This video brings back so many memories. I got to see many and rode a few of the trains shot here, though the Hawker-Siddeley single-level GO coaches had been retired by the time I started commuting to Ryerson in Toronto from Burlington. The tempo cars with the orange and white RS18s were a particular highlight, as was any train hauled by an FPA4. It was great to see some shots of the TTC PCCs still in service. I got the chance to ride a few in service on the Carleton route. When they turned sharp corners and you sat in the very back it felt like you were going to keep swinging into the opposite lane of traffic! Wonderful to see the LRCs as they were intended, with Alco engined cabs looking fresh and speedy. Views of Spadina brought back memories of a special day with my dad who had arranged a tour of the shops and the roundhouse, and included a cab ride and short drive in an FP9A lash up - even got to ring the bell and blow the horn. Travel to and from Toronto was on the VIA RDCs from the old CN station in Burlington before it was closed and all VIA services were moved to the GO station a couple of kilometres away. Really great work - wish my dad was still around to see this.
I should ask--->Where, in Burlington, was the old CNR passenger train station? (I remember taking a GO Train--in early November 1982--westbound to Burlington; and the GO train station was, then, where it still is now [west of the Guelph Line & east of Brant Street]. Was this former CN train station actually there; before the GO Trains started to stop there?)
What a wonderful video! With such an endless variety of equipment, I bet train watching in those days was a lot of fun. I have the Green Frog video of Toronto in 1970 which I have enjoyed as well. Thanks for uploading this!
Thanks for posting this Rich. I was in the Bayview/Toronto area a couple of times in the Summer of 1980 with a friend. We spent four days around Bayview/Hamilton in June. On a rainy day we decided to ride GO into Toronto. As we passed the Spadina roundhouse I looked over and saw CN 4-8-2 #6060 on the table under steam. It was being test-fired in preparation for the NRHS convention the next month. We hotfooted it over to the roundhouse from the station, and since this was a time before massive lawsuits and release forms, we were loaned hardhats and told to be careful, but were allowed to walk around the area photographing 6060 and whatever else we could in the immediate area. We also both got to ride in the cab of 6060 briefly in the yard. We came back in July to photograph the 6060 trip to Niagara Falls, catching the train at Bayview and a number of other locations. Just to note a couple of loco numbers I could make out - MLW FPA4 6777 today is the pride of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in Northeast Ohio, and 6767 was a parts donor for it and 6771 before it was finally parted out completely earlier this year. I believe the roof of it went to restore the ALCO PA in Texas.
The shot of the 6060 in the film was from one of those Convention trips. I have more film of those trips and will release it in a future video. I visited Spadina in 1981 and was given the run of the place after signing a release. Like a kid in a candy store, was I!
I am flattered that you thought this was all original sound. All the scenes in the video were on Super 8 silent film with sounds dubbed in. Even 1980 was a bit early for consumer video, and the quality was crap compared to these films.
Great video! On the dates, I have photographs of CN 6768 taken in January 1977 (for sure, I took them). The locomotive is already in the VIA colours, but with a red CN logo on the nose. The very first video must go back to 1976, at least.
Yes, that first series of clips was from an earlier 6060 trip from Montreal to Toronto. I included it because it seemed to fit in with the balance of the content.
Wow, fantastic stuff. @Fmnut, you did a much better job at editing sound than Green Frog did with "Traintown Toronto." In that production, they didn't know their GMDs from MLWs and seemed to use prime mover sounds interchangeably. So congrats on getting it right.
Nice 'Turbo Train' action. The old single-deck GO cars and the relatively new Ontario Northland livery are delightful. The CN Budd-cars are awesome, they were a limited run in Ontario, mostly on the Toronto to Niagara, or infrequently Toronto to Windsor run. A better time in Canadian rail history before VIA consolidated and began to limit widespread rail travel in Ontario.
