Toronto Street Railway


The Toronto Street Railway was the operator of a horse-drawn streetcar system from 1861 to 1891 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its successor, the Toronto Railway Company, inherited the horsecar system and electrified it between 1892 and 1894.

History

After the Williams Omnibus Bus Line had become heavily loaded in 1861, the city of Toronto issued a transit franchise for a horse-drawn street railway. The winner was Alexander Easton's Toronto Street Railway, which was required to build streetcar lines along Yonge, Queen and King streets. Service was required to be 16 hours per day, 14 in winter with a headway of no more than 30 minutes at a speed not to exceed. The fare was 5 cents with no transfer privileges and no discounted fare for children.
The company opened the first street railway line in Canada on September 11, 1861, operating from Yorkville Town Hall via Yonge and King streets to the St. Lawrence Market. The second line was opened in December 1861 operating from St. Lawrence Market via King, Yonge and Queen streets to the Queen Street Asylum at Ossington Avenue. By the end of 1861, the railway was operating 2 routes on of track using 70 horses and carrying 2,000 passengers per day. In 1862, the railway acquired the Williams Omnibus Bus Line.
In 1868, the railway was in financial difficulty and could not pay bond interest. Thus, it passed into the hands of the bondholders under an appointed trustee. In 1873, William and George Kiely acquired the railway and obtained a new act of incorporation under the old name. The new owners operated the railway until the end of the franchise in 1891.
By 1891, the last year of the franchise, the railway was carrying 55,000 passengers using 264 horsecars, 99 buses, 100 sleighs and 1,372 horses. The railway had of track and of routes.
By mutual agreement between the City and railway, the 30-year franchise expired on March 16, 1891. Because there was no transition agreement, the streetcar system shut down for the three following days. Streetcar service resumed on March 20, with the City as the operator. By an arbitrated agreement, the City paid the Toronto Street Railway Company $1,453,788 for the railway's assets. The City operated the system briefly, but soon elected to pass on the rights to a new company, the Toronto Railway Company on September 1, 1891 for another thirty years under William Mackenzie and associates including George Kiely from the defunct Toronto Street Railway. The TRC agreed to pay the City $1,453,788 plus a percentage of gross receipts for the franchise.
The City required the TRC to electrify the horsecar lines within three years. The first electric cars were run on August 15, 1892, and horsecars were last operated August 31, 1894. As part of the conversion from horse to electric traction, the TRC had replaced all the horsecar tracks with heavier rails to handle the faster, heavier electric streetcars.

Track gauge

The Toronto Street Railway created Toronto's unique gauge that is still used today by the Toronto streetcar system and 3 lines of the Toronto subway. However, the original Toronto gauge may have been, slightly wider than today's. When the Toronto Railway Company took over the horsecar system of the Toronto Street Railway in 1891, its charter mentioned a gauge of
The 1861 agreement between the City of Toronto and the Toronto Street Railway stated:
As wagons were normally built at standard gauge, the streetcar rails were selected to be slightly wider, allowing the wagons to ride on the inside sections of the rail, and the streetcars on the outside. The Williams Omnibus Bus Line changed the gauge of their buses in 1861 to fit this gauge.
Ken Heard, Consultant Museologist, Canadian Museums Association, was reported to say:

Routes

Routes with "Transferred to City" in the "Ended" column were operating on May 20, 1891, when the Toronto Street Railway Company's franchise expired and had their operations taken over by the City of Toronto.
RouteStartedEndedNotes
BathurstSeptember 1889December 7, 1889To "Seaton Village"
BloorMay 29, 1891Transferred to City
BrocktonSeptember 4, 1883May 1884From "Queen & Brockton"; to "Queen & Brockton"
Carlton & CollegeAugust 2, 1886Transferred to City
ChurchAugust 18, 1881Transferred to City
DanforthJuly 8, 1889Transferred to City
DavenportAugust 18, 1890Transferred to CityFrom "Seaton Village"
Dovercourt via McCaulSeptