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| TTC Guides Margaret Watson and Elaine Henkel, posing in front of a remarkably detailed subway cake. |
- Thank you to the thousands of construction workers over the years—some of whom died in the process—who built these stations for us to use and explore. Thank you as well to the TTC maintenance staff—everybody craps on you but you still do the job. Take pride in your work.
- Thanks to the innumerable TTC station employees, operators, and other TTC staff who patiently accepted me and went about their duties. To those employees that didn’t... have a pleasant day.
- Thanks to the mostly anonymous TTC and City photographers who toiled away taking images of every aspect of subway construction. So many vent shafts! Eric Trussler, Dave MacKinnon, Ted Wickson, James Salmon... without their efforts we would not have visual documentation of our city’s rapid transit system’s early history.
- I am indebted to David Topping and Craig White, who provided me with inspiration and insight into their respective experiences. Their aesthetic sensibilities differ significantly from mine, and you’ll find it intriguing to compare what drew our attention at each station. It’s a valuable exercise to observe what’s different, and what’s the same.
- The TTC Archives, held at the City of Toronto Archives, are the source of most of the historical station photographs in the galleries (where otherwise, I’ve attempted to caption and source accordingly). The City of Toronto Archives also have their own city transit holdings, as does the Reference Library at the TPL. Thanks to the ever-tolerant, knowledgeable, and helpful staff, who have long endured my shenanigans.
- The Toronto Star’s Digital Archives have been another prime source of photographs. The Toronto Public Library’s access to the Globe and Toronto Star historical archives has been invaluable.
- Thank you to James Bow and Transit Toronto (and Damian Baranowski!). Transit Toronto is a superb, sprawling collection of information about the TTC’s past and present. Messrs. Bow and Baranowski generously granted permission to reproduce many archival photographs from the Transit Toronto collection, and assisted in tracking down numerous copyright holders.
- Other sources include: University of Toronto Map and Data Library; Canadian Architectural Archives—University of Calgary; and York University Libraries, Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections.
- See also: my bibliography of TTC links and resources.
- Thanks to Steve Munro: for access to his saved Augustus ‘Sig’ Serafin station watercolour images, and numerous other archival images he took; for the loan of his collection of Metropasses from the 1980s and 1990s; for his staunch transit advocacy and documentation; and for a zillion other things I’ve forgotten. Toronto owes him a great debt for being an enduring voice observing and critiquing the TTC over many decades.
- I have a lot of artists to thank! Thanks to Charles Pachter for access to his Dundas station mural designs.
- Thanks to Michael Hayden, and Simon Scott, for their (gorgeous) historical images of Yorkdale and Arc-en-ciel.
- Thanks to Frank Perna for providing a statement and background information regarding his (now removed) entrance mural, A Sense of Place, at Kennedy.
- Thanks to John Boyle for providing information about Our Knell, at Queen, and for helping me track down the original maquette on which the piece is based (hat tip as well to Pamela Wachna of Museum & Heritage Services at the City of Toronto).
- Thanks to Micah Lexier for providing a statement and background information regarding Ampersand at Leslie.
- Thanks to Rebecca Bayer for providing information about the Sherbourne station community mosaic and for inviting me to the pattern-making workshops! I will always be grateful for the opportunity to participate in the art installation at that station. Thanks also to Claire Dibble for permission to use her photos of Bayer working on the mosaic.
- Thanks to Robin Collyer for providing information and photos about Collyer’s (now removed) Sheppard-Yonge installation, Dwell.
- Thanks to Nelly Torossian and Philip Cote for providing descriptions of the murals of RESURGE! under Old Mill station.
- Thanks to Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins, for patiently handling my scatter-brained queries about Dodecadandy at Sheppard West, and about Directions Connections Intersections, at Woodbine, over the course of years.
- Thanks to Panya Clark Espinal for telling me about the secret centre of Spin at Downsview Park.
- Thanks to Michael McCann for taking the time to unearth the slides of his renderings for the Art in the Spadina Subway project, and for permission to reproduce them here. It was a genuine pleasure to discuss their context with him.
- There are so many people who have helped with photos! Thanks to George Chiasson for permission to reproduce photos from his extensive collection of 1980s era station images.
- Thanks to Patrick Cummins for permission to reproduce various photos of Queen Lower (and a few others).
