959 by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company of England, the design of G series trains was based on Q38 and R Stock trains then used on the London Underground.

Frank Denardo/Wikimedia Commons

The G series trains were gradually displaced by M series trains starting in 1962 and H series trains in 1965, before the final trains were eventually pulled from service in 1990.

Retired G series trains were considered as an option for the new subway network in Lima, Peru, though this deal ultimately fell through, sealing the fate of these iconic red trains.

Of the 138 trains built, a shocking 136 of them — practically every unit — were reduced to scrap heaps at the TTC's Wilson Yard in early 1991.

Only two cars survived this destruction and remain to this day. Not only have they been preserved in their original condition, but you can also board them and see what it was like to ride a TTC train during the network's early decades of existence.

G series cars with their original fleet numbers 5098 and 5099 can still be visited and even boarded at the Halton County Radial Railway in Milton.

Jack Landau

While the popular destination near Guelph is best known as a refuge for retired streetcars and its track circuit offering rides on vintage transit vehicles, the Radial Railway is also home to some other impressive vehicles from the TTC's past, including plows, rail grinding cars, and more.

But perhaps the standout attraction stored in the museum's main vehicle barn is the preserved G series train.

Jack Landau

And, for any of the non-train people rapidly losing interest right now, I have one Hail Mary left to bring you back on board.

Jack Landau

These subway cars are decked out in preserved vintage advertisements, harkening back to a time when Toronto's ballpark was still the SkyDome, and you could own an entire house with $67,000.

Jack Landau

The current display at the Halton County Radial Railway in Milton is a fitting bookend to the G series' story in Ontario, which has ended much like it began. 

A similar display was a star attraction at the 1953 CNE, where attendees could board G series cars in a convincing mock-up subway station to build hype ahead of the Yonge line's opening the following year.

City of Toronto Archives

Now, three-quarters of a century later, and with G series trains off TTC rails for 35 years, the preserved train cars in Milton keep this excitement alive and well.