Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

[interchange42]

From less than an hour ago:

You future Bay Concourse: still looking a little bit rough.

42

 

[yrt+viva=1system]

Does anyone have any updates on the new chandelier/lighting that is suppose to hang and replace the ugly dingy orange lights in the Grand Hall?

 

[Richard White]

Does anyone have any updates on the new chandelier/lighting that is suppose to hang and replace the ugly dingy orange lights in the Grand Hall?

The lights currently there are not all that bad. They add character to the Great Hall although an LED upgrade wouldn't hurt (if there even is such a thing).

The better question is when will the window over the departures ramp be decalcified and is the information booth to be restored to its original state?

 

[mdrejhon]

There's also an excellent ground floor drawing that can show 'before and after' with the drawings linked in this forum just a few days back. I'm trying to figure out how to copy and post specific pics and drawings from this PDF as it would make discussion vastly simpler:

• For Windows, get Snipping Tool from Microsoft. This allows you to capture a rectangle of anything on screen.
  (Or just use the PrintScreen key to capture a screenshot -- but that's the full screen, not just a rectangle).
• For Mac, Shift+Ctrl+Command+4. This allows you to capture a rectangle of anything on screen.
• For iPad, hold HOME button and quickly press Power button to do screenshot. Then use the Photos app, view, Edit, and crop the image.

Then using the "More Options..." editor, hit Ctrl+V (PC), Command+V (Mac), or use the mouse, right click and paste. For iPad, use "Upload a File".

No file uploading is needed for PC/Mac screenshots as the image will be in your copy-paste clipboard, and pasting images work on UrbanToronto in the "More Options..." editor.

 

[Student99]

The lights currently there are not all that bad. They add character to the Great Hall although an LED upgrade wouldn't hurt (if there even is such a thing).

The better question is when will the window over the departures ramp be decalcified and is the information booth to be restored to its original state?

Totally disagree. A change in the lighting in there would be really refreshing. Whatever that is that's hanging in there right now is quite ill-fitting for such a grand space.

 

[44 North]

• For Windows, get Snipping Tool from Microsoft. This allows you to capture a rectangle of anything on screen.
  (Or just use the PrintScreen key to capture a screenshot -- but that's the full screen, not just a rectangle).
• For Mac, Shift+Ctrl+Command+4. This allows you to capture a rectangle of anything on screen.
• For iPad, hold HOME button and quickly press Power button to do screenshot. Then use the Photos app, view, Edit, and crop the image.

Then using the "More Options..." editor, hit Ctrl+V (PC), Command+V (Mac), or use the mouse, right click and paste. For iPad, use "Upload a File".

No file uploading is needed for PC/Mac screenshots as the image will be in your copy-paste clipboard, and pasting images work on UrbanToronto in the "More Options..." editor.

I'm used to the screenshot method. But I'd like to know if I can get the actual full image out of a pdf. Some of them are quite large, and to only capture what's on the screen I obviously lose a lot of the image's quality. Can this be done?

 

[DSC]

The lights currently there are not all that bad. They add character to the Great Hall although an LED upgrade wouldn't hurt (if there even is such a thing).

The better question is when will the window over the departures ramp be decalcified and is the information booth to be restored to its original state?

I think it is clear that the decalcification will happen in due course (I assume they are busily (?) working on the east and west walls behind all the scaffolding and will sooner or later do the north and south ones.)

Not sure about the information booth, I do not think I have ever seen a photo of it in its original state.

 

[mdrejhon]

I'm used to the screenshot method. But I'd like to know if I can get the actual full image out of a pdf. Some of them are quite large, and to only capture what's on the screen I obviously lose a lot of the image's quality. Can this be done?

Purchase some Print-to-PNG utility?

It is not an issue for me. I have Retina display and screenshot is PNG. Even my lowest-resolution PC screen is 1920x1080 at 100% dpi scaling, so everything is tack sharp with small text.

Screenshots are how I usually post my images here, and you have seen they are all generally quite sharp.

 

[mdrejhon]

Totally disagree. A change in the lighting in there would be really refreshing. Whatever that is that's hanging in there right now is quite ill-fitting for such a grand space.

