Misplaced Pages

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60-588: The arrival of the Toronto and York Radial Railway at Sutton in 1908 took most of the summertime passenger business away, and the introduction of refrigeration did the same for the wintertime ice business. Service ended to the Point in September 1927 and the rails were lifted. Service below Sutton continued through a connection to the standard gauge Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR), 4 km (2.5 mi) west of

120-455: A carthorse in between the shafts. Research, however, has been undertaken to support the hypothesis that "the origin of the standard gauge of the railway might result from an interval of wheel ruts of prehistoric ancient carriages". In addition, while road-travelling vehicles are typically measured from the outermost portions of the wheel rims, it became apparent that for vehicles travelling on rails, having main wheel flanges that fit inside

180-661: A branch line: In 1904, regular passenger service started on the Schomberg and Aurora Branch of the T&;YRR's Metropolitan Division. At this time, the line operated with steam trains. On December 24, 1905, the Mimico line was extended from Long Branch to Port Credit. On June 1, 1907, the T&YRR opened a 40 km (25 mi) extension of the Metropolitan line from Newmarket to Jackson's Point. On January 1, 1909,

240-649: A country (for example, 1,440 mm or 4 ft  8 + 11 ⁄ 16  in to 1,445 mm or 4 ft  8 + 7 ⁄ 8  in in France). The first tracks in Austria and in the Netherlands had other gauges ( 1,000 mm or 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in in Austria for the Donau Moldau line and 1,945 mm or 6 ft  4 + 9 ⁄ 16  in in

300-529: A deficit. The City blamed Hydro mismanagement. Hydro blamed the TTC's acquisition of the profitable portions of the radial lines within the city limits. By 1925, Toronto City Council felt that integrating the radials within TTC operations would produce efficiency by avoiding duplication of carhouses and shops, by allowing the transfer of vehicles between radial and city lines to meet passenger demand, and by having firmer control over expenditures. On January 12, 1927,

360-483: A few more miles to Uxbridge by the end of the year. In the early 1870s, businessmen in the Sutton area, about 85 kilometres (53 mi) north of Toronto, began talks with the T&N about a branch line. The Lake Simcoe Junction Railway was chartered on 29 March 1873, with plans to branch off the T&N on the north side of Stouffville and run north for Sutton while the original T&N continued north-east. The T&N

420-530: A horsecar line on Yonge Street. In September 1890, electric service began on the Metropolitan line . On July 16, 1892, the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company (incorporated November 14, 1890) began initial service between Sunnyside (Toronto) and the Humber River. On July 1, 1893, the Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company (incorporated August 18, 1892) started electric, radial operations. On July 5, 1893,

480-684: A process that led to the CNoR's line becoming the north-south CN mainline. The mainline was reorganized and renamed several times before eventually becoming the Bala Subdivision, while the LSJR was known as the Sutton Subdivision throughout. The LSJR was downgraded from a Subdivision to a Spur with the 30 October 1960 CN timetable updates. With the ending of tight regulation of the railways, many smaller lines were abandoned. This included

540-510: A standard gauge of 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ), and those in Ireland to a new standard gauge of 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ). In Great Britain, Stephenson's gauge was chosen on the grounds that existing lines of this gauge were eight times longer than those of the rival 7 ft or 2,134 mm (later 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in or 2,140 mm ) gauge adopted principally by

600-766: Is currently operated by the Ghana Railway Company Limited . Kojokrom-Sekondi Railway Line (The Kojokrom-Sekondi line is a branch line that joins the Western Railway Line at Kojokrom ) Indian nationwide rail system ( Indian Railways ) uses 1,676 mm ( 5 ft 6 in ) broad gauge. 96% of the broad gauge network is electrified. The railway tracks of Java and Sumatra use 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Planned and under construction high-speed railways to use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft  5 + 21 ⁄ 32  in ) to maintain interoperability with

660-426: Is equivalent to 1,435.1   mm. As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rails) to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge met – a " gauge break " – loads had to be unloaded from one set of rail cars and reloaded onto another, a time-consuming and expensive process. The result

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720-532: The Grand Trunk Railway along Lake Ontario as well as the Trent Canal along the lakes some 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Toronto. A variety of lines linking points on between the two sprung up, looking to cut the route to Toronto as short as possible. None of the lines ran directly to Lake Simcoe, some 65 kilometres (40 mi) directly north, and the closest approach so far was made by

780-608: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway , authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The extra half inch was not regarded at first as very significant, and some early trains ran on both gauges daily without compromising safety. The success of this project led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Thus the 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) gauge became widespread and dominant in Britain. Robert

840-620: The Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway , only 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Toronto but further along the Canal and a much longer route overall. Plans to reach Lake Simcoe were greatly aided by the construction of the Toronto and Nipissing (T&N) that was aiming ultimately to run around the eastern side of the lake towards the interprovincial lines outside of North Bay , far to the north. The T&N reached Stouffville in 1871 and pushed on

900-483: The Toronto Railway Company acquired controlling interest in the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company . On July 10, 1893, the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company extended service from Humber River to Mimico Creek, and further to Etobicoke Creek (Long Branch) on September 29, 1893. On March 6, 1895, the Toronto Railway Company acquired controlling interest in

960-550: The Toronto Transportation Commission started operating the T&YRR lines under contract with operations being the responsibility of the TTC's new Radial Department. Along with 3 radial lines, the TTC acquired 54 double-ended radial cars. The TTC now operated the second largest electric railway in North America with 585 kilometres (364 mi) of lines. In June 1927, the Schomberg line

1020-496: The Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company . By 1899, the Metropolitan line was extended to Aurora and Newmarket. In 1903, Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company changed its name to the Toronto and Mimico Railway Company. On August 1, 1904, the T&YRR merged four rail operations, converting them into three T&YRR divisions, with the Metropolitan Division having

1080-671: The "inadequate services provided by the Mackenzie-Mann traction companies" which included the Toronto Railway Company as well as the T&YRR. This was the first contraction of the T&YRR, albeit only 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. In 1916, electrification of the Schomberg and Aurora Branch was completed. In 1921, a plebiscite approved the purchase by the City of Toronto of the Toronto Railway Company and

1140-477: The 13 August 1979 abandonment of the remaining 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) of the LSJR. The rails were lifted starting on 14 July 1981. The later abandonment of this section left it in a state of good repair for conversion to rail trail use. This is now known as the Sutton-Zephyr Rail Trail, ending just off the T&N lines at Zephyr Junction. The LSJR split off of the T&N just north of

1200-525: The 1970s. \ Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson ), international gauge , UIC gauge , uniform gauge , normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around

1260-913: The Great Western Railway. It allowed the broad-gauge companies in Great Britain to continue with their tracks and expand their networks within the "Limits of Deviation" and the exceptions defined in the Act. After an intervening period of mixed-gauge operation (tracks were laid with three rails), the Great Western Railway finally completed the conversion of its network to standard gauge in 1892. In North East England, some early lines in colliery ( coal mining ) areas were 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ), while in Scotland some early lines were 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ). The British gauges converged starting from 1846 as

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1320-480: The Hydro-Electric Railways converted the line to standard gauge. When the TTC took over the line in 1927, it converted the line back to Toronto gauge. The Scarboro radial line used only Toronto gauge throughout its years of operations. The Schomberg and Aurora line used only standard gauge throughout its years of operations. The system initially used 550 volts DC and later 600v DC, allowing

1380-497: The LSJR's passenger service to disappear overnight. The arrival of the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) at Pefferlaw only a short distance to the east the same year did the same to much of the secondary agricultural shipping business. The introduction of home refrigeration eliminated the ice shipping business over time. Local service continued, but the wharf on the lake was abandoned on 24 September 1927, and

1440-652: The Metropolitan Street Railway Company received provincial permission in 1895 to use any gauge it pleased. Standard gauge allowed the Metropolitan to exchange freight cars with steam railways. When the TTC took over the line in 1927, it converted the line to Toronto gauge but built a short section of four-rail, dual-gauge track in Aurora to deliver freight cars to a factory there. The Mimico radial line used Toronto gauge until 1922 when

1500-647: The Netherlands for the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij ), but for interoperability reasons (the first rail service between Paris and Berlin began in 1849, first Chaix timetable) Germany adopted standard gauges, as did most other European countries. The modern method of measuring rail gauge was agreed in the first Berne rail convention of 1886. Several lines were initially built as standard gauge but were later converted to another gauge for cost or for compatibility reasons. 2,295 km (1,426 mi) Victoria built

1560-481: The T&N could not afford. The T&N sold itself, along with the LSJR, to the Midland Railway of Canada in 1881, who agreed to re-gauge the lines as part of the purchase. The Toronto and York Radial Railway ( Metropolitan line ) ran a radial tram service along Yonge Street from Toronto reaching Sutton in 1906. This provided service to Toronto in about 2½ hours, far faster than the T&N, causing

1620-529: The T&YRR opened a 2.4 km (1.5 mi) extension of the Metropolitan line from Jackson's Point to Sutton. On June 25, 1915, a City of Toronto work team ripped up the tracks of the Metropolitan Line along Yonge Street from the CPR crosstown line north to Farnham Avenue. This was a result of a dispute between the city led by Mayor Tommy Church and the T&YRR. Mayor Church complained about

1680-482: The T&YRR. The Toronto Transportation Commission was to operate all radial lines within the city limits. On September 1, 1921, the TTC took over operation of all streetcar operations in the city, and shortly after took control those portions of the Scarboro and Mimico radial within the city limits. By fall, 1921, the TTC took over the portion of the Metropolitan line on Yonge Street south of Glen Echo Road (at

1740-563: The T&YRR. Each line became a separate division of the T&YRR except for the Schomberg and Aurora which was a branch of the Metropolitan Division. Click on the predecessor company name for further details about each line. In 1904, the four predecessor companies were merged to form the Toronto and York Radial Railway. In 1885, the Metropolitan Street Railway Company of Toronto (incorporated March 2, 1877, renamed Metropolitan Railway Company in 1897) started

1800-430: The Toronto area. He agreed to design and build the LSJR for $ 290,000, and an initial agreement with T&N was signed on 1 December 1874 to provide rolling stock and operate the line for 25 years in exchange for 25% of the receipts, although this was not finally ratified until 19 October 1876. The LSJR would later receive $ 2,000 per mile from the provincial government in spite of using narrow gauge, about 1 ⁄ 5 of

1860-645: The advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. By the 1890s, the entire network was converted to standard gauge. The Royal Commission made no comment about small lines narrower than standard gauge (to be called "narrow gauge"), such as the Ffestiniog Railway . Thus it permitted a future multiplicity of narrow gauges in the UK. It also made no comments about future gauges in British colonies, which allowed various gauges to be adopted across

Lake Simcoe Junction Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue

1920-511: The beaches to the west, and a major wintertime service shipping cut ice to Toronto. Early service was often disrupted by livestock wandering onto the lines, and upset farmers would retaliate by spreading lard on the rails on uphill sections. By the 1880s there were a large number of lines east of Toronto competing for the same trade. Most of the lines were unprofitable, and the widespread adoption of standard gauge at 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) required expenses

1980-492: The city limit). In August, 1922, the City of Toronto formally acquired the T&YRR lines. On November 1, 1922, operation of the T&YRR was taken over by Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario and run as the Hydro-Electric Railways : Toronto and York Division. Hydro made improvements to both the Metropolitan and Mimico lines. At the end of 1923, the T&YRR under Hydro management had

2040-483: The coal mines of County Durham . He favoured 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham , and used it on his Killingworth line. The Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington railway (S&DR) was built primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees . Opening in 1825,

2100-597: The colonies. Parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. The American gauges converged, as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. Notably, all the 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) broad gauge track in the South was converted to "almost standard" gauge 4 ft 9 in ( 1,448 mm ) over

2160-459: The course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States . In continental Europe, France and Belgium adopted a 1,500 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 1 ⁄ 16  in ) gauge (measured between the midpoints of each rail's profile ) for their early railways. The gauge between the interior edges of the rails (the measurement adopted from 1844) differed slightly between countries, and even between networks within

2220-469: The evidence of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Roman Empire . Snopes categorised this legend as "false", but commented that it "is perhaps more fairly labeled as 'Partly true, but for trivial and unremarkable reasons. ' " The historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles around 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) apart probably derives from the width needed to fit

2280-740: The first railways to the 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ) Irish broad gauge. New South Wales then built to the standard gauge, so trains had to stop on the border and passengers transferred, which was only rectified in the 1960s. Queensland still runs on a narrow gauge but there is a standard gauge line from NSW to Brisbane. NMBS/SNCB 3,619 km (2,249 mi) Brussels Metro 40 km (25 mi) Trams in Brussels 140 km (87 mi) 1,032 km (641 mi) The Toronto Transit Commission uses 4 ft  10 + 7 ⁄ 8  in ( 1,495 mm ) gauge on its streetcar and subway lines. Takoradi to Sekondi Route,

2340-429: The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made, debuting around 1850, to the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge. The historic Mount Washington Cog Railway ,

2400-414: The lakeshore. A large wye was constructed on the south west side of Sutton for turning the trains around. The connection to the CNoR lines was a somewhat smaller wye at Zephyr Junction, at the corner of Zephyr Road and York-Durham Line. Toronto and York Radial Railway The Toronto and York Radial Railway was a transit operator providing services to the suburbs of Toronto , Ontario , Canada. It

2460-556: The line was opened to a gravel yard near Sutton, which saw significant use during the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens , starting in 1931. On 1 January 1884, the entire Midland was leased to the Grand Trunk Railway. They operated the LSJR with Grand Trunk rolling stock. Their bankruptcy in 1919 and following nationalization into the Canadian National Railway (CN) crown corporation in 1923 began

Lake Simcoe Junction Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue

2520-437: The lines between there and Sutton were lifted in 1929. Mixed passenger/freight service ended on 19 May 1928. The new CNoR line ran across the LSJR almost exactly at its midpoint, where the two lines paralleled each other for some distance near the town of Mount Albert . In 1928 the LSJR was connected to the CNoR about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the town of Zephyr, just north of Mount Albert. A short connection running east off

2580-607: The old 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) plateway was relaid to 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) so that Blenkinsop's engine could be used. Others were 4 ft 4 in ( 1,321 mm ) (in Beamish ) or 4 ft  7 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,410 mm ) (in Bigges Main (in Wallsend ), Kenton , and Coxlodge ). English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for

2640-407: The original LSJR alignment connected to the CNoR in a large wye known as Zephyr Junction. Toronto access was now provided by the CNoR line. The section south from Zephyr Junction to Ballantrae was lifted between the 12th and 25 October 1928, the rest of the original alignment from Ballantrae to Stouffville operated as a spur until it was lifted in 1930. A spur off the remaining northern section of

2700-424: The point that the crews would roast crows on them for food. The line was completed and opened for business on 1 October 1877. The line was mostly served by whistle stops consisting of lean-tos with green flags that would be displayed to call for a stop. A large wharf was built on the lakeshore in 1879, giving rise to the village of Jackson's Point. The main services for the LSJR were summertime passengers visiting

2760-436: The rails is better, thus the minimum distance between the wheels (and, by extension, the inside faces of the rail heads ) was the important one. A standard gauge for horse railways never existed, but rough groupings were used; in the north of England none was less than 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ). Wylam colliery's system, built before 1763, was 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ), as was John Blenkinsop 's Middleton Railway ;

2820-411: The rest of the network. All other railways use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft  5 + 21 ⁄ 32  in ) ( broad gauge ) and/or 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge . BLS , Rigi Railways (rack railway) 449 km Several states in the United States had laws requiring road vehicles to have a consistent gauge to allow them to follow ruts in

