Colour Me Impressed: the New "old" Tile at St. Andrew Station

[299 bloor call control.]

They're finally putting up the replacement tiles at the south end of St Andrew Station and I gotta say I'm impressed with the TTC on this one, by bringing back the original tile and colour pattern of the station when it first opened.

 

[JasonParis]

That looks like vitrolite, but it can't be...can it?

 

[299 bloor call control.]

No, from the presentations on the past in the project, it is the same material as what they're using at Museum Station, but with a different treatment (i.e. glossy)

 

[simply Dan]

Those panels at Museum Station are already looking grubby. Hopefully the glossy finish will keep them cleaner.

 

[smuncky]

those look really nice. hopefully they'll keep them clean so they don't turn out like the ones beside them.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

That looks really good! Are they re-cladding the entire station?

 

[Northern Light]

Hmmmm

Hmmm,

That looks like 'white' tile..... (or am I seeing the colour wrong?)

I don't recall the TTC ever having white vitrolite. Wasn't St. Andrew grey?

It can't be original....if you look at the placement, unless my eyes deceive me, this 'new' tile is being placed on top of the original, it appears to stick out from the tile next to it.

***

I never minded the St. Andrew and Osgoode makeovers; except for how grubby looking they got; but this is an on-going issue with the TTC they don't seem to like to pay for a good scrub of the walls very often.

Speaking of which, did any one notice, a few months back, that the TTC had cleaned the old wall tile in the staircase leading from the Bloor-Yonge Mezzanine, SB side, going up to the HBC exit?

Its quite a contrast, the grout is all shiny white, except for where its missing!

I thought that was both funny and sad, cause they did this one little bit of tile, they didn't even reach the top in parts, so you can see this blinding contrast, and then they never filled in the missing grout either.

You just look at that and I want to pat them on the back and say, great idea! And then smack my forehead and go.....and you're finishing when?

BTW they've also given most of the tile @ St George a big scrub down, removing alot of the black and the rust sections on the track-side walls.

***

Hey, did they put colour-correct lenses on the new LED lights @ St. Andrew yet? (I'm sure it was St. Andrew...or Osgoode)...

They were giving the south part of the platform a funny blue'ish glow.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

The blueish glow from the LED lights at St. Andrew is growing on me. I actually like it now, compared to the ho-hum, see it everywhere fluorescent lighting on the north end of the platform.

This is a 'pilot' project, so hopefully it will pass the test and they'll reclad the whole station, otherwise, it'd be awful... the station would have new tile, old tile, newer old tile, LED lighting, regular lighting... it'd be like all of TTC's design inconsistencies puked in one station.

Smunky - apparently this material was chosen (and the reclad was done) to allow power cleaning from the platform edge. According to the TTC, the old slats needed more intimate cleaning that required power shut off at track level.

 

[Northern Light]

Can someone explain

Can someone explain to me why the TTC has such a hard time with trackside walls?

Power rail blah blah.



Can't they just put the same big roller brushes you see in a carwash on the side of a subway car with similar equipment that feeds soapy water into the brushes?

First car set sprays soap/warm water and scrubs, second set rinse, third set (six-car length) buffs and dries. You could use design that either wouldn't make contact with the rail or would handle it through conduction if it did.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

They should do it the same way the Moscow underground does. Every night they close for about an hour (I think) and powerwash every station from roof to track level. I'm assuming they shut off the third rail before they do.

 

[Jonny5]

They should do it the same way the Moscow underground does. Every night they close for about an hour (I think) and powerwash every station from roof to track level. I'm assuming they shut off the third rail before they do.

It may have been a rumour, but I read once that the TTC was chastised by the MoE for powerwashing as they didn't like the idea of soap and subway grime being washed into the storm sewers. They essentially stopped cleaning the station walls at that time.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

Can't say that would surprise me.

 

[APTA-2048]

The blueish glow from the LED lights at St. Andrew is growing on me. I actually like it now, compared to the ho-hum, see it everywhere fluorescent lighting on the north end of the platform.

This is a 'pilot' project, so hopefully it will pass the test and they'll reclad the whole station, otherwise, it'd be awful... the station would have new tile, old tile, newer old tile, LED lighting, regular lighting... it'd be like all of TTC's design inconsistencies puked in one station.

Smunky - apparently this material was chosen (and the reclad was done) to allow power cleaning from the platform edge. According to the TTC, the old slats needed more intimate cleaning that required power shut off at track level.

The LED lighting is growing on me too. I think it compliments the ceiling and tiles at the end of the platform. I really hope they use this new wall treatment for the rest of the station.
Does anyone else recall early plans of making some mural-like design for the station that just looked bad? I may be confusing stations, though.

 

[Dan416]

Does anyone else recall early plans of making some mural-like design for the station that just looked bad? I may be confusing stations, though.

That does ring a bell. From what I recall, it looked terrible. And if they ditched it, then I'll be a happy boy.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

They were planning it for Osgoode and St Patrick, but I never heard anything about St Andrew. Of the three designs, only Museum was finished and looked semi-decent (though not executed as properly as it could have been--or completed for that matter).