They can clean them and use 5x brighter high-CRI warm LED lights in them, perhaps. Make them glow radiantly.

A nice new main chandelier is needed, though!

 

[dowlingm]

I'm used to the screenshot method. But I'd like to know if I can get the actual full image out of a pdf. Some of them are quite large, and to only capture what's on the screen I obviously lose a lot of the image's quality. Can this be done?

There is a thing called Zan Image Printer that we use to "print to image". It does the job.

 

[steveintoronto]

• For Windows, get Snipping Tool from Microsoft. This allows you to capture a rectangle of anything on screen.
  (Or just use the PrintScreen key to capture a screenshot -- but that's the full screen, not just a rectangle).
• For Mac, Shift+Ctrl+Command+4. This allows you to capture a rectangle of anything on screen.
• For iPad, hold HOME button and quickly press Power button to do screenshot. Then use the Photos app, view, Edit, and crop the image.

Then using the "More Options..." editor, hit Ctrl+V (PC), Command+V (Mac), or use the mouse, right click and paste. For iPad, use "Upload a File".

No file uploading is needed for PC/Mac screenshots as the image will be in your copy-paste clipboard, and pasting images work on UrbanToronto in the "More Options..." editor.

I'm using Linux (Ubuntu to be specific) and the limitation on individual pic cut and paste is down to the limited choice of Adobe Reader that's available. I used to have a version that I could do that on, it's no longer available for Linux, (Adobe Professional) albeit I do have it on a previous hard drive, but executing a copy might be problematic unless I can ghost it somehow.

There are various Linux based readers for PDF other than Adobe ones, but they all have limitations. That being said, there's no way I'd go back to using Windows or Mac, even though they are supported more. Mac I find positively buggy in ways, although has advantages in others.

For screenshots, I use Gnome Screenshot, although I suppose I should read more on it so it doesn't include the tabs on every grab. There are cropping controls on it, but I've yet to get it to work.

Edit to Add: I'll try this:
Ubuntu Geek: List of PDF Editing tools

I'm used to the screenshot method. But I'd like to know if I can get the actual full image out of a pdf. Some of them are quite large, and to only capture what's on the screen I obviously lose a lot of the image's quality. Can this be done?

I've been using a screenshot method too, better than nothing, it allows supporting discussion by illustration, but as you state, one wonders at what loss of image resolution?

What OS are you using?

I did it! Shown is pdf pg 138 @ https://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toronto/Facilities Management/Shared Content/Union Station/PDFs/USHSR - 484-050506-HSR Final .pdf

I had to right click on the options of the Gnome-Screenshot icon, the GUI box option wasn't working. Pardon the crudity, I'll play with this to hone the resolution, if indeed resolution loss is possible with a pdf image or conversion to some other format. Attaching the image to the forum post is also not fully clear to me yet.

That linked file is, I repeat, a *goldmine* of drawings, diagrams and descriptions as a reference to what this forum discusses. Just noted Interchange 42 has posted some new pics. I find that many forum threads, even when checked to do so, don't send an eml alert of new postings.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

The lights currently there are not all that bad. They add character to the Great Hall although an LED upgrade wouldn't hurt (if there even is such a thing).

I took a look today and thought about the lights.

The light fixtures in the Great Hall are not great enough for the Great Hall. They are nice, but lack any scale of presence worthy of such a large space. I like the light colour, as it goes well with the structure and material. But the amount of light is not sufficient, and it is not distributed well. It leaves the Great Hall feeling dingy and haggard instead of elegant.

Any upgrades should work to improve this delicately, without abolishing the character of the hall in the name of cheap and overly excessive 21st century lighting materials. Too many notable civic spaces these days are assaulted by harsh LED lighting that is too intense and out of character, making them cold and sterile instead of warm and inviting. Attention needs to be paid to amount, colour temperature and source technology of light, as well as the quality of the fixtures, where they are placed and how they distribute the light. If we want a good case study on this, we just have to look across the street.

 

[steveintoronto]

I took a look today and thought about the lights.