2880-543: The station in Stouffville, used today for GO Transit service to Toronto. It ran north-west for about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to a point just south of the Vandorf Sideroad, before turning northward to pass through the western side of Ballantrae. From there it ran north, paralleling the modern Ontario Highway 48 , passing on the west side of Mount Albert, Baldwin and then into Sutton and Jackson's Point on

2940-423: The system to run into Toronto (the Toronto network runs at 600v DC). Unlike the city systems, the radial (interurban) operators used larger rail cars. Radial routes ceased due to introduction of inter-urban buses and new highways that allowed for better access to many areas served by rail service. Rail service returned to some of the communities served by the T&YRR by regional rail service of GO Transit in

3000-492: The term "narrow gauge" for gauges less than standard did not arise for many years, until the first such locomotive-hauled passenger railway, the Ffestiniog Railway , was built. In 1845, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges reported in favour of a standard gauge. The subsequent Gauge Act ruled that new passenger-carrying railways in Great Britain should be built to

3060-411: The total construction costs. Shanly surveyed the line in 1875, but construction was delayed by the lack of a final agreement with the T&N. Construction began in early 1877 with grading all the way to Sutton, and the first rail was laid at Stouffville on 18 June 1877. The line was built from 40-pound rail imported from England. The bush cut for the line was stacked and burned, heating nearby rails to

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3120-534: The town of Zephyr. It saw some use during the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens three years later, when a spur line was built to a gravel pit a short distance south of Sutton. The entire line closed in 1979 and the rails were lifted in 1981. A portion of the original route was converted, circa 2000, into the Sutton-Zephyr Rail Trail . The late 1800s saw widespread development of railways in southern Ontario as various markets were opened both by

3180-426: The world's first mountain -climbing rack railway , is still in operation in the 21st century, and has used the earlier 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) gauge since its inauguration in 1868. George Stephenson introduced the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge (including a belated extra 1 ⁄ 2  in (13 mm) of free movement to reduce binding on curves ) for

3240-570: The world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia , Finland , Uzbekistan , and some line sections in Spain . The distance between the inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in U.S. customary / Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches", which

3300-402: Was a subsidiary of the Toronto Railway Company . The company was created by merging four Toronto-area interurban operations. The company was part of the empire of railway entrepreneurs Sir William Mackenzie and Donald Mann which included the Canadian Northern Railway and the parent Toronto Railway Company. The line was abandoned by the TTC in 1948. The table lists the 4 lines composing

3360-400: Was built by Francis Shanly , a strong supporter of 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge railways. Most Ontario railways of that era were built at Provincial gauge , 5 ft 6 in ( 1,676 mm ), because such lines were backed by provincial grants. However, the narrow gauge was far less expensive to build and Shanly had been using it on a growing network of lines in

3420-673: Was closed. On March 16, 1930, the TTC closed the Metropolitan line . On July 17, 1930, the TTC reopened a portion of the defunct Lake Shore line between Richmond Hill and Toronto as the North Yonge Railways . This line was owned by area municipalities and operated under contract by the TTC. On February 9, 1935, the Long Branch-Port Credit radial service ended. On June 25, 1936, the Scarborough radial service ended. On October 9, 1948, service

3480-605: Was reported to have said that if he had had a second chance to choose a gauge, he would have chosen one wider than 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ). "I would take a few inches more, but a very few". During the " gauge war " with the Great Western Railway , standard gauge was called " narrow gauge ", in contrast to the Great Western's 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge . The modern use of

3540-437: Was terminated on the North Yonge Railways , the last surviving Toronto radial. Both Toronto gauge and standard gauge were used. The T&Y radial lines did not use a common gauge until the TTC took over the operation of the surviving lines in 1927 in order to connect the radial lines to the Toronto streetcar system . The Metropolitan radial line started off with Toronto gauge in 1885, but switched to standard gauge after

3600-420: Was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a "standard gauge" of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ), allowing interconnectivity and interoperability. A popular legend that has circulated since at least 1937 traces the origin of the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge even further back than the coalfields of northern England, pointing to

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