showplace of the nation.
Over the years things have changed. Now instead of a trip to the CNE to try out the latest iPhone, BlackBerry, blueberry, megapixel digital camera, or incredibly fast laptop, inspect new household appliances, or perhaps spend some time checking out all the newest cars, it’s off to Best Buy, the Bay, or the local car dealer.
One thing that has remained constant down through the years has been the idea of introducing the latest mass transit vehicles to the general public at the CNE. In fact, if we go back to the 1880s, the Exhibition was the site of a world first in the field of transportation. It was at the fair held in the fall of 1885 that Belgian-American inventor Charles Van Depoele got together with Toronto’s John J. Wright (an inventor in his own right), and together they developed the world’s first electric railway that collected electricity from an overhead wire using a trolley pole and small wheel. The electricity was then fed to motors located under the floor of their steel-wheeled vehicle. Revolutionary at the time, this particular current collecting feature was unique and continues to be used on all of the TTC’s surface streetcars.
The experiment, though successful in 1885 with more than fifteen thousand amazed (and, more importantly, paying) passengers carried over the rails placed along the north side of the fairgrounds from a terminal near Strachan Avenue to a location near the present Music Building, had been less so during the Exhibitions held the previous two years. That was because the more common third rail form of power collection (such as that found in modern subways around the world) was used.
A spark of genius just prior to the 1885 fair (we’re not sure whose spark it was, the Canadian’s or the American’s) prompted the idea of placing the power collection equipment up in the air, well away from the dangerous third rail and more importantly any wayward pedestrians.
The Exhibition’s experimental railway continued for another few years. Its success led to the eventual electrification of the city’s Church Street line in 1892. Within two more years all the previous horse car routes had been electrified. Passengers were happy … and I suppose so too were the horses.
Visitors to the 1885 edition of the Toronto Industrial Exhibition (the name wouldn’t officially become the Canadian National Exhibition until 1912) were amazed to see and ride the newest public transit vehicle. And it was powered by the wonder of the age, electricity. Note the revolutionary trolley pole on the vehicle’s roof.
Other displays related to improvements in public transit vehicles were featured at future Exhibitions. For instance, just as the TTC was about to come into being (exactly ninety-one years ago yesterday, happy anniversary, ladies and gentlemen) the latest in streetcar technology, widely known as the Peter Witt vehicle, was presented to the public attending the 1921 CNE.
Seventeen years later, fairgoers were wowed once again when two of the ultra-modern Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) Streamliners were displayed at the 1938 CNE. The TTC went on to add a total of 743 PCCs (the majority new, along with some second-hand vehicles purchased from American transit companies) to its streetcar fleet. (Incidentally, two remain and can be chartered for special events.)
In 1978, number 4000, the first of the new Canadian Light Rail Vehicles (the model seen on today’s city streets) was featured at the CNE’s Centennial Exhibition. A prototype version had been featured at the fair in 1975. The larger, articulated version (ALRV) of this car was displayed at the 1982 edition of the Ex.
As the TTC gets ready to replace both the CLRV and ALRV vehicles in its fleet with new state-of-the-art equipment, mock-ups of possible replacement vehicles supplied by Bombardier and Siemens were featured at the 2007 CNE.
Now, as work gets underway on the construction of the first of the four new light rail lines, Metrolinx is featuring a mock-up of the LRT model scheduled for the Eglinton Crosstown line. It is located in front of the Direct Energy Centre.
The latest in a long list of public transit vehicles that have been displayed over the years at the annual CNE is a partial mock-up of the new Metrolinx light rail vehicle scheduled for use on (among others) the Eglinton Crosstown line. The mock-up is located in front of the Direct Energy Centre. This artist’s rendition of a complete five-car train set was supplied courtesy Metrolinx.
Stately Structures Indeed
September 9, 2012
Located at the top of Toronto’s University Avenue is the Ontario Legislative Building, a stately structure that is also known as the Parliament Buildings (to others it’s known as the Pink Palace, and by a few as the Ontario gas works).
Now approaching 120 years of service, it is one of the most recognizable buildings in the province. However, as “ancient” as it may be, it is in fact only the latest in a long list of buildings of various shapes and sizes that have served the governments of the Province of Upper Canada, then the Province of Canada, and finally the Province of Ontario.
The first provincial parliament building was located in Navy Hall in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake). The legislative assembly was subsequently relocated to the Town of York (now Toronto) to a site considered to be more secure than Navy Hall, a building that stood within canon shot of those threatening American troops across the Niagara River. As it turned out, the supposedly secure site at York wasn’t. The structure was destroyed by fire during the American invasion of our community in April 1813. (More details about this site and the War of 1812 battles are revealed at the Ontario Heritage Foundation’s First Parliament Building exhibition hall at the southeast corner of Front and Berkeley streets.)
Front Street looking east to Simcoe Street, circa 1953. The third Parliament Building was demolished in the early 1900s and replaced by the CPR freight sheds located in behind the Peter Witt streetcar on the Bathurst route. Note the Barclay (now demolished) and Royal York hotels in the background.
The third Provincial Parliament Buildings on the north side of Front west of Simcoe Street. (Photo from the Ontario Archives.)
As the years went by, successive legislative assemblies relocated into a variety of buildings. Finally, officials got their act together, and in 1832 a new building on the north side of Front Street just west of Simcoe was erected and became the third “real” parliament building.
When the Dominion of Canada, consisting of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (Canada East and Canada West) came into being in 1867, the former Canada West, now renamed the Province of Ontario, became the sole occupant of the Front Street building.
The rundown old building endured for several more decades and was finally replaced by the fourth Ontario Legislative Building. Designed by English architect Richard Waite (the selection of the “foreigner’s” design is a story all by itself) and built at a cost of $1.25 million, it opened for business at the top of University Avenue on April 4, 1893.
World’s First Movie Star
September 16, 2012
During this year’s Toronto International Film Festival there were (and perhaps still are) dozens of celebrities from the wonderful world of motion pictures visiting many of the