The light fixtures in the Great Hall are not great enough for the Great Hall. They are nice, but lack any scale of presence worthy of such a large space. I like the light colour, as it goes well with the structure and material. But the amount of light is not sufficient, and it is not distributed well. It leaves the Great Hall feeling dingy and haggard instead of elegant.

There's more at play than just colour temp and distribution. It's also the lack of *direct* illumination, and a single chandelier is not going to be the way to do it. You could argue on the stylistic need for a chandelier, but for function, it becomes a conundrum. Perhaps a multiplicity of them would work?

Your pics, btw, (I defer from using the term "brilliantly"...for obvious reasons) *wonderfully* illustrate the radically different atmospheres, albeit the functional needs are very different too. One is for travelling, the other is for staying. The latter allows floor standing illumination, as well as wall mounted lamps, and lots of them. And just above eye level, so as not to be blinding at close proximity, but to better illuminate the local area needed to see what's underfoot. That won't/can't happen in the Great Hall.

I was looking at pics of Grand Central Terminal to see how they do it there, as they often play with the light for different events. This is in one of the areas off the hall:

https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54666449e4b01fdff0c7a4b4/54767940e4b0d915c2654f80/558ee4b0e4b0b23e50ad17a0/1435428203036/download.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.gregpurnell.com/light/&docid=-MxqI1fEQZyFtM&tbnid=ZLCGo13O9ClK9M:&w=960&h=1440&client=ubuntu&bih=844&biw=1280&ved=0ahUKEwjQssS0_ZbPAhWG24MKHWBVDAIQMwh8KFAwUA&iact=mrc&uact=8
Note that as much or more light is diffused from being reflected from the ceiling as directly from the chandelier.

Here is the web page for the photographer, his area of specialty is....wait for it...*lighting*!
http://www.gregpurnell.com/light/

I picked the following pic, even though the angle biases the camera's captured image, as you can see the result of peripherally distributed lighting. Also the great amount of natural lighting is moot as it is dark outside at the time of this shot.That makes comparison to Union's Great Hall more fitting. And note: No central chandelier! There are ones in the alcoves, however, where they are more proximal to the area lit. (Edit: Technically, those aren't 'chandeliers' in the truest sense, but a grouping of bare light-bulbs, the result of wishing to showcase the use of the electric bulb when the station was built)

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/22/169722574/a-historic-arrival-new-yorks-grand-central-turns-100

Any upgrades should work to improve this delicately, without abolishing the character of the hall in the name of cheap and overly excessive 21st century lighting materials. Too many notable civic spaces these days are assaulted by harsh LED lighting that is too intense and out of character, making them cold and sterile instead of warm and inviting. Attention needs to be paid to amount, colour temperature and source technology of light, as well as the quality of the fixtures, where they are placed and how they distribute the light. If we want a good case study on this, we just have to look across the street.

I'm an electronic technologist, and LEDs have always fascinated me, but what looks good on paper, and what the retina and cortex discern are two very different things. LEDs can be so harsh that even for pilot lights on equipment, (guitar amplifiers, for instance) manufacturers are switching back to filament bulbs. And it's more than just colour temperature and wave-front contiguousness, but that's a whole other discussion in itself.

Here's the future:

Return of incandescent light bulbs as MIT makes them more efficient than LEDs

An incandescent light bulb

• Sarah Knapton, Science Editor

11 January 2016 • 5:00pm
Ever since the EU restricted sales of traditional incandescent light bulbs, homeowners have complained about the shortcomings of their energy-efficient replacements.

The clinical white beam of LEDs and frustrating time-delay of ‘green’ lighting has left many hankering after the instant, bright warm glow of traditional filament bulbs.

But now scientists in the US believe they have come up with a solution which could see a reprieve for incandescent bulbs.

"The lighting potential of this technology is exciting."
Prof Gang Chen, MIT
Researchers at MIT have shown that by surrounding the filament with a special crystal structure in the glass they can bounce back the energy which is usually lost in heat, while still allowing the light through.

They refer to the technique as ‘recycling light’ because the energy which would usually escape into the air is redirected back to the filament where it can create new light.

