Toronto Leslie Barns | ?m | ?s | TTC | SAI

Looks like the city project page was updated on May 25 with this:

May 2012 - Pomerleau has been awarded the contract to build the Ashbridges Bay Streetcar Maintenance and Storage Facility. The contract includes construction of the main facility as well as the storage tracks. Crews will be mobilizing in June, 2012 with preconstruction activity. The project is scheduled for completion in late 2014.
 
There's a proposal at the next TTC meeting to change the name of the facility from the Ashbridges Bay Streetcar Maintenance and Storage Facility to Leslie Barn - http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Com.../November_21/Reports/Ashbridges_Streetcar.pdf

While I applaud the much shorter name, I wonder if calling it Leslie Carhouse would be more consistent.

Seems the Ashbridges Bay name seems to remind people too much of the sewage treatment plant. And I suppose the new yard is a fair ways from Ashbridges Bay these days - even if it's built where the bay used to be.
 
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It doesn't look consistent, do they want it to be Leslie Barn or Leslie Barns?
 
nfitz said:
They want Barn. Perhaps they should want Barns.
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They appear to have been listening. From the agenda of the next TTC board meeting this motion is to be considered:

RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Commission endorse changing the name of the new streetcar
maintenance and storage facility currently being built at Leslie Street and Lake Shore
Boulevard from “The Leslie Barn†to “The Leslie Barns.â€
BACKGROUND
At its meeting of December 19, 2012, Chair Stintz moved a motion to re-open Report 8(d)
from the November 21, 2012 meeting for the purpose of changing the approved name from
“The Leslie Barn†to “The Leslie Barns.†The original report entitled “Ashbridges Bay
Streetcar Maintenance and Storage Facility Name Change†which was tabled at the
November 21, 2012 Commission meeting is attached.
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Toronto1 said:
It was known weeks ago, perhaps through Steve Munro's site, that the Commission report accidentally dropped the "s" and that this would be corrected at the January meeting.

"Ashbridges Bay Streetcar Maintenance and Storage Facility" was a mouthful. I had "carhouse" in my mind as a traditional description for the facility, but "barns" will do if that's what Wychwood was called.
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Wychwood was always known as St. Clair Carhouse in TTC parlance. Referring to it as "Wychwood carhouse" or "Wychwood barns" was never a TTC thing.
Likewise, Russell Carhouse was commonly referred to by non-TTC people as "Connaught carhouse". "Carhouse" would be the consistent term (eg. Davisville Carhouse, McCowan Carhouse, etc.). "Barns" wasn't a term used for streetcar yards in recent memory.
 
The architecture, landscaping and streetscape investments look quite promising. I like the panels that will supposedly allow people to look into the facility. It's quite appropriate to make such investments in the infrastructure of our streetcar network because the system is iconic.
 
As a kid living near the Roncesvalles Barns in the 1950's, I did not know we could go into the traffic office building (south-east corner) to buy student tickets. This was before they started selling tickets, later tokens, at convenience stores.

Never did like the wooden fence they had around the yard, but enjoyed watching the streetcars do their rounds and switching tracks from the open section along the Queensway. Living near the barns and yards, I didn't find the wheel squeals that distracting. Instead, find it entertaining. I'm guessing some of the residents at Copernicus Lodge, overlooking the yards, make their own entertainment watching the streetcars shuffle around the tracks.

There aren't any tall buildings that will overlook the Leslie Barns, yet. Just low-density and parking lots, at the moment. Hope the barns bring some improvement to the surrounding wastelands.
 
I was at Lakeshore and Leslie today: workers are installing metal retaining walls with a pile driver, and are excavating a trench along Leslie. This line will run at surface (I think) - why the extensive trenching?
 
College Park said:
I was at Lakeshore and Leslie today: workers are installing metal retaining walls with a pile driver, and are excavating a trench along Leslie. This line will run at surface (I think) - why the extensive trenching?
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The Leslie barns would be built on what is landfill. It was originally a marsh or bay.

4705159132_15a24e4077_b.jpg


After it was filled it, the land was then used as an abattoir. Part of it is now a sewage treatment plant.
 
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College Park said:
I was at Lakeshore and Leslie today: workers are installing metal retaining walls with a pile driver, and are excavating a trench along Leslie. This line will run at surface (I think) - why the extensive trenching?
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They are rebuilding the sewers that run underneath first, as they are approaching 100 years old, and you don't want to build tracks on a sewer that they'll have to replace soon.

There's a huge sewer that runs along Lakeshore heading to the Ashbridges Bay sewage treatment plant, that intercepts all the sewers that used to drain into the lake.
 
Terrible pic, but at least it's up to date.

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