Notable footage includes: 0:35 - CP Peterborough Dayliner RDC cars heading southbound off the Don Branch to Union at Don 0:50 - ONR Northland heading northbound up the Bala sub from Union at Don 1:30 - VIA trains on the Kingston Sub (in Scarborough??) 1:55 + - Various Passenger trains in the TTR (Toronto Terminals Railway) around Spadina Avenue downtown, near the Spadina Coachyard 3:08 - CP local or transfer heads through the TTR 3:50 - Freight passes through the TTR on the "High Line" in the background 4:45 - CP #12 "The Canadian" (Sudbury-Toronto leg) heads to Union 7:58 - The CP Dayliner RDC run from Toronto-Buffalo departs westbound, RDC-4 9200 trails. 9:07 - TTC PCC streetcars cross the Don bridge at Queen Street/King St. 10:25 - looks like the northbound VIA Canadian, possibly on the Bala Sub at Oriole? 11:22 - Various trains arriving/departing Union Station, including VIA, GO and a GO with leased CN GP40. 13:38 - Possibly VIA's Canadian departing Union for Montreal via the Kingston Sub (there was a period in the 80's when it took this routing) 14:15 - Another CP Dayliner RDC run from Toronto-Buffalo departs westbound 14:45 - CN's Spadina Roundhouse 15:01 - CN's Spadina Coachyard 15:45 - ONR Northlander with TEE equipment 16:55 - CNR "Bullet-Nosed Beatty" 6060 inbound to Union on a fantrip (probably from Niagara Falls ON) 17:34 - CN ex-Reading Crusader cars 17:44 - Spadina Roundhouse and surrounding downtown area from the CN Tower 18:53 - ONR Northlander with TEE equipment 19:11 - CPR freight with M630's heading eastbound through the TTR downtown 19:55 - View of Toronto harbourfront from Centre Island
I've been trying to identify that 10:25 as well. I dont think It's Oriole...but a good guess. From the signal and the switch stand I suspect it may be on the CPR which would probably mean the Mactier.
Too funny. When I was growing up in Toronto, my family would take the Northlander to visit my aunt and grandmother in Timmins and South Porcupine. My Grandmother used to be the Post Master in Timmins.
10:54. Here, the Skyline dome car is operated "vestibule forward" . The front section has coach seats (as a continuation of the coach cars preceeding it), and the rear has the lounge with dome stairs. Around 1981 or 82 the configuration was changed and cars operation reversed; coach seats replaced with dining tables, and a small space for a lounge booth (underneath the dome with the galley) replaced with a takeout counter. Seats in dome also turned around. The result was a versatile car that offered observation, lounge space and cafe dining in one car for trains that do not warrant a full dining car.
I love Toronto, but I was wondering if you happen to have footage of old railway crossings shot on Pottery Rd, Strachan Ave and Lakeshore Blvd below the Gardiner at the Carlaw Ave and Don Roadway intersections?
They originally had cowbells, and they were brand new at the time of filming, so the soundtrack is chronologically inaccurate for that clip. Unfortunately I couldn't find an LRC accelerating sound with a proper bell in it. I was wondering how long it would take for someone to notice, congrats, you win at 2 days.
12:00 The Bombarddier LRCs were very new in 1981. Here you see no smoke in the Alco engines, by the end of service 20 years later they really smoked like steam loco.
The electronic bell sound was on a video clip of an LRC that I used for the soundtrack. I realized at the time it was probably incorrect but it was the best I had available. As to the cab cars, they obviously had them back then as the dates of the films are accurate. Thanks for watching.
Sorry, but the film was dated 1980 by the photographer. It was all on the same reel as the 6060 trip which was 1980. Can't account for the discrepancy in the content, I wasn't there.
@@fmnut It’s all excellent footage, so thanks for putting it up! Allot of it is 1980 and 1978, especially the 6060 excursion and the CP RDCs. I’m too anal sometimes. Sorry if that sounded backhanded or anything.
From a time when competence and innovation were the "modus operandi", not, as we now have, incompetence and political machinations. 2024/09/22. Ontario, Canada