"It recycles the energy that would otherwise be wasted," said Professor Marin Soljacic.

An energy efficient light bulb
Usually traditional light bulbs are only about five per cent efficient, with 95 per cent of the energy being lost to the atmosphere. In comparison LED or florescent bulbs manage around 14 per cent efficiency. But the scientists believe that the new bulb could reach efficiency levels of 40 per cent.

And it shows colours far more naturally than modern energy-efficient bulbs. Traditional incandescent bulbs have a ‘colour rendering index’ rating of 100, because they match the hue of objects seen in natural daylight. However even ‘warm’ finish LED or florescent bulbs can only manage an index rating of 80 and most are far less.

"This experimental device is a proof-of-concept, at the low end of performance that could be ultimately achieved by this approach," said principal research scientist Ivan Celanovic.

"An important feature is that our demonstrated device achieves near-ideal rendering of colours.

“That is precisely the reason why incandescent lights remained dominant for so long: their warm light has remained preferable to drab fluorescent lighting for decades.”

Thomas Edison patented the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb more than 130 years ago so that "none but the extravagant" would ever "burn tallow candles.”

It works by heating a thin tungsten wire to temperatures of around 2,700 degrees Celsius. That hot wire emits what is known as black body radiation, a very broad spectrum of light that provides a warm look and a faithful rendering of all colours in a scene.

The first prototype Credit: MIT
However most of the energy is wasted as heat which is why many countries have now phased out the inefficient technology. The UK government announced in 2007 that incandescent bulbs would be phased out by 2011 however many manufacturers still sell them, using a loophole which says they can be put in industrial buildings.

The Energy Saving Trust calculates that typical living room usage of a 60-watt incandescent lightbulb over a year would cost £7.64. Using an equivalent energy efficient fluorescent or ‘CFL’ lightbulb would cost £1.53 per year, while an LED would cost just £1.27.

But if the new bulbs live up to expectations they would cost under 50p a year to run and even improve health.

Previously researchers have warned that the blue light emitted by modern bulbs could be stopping people from getting to sleep at night and campaigners have expressed concerns about the dangerous chemicals they contain.

Prof Gang Chen, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT added: "The lighting potential of this technology is exciting.”

The research was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...nt-light-bulbs-as-mit-makes-them-more-effici/

I quickly Googled that, MIT and others have published papers on the web on it. It got scant mention in the mass media, and yet it's re-revolutionary.

Hopefully when lighting is considered for 'Onion' Station, it will be forward compatible with much more *friendly* light.

 

[tnarduzzi]

[...] the option exists to underpin the 2 (or 3) structural columns in this area [the former Purdey's] (which already have the steel bracing installed btw), cutout the future doorways in the foundation, pour the slab, and have pax drop down from the leather shop via a temp staircase into the new sub level. Then it is just a short walk across the moat into the TTC. This would enable hoarding to be built around the pax route so work can continue all around on moat coverings, Bay concourse, etc.

Mark my words this is happening. Scaffolding is being moved into this area just east of the leather-shop-bypass and under the former Purdy's. The moat is excavated and the at-grade doorways from Union to the TTC have already been cut out of the foundation wall. The area under the former Purdy's is now fully underpinned and new steel columns are installed. I am pretty sure we will soon see the remaining Bay concourse closed and demo'ed once pax are routed through a new diversion into the TTC..

 

[DSC]

Mark my words this is happening. Scaffolding is being moved into this area just east of the leather-shop-bypass and under the former Purdy's. The moat is excavated and the at-grade doorways from Union to the TTC have already been cut out of the foundation wall. The area under the former Purdy's is now fully underpinned and new steel columns are installed. I am pretty sure we will soon see the remaining Bay concourse closed and demo'ed once pax are routed through a new diversion into the TTC..

The west side of the Bay Street moat has been excavated for months and the new doorways were cut in April or May. No doubt things are moving ahead but from the photos of what it looks like inside a few pages back it will still be MANY months before anyone will be able to walk straight across - with no stairs - from TTC to Union at that point. Also, no doubt that once they (we) can do this the rest of the moat excavation/construction will move towards Bay Street.