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Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

HamiltonTransitHistory said:
Mustapha, are you sure about the date on the now picture? Because the trees have no leaves and the people seem overdressed for summer. (Also, the price of gas at the station is about 10 cents higher than the June average in Toronto, according to GasBuddy.com. But it matches the average price back in April)
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Thank you HamiltonTransitHistory. I checked the 'EXIF' data on the picture and it is,... April 6 2012, 2:18pm. I'll be more careful in future. :)
 
Then and Now for September 7 2012.



Then. 'Gerrard and Pape, looking N. July 10, 1928.'

759.jpg



Now. April 2012. Rail accidents at the level crossing that can be glimpsed in the distance in the Then picture led to the closure/interruption of Pape here in - I'm guessing - the 1960s. A pedestrian footbridge crosses the CNR rail tracks.

760.jpg
 
spider said:
The Eastbound streetcar obviously stopped at Main (no more tracks) reversed Westbound on the Eastbound side of the street to the switch a hundred feet or so to the west and moved to the proper side of the street for the rest of the trip. Acceptable in 1915 but unimaginable in later years, any idea when this operation ended?
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Also unimaginable is the fact that the car operator could just keep going in a moment of inattention and drive off the end of the rails.
 
Mustapha said:
Now. April 2012. Rail accidents at the level crossing that can be glimpsed in the distance in the Then picture led to the closure/interruption of Pape here in - I'm guessing - the 1960s. A pedestrian footbridge crosses the CNR rail tracks.
Click to expand...

I seem to recall that it was about 1974 or so that the critical fatal Pape-closing accident happened--and the existing footbridge is more 70s-esque than 60s-esque, anyway...
 
adma said:
I seem to recall that it was about 1974 or so that the critical fatal Pape-closing accident happened--and the existing footbridge is more 70s-esque than 60s-esque, anyway...
Click to expand...

I recall that the bridge opened around the time Gerrard Square opened in 1975, as it became the way to get from Gerrard Square to the Riverdale Plaza over at Carlaw without having to go under the railway bridge on Gerrard St.

In regards to the question about the streetcar crossover on Gerrard St. near Main, the article on the Carlton streetcar route on Transit Toronto states that operation over the Main Street bridge began in 1922, so the operation would have been on double track along Gerrard from then on.
 
This was quite common in small towns. Most businesses were open Saturday and this was a way to give employees an extra bit of time off.
 
adma said:
I seem to recall that it was about 1974 or so that the critical fatal Pape-closing accident happened--and the existing footbridge is more 70s-esque than 60s-esque, anyway...
Click to expand...


AlbertHWagstaff said:
I recall that the bridge opened around the time Gerrard Square opened in 1975, as it became the way to get from Gerrard Square to the Riverdale Plaza over at Carlaw without having to go under the railway bridge on Gerrard St.

In regards to the question about the streetcar crossover on Gerrard St. near Main, the article on the Carlton streetcar route on Transit Toronto states that operation over the Main Street bridge began in 1922, so the operation would have been on double track along Gerrard from then on.
Click to expand...


Thanks guys for taking the trouble. I always appreciate the correct info.
 
adma said:
I seem to recall that it was about 1974 or so that the critical fatal Pape-closing accident happened--and the existing footbridge is more 70s-esque than 60s-esque, anyway...
Click to expand...

AlbertHWagstaff said:
I recall that the bridge opened around the time Gerrard Square opened in 1975, as it became the way to get from Gerrard Square to the Riverdale Plaza over at Carlaw without having to go under the railway bridge on Gerrard St.
Click to expand...

Mustapha said:
Thanks guys for taking the trouble. I always appreciate the correct info.
Click to expand...

I was in the area the day before the Then and Now was posted, and didn't realize that Pape was closed off at the railway tracks. That, and the photos and your posts made me curious, so I looked it up in the Toronto Star of the day.

In the 70s, the various levels of government - Municipal, Metro, Provincial, and Federal were fighting over who would pay to eliminate the level crossing. There were more than 20 of them in Metro (including 9 in Scarborough) that were on a list to be replaced with bridges or underpasses.

Then in Dec 1975 there was the TTC bus/GO Train collision at St Clair & Midland where 9 people were killed - the underpass there was started in 1976 with the Feds paying about $5.3 million of the $8 million cost.

Houses were actually expropriated for a $6 million full Pape underpass - then a pedestrian underpass was proposed (some thought it would be dark and dangerous) - or just closing Pape entirely - or a pedestrian overpass - which wasn't popular because they thought it would be too steep for the elderly and dangerous in winter.

There had been 7 fatalities in about 9 years. The last was on Jan 12, 1979, when a 12-year old boy who lived on Langley was killed, likely going home from the community centre on Gerrard. On Jan 16th the Metro government approved a $550,000 pedestrian overpass, and on Jan 29, 1979 the Pape level crossing was closed and work on the overpass started.
 
I remember those days, because I lived in St. James Town from September 1977 to April 1978 and my roommates and I used to travel to the supermarket in Poverty ( oops! Gerrard ... ) Square just so we could experience having our purchases run through the newfangled price-scanners at the checkout!

Love the bridge. Great view of downtown from up there. It's Riverdale's equivalent to the famous lift bridge at Arles that van Gogh painted.
 
Anna said:
I was in the area the day before the Then and Now was posted, and didn't realize that Pape was closed off at the railway tracks. That, and the photos and your posts made me curious, so I looked it up in the Toronto Star of the day.

In the 70s, the various levels of government - Municipal, Metro, Provincial, and Federal were fighting over who would pay to eliminate the level crossing. There were more than 20 of them in Metro (including 9 in Scarborough) that were on a list to be replaced with bridges or underpasses.

Then in Dec 1975 there was the TTC bus/GO Train collision at St Clair & Midland where 9 people were killed - the underpass there was started in 1976 with the Feds paying about $5.3 million of the $8 million cost.

Houses were actually expropriated for a $6 million full Pape underpass - then a pedestrian underpass was proposed (some thought it would be dark and dangerous) - or just closing Pape entirely - or a pedestrian overpass - which wasn't popular because they thought it would be too steep for the elderly and dangerous in winter.

There had been 7 fatalities in about 9 years. The last was on Jan 12, 1979, when a 12-year old boy who lived on Langley was killed, likely going home from the community centre on Gerrard. On Jan 16th the Metro government approved a $550,000 pedestrian overpass, and on Jan 29, 1979 the Pape level crossing was closed and work on the overpass started.
Click to expand...

Nicely netted out, thank you Anna.
 
Urban Shocker said:
I remember those days, because I lived in St. James Town from September 1977 to April 1978 and my roommates and I used to travel to the supermarket in Poverty ( oops! Gerrard ... ) Square just so we could experience having our purchases run through the newfangled price-scanners at the checkout!

Love the bridge. Great view of downtown from up there. It's Riverdale's equivalent to the famous lift bridge at Arles that van Gogh painted.
Click to expand...


Now you got me going; I'll be back to check out this recommendation. :)
 
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