- Thanks to Spacing magazine for providing access to Bay Lower.
- Thanks to May Shi (@may.shi) for permission to reproduce her photos of Daily Migration being worked on by Shalak Attack & team at Wilson. Thanks to Kseniya Tsoy (aka @ktsoy.art) and Edan Maxam (@eedzmaximus) for permission to include May Shi’s photos of them.
- Thanks (again) to Kseniya Tsoy for providing background contextual information regarding Crossroads at Finch, and to Jae Yang (@silentjae), and Grace Lai at STEPS for providing project photographs and reproduction permission.
- Thanks to Mario Silva for providing permission to access his archival files at the City in relation to the Queen’s Park mural. Thanks also to Anabela Taborda for helping me connect to Mr. Silva.
- Thanks to Jamie Bradburn, and Chris Bateman, whose individual past writings on the TTC I am certain I have pillaged for sources, if not occasionally tread perilously close to plagiarizing. Also thanks to any journalist who has ever covered the complex Toronto transit file.
- Thanks to Marty Bernard, John Carlson, Joe Clark, Bryson Gilbert, Robert Lubinski, Robert McMann, Chris Morgan, and David Wilson for permission to reproduce various photos from their personal collections. Thanks to aemmeleia, Romar Armas, GTD Aquitaine, basic_sounds, Emily Bean, Antony Caruso, gcosserat, Ryan Flores, fw_gadget, Geoffrey Gilmour-Taylor, Adam Howell, Noah H., Erin Keller, George Kelly, Adam Lauder, Tom Luton, Sean Marshall, Etienne Matte, Melinda, Sam Meyer, Ian Mutto, Brad O’Brien, Trevor Parkins-Scibberas, Bruce Pellowe, Reaperexpress, RobH6, Secondarywaltz, Scott Simpson, Robert Taylor, Avard Woolaver, wyliepoon, and others for either licensing their photographs under various Creative Commons licensing, or giving me permission to reproduce their photos, or helping me track down sources and information. If I’ve left your name out but used an image of yours, my unreserved apologies & let me know! If I’ve used your photo without permission (deliberately or not), please forgive me; I’ve tried to use everything judiciously for informational/educational purposes. This is a non-commercial project done purely for the joy of it.
- Thank you, dear readers, for your forbearance.
- Thanks to Carrie Martin for the help and smiles.
- Thanks to Elise Paradis for listening, even from a distance. Miss you!
- Thanks to Emilia D. for the friendship.
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| Left to right: TTC Chair William McBrien, Toronto Mayor Allan Lamport, Ontario Premier Leslie Frost, Metro Chair Frederick Gardiner, presiding at the opening of the subway March 30, 1954 at Davisville station |
Disclaimers
- This site is not affiliated with the TTC or its employees.
- Yes, I know that my station groupings don’t match the official lines.
- I’m perfectly aware the kerning in the banner and gallery thumbnails is often off. That’s deliberate.
- Opinions herein are subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. I’m simply a random transit fan riding around on the subway. It’s inevitable that you detest a station I’ve praised, while simultaneously you admire a station of which I am unforgivably contemptuous (cough—Museum). Or that I have a different, peculiar view of transit planning—welcome to Toronto, where everyone has their own idiosyncratic views, despite precious little actual knowledge of transit system operations, design, or urban planning principles!
- Errata: Corrections to factual errors are welcome and encouraged, as well as pointers to station features I may have overlooked. Despite my know-it-all aspirations, an endeavour of this scope invariably gives rise to a multitude of pernicious missteps, goof-ups, and omissions. And sometimes, I’m just totally wrong about stuff. I tried my best to do the research, but misinterpretation is a distinct ongoing risk.
- Many times I glossed over massive patches of history. While this project is not intended to be a standard history of the Toronto subway system, the stations have played key roles in our transit past, and I hope that my archival coverage is sufficient to pique any casual transit fan’s cursory interest.
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| Construction begins November 16, 1959 on the Bloor-Danforth-University subway |
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Image Credits for this page:
Photos courtesy of City of Toronto Archives:
Photos courtesy of City of Toronto Archives:
- Yonge-line cake: Series 381, File 298, Item 11847-5
- Subway opening: Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 8957
- Bloor-Danforth-University subway construction start: Series 648, File 59, Item 4