smallspy
Senior Member
That's not quite what they were for or how it all went.They were not windows. Just openings. And IIRC the panels were installed partly for noise, but mostly to keep the elements out and reduce maintenance.
Once it was realised that the subway was not going to use the bridge carrying Bloor over the Rosedale Ravine, a number of designs were floated about for a new bridge carrying the subway tracks across the valley, all of them completely open.
The residents of Rosedale were not enthused, and requested that the TTC enclose the tunnel, so that their homes were not disturbed by the noise of passing trains. And, because it was Rosedale, the TTC relented and built a mostly-enclosed tunnel with just the openings in the roof for ventilation.
Fast forward 50 years, and the TTC is busy upgrading the ventilation system throughout the subway. It was very quickly realised that those openings were a very serious liability to any upgraded ventilation system, as they would allow oxygen to continue to flood into the tunnels in the event of a fire. So it was decided to seal the openings, and from a ventilation standpoint the bridge is now just another section of tunnel.
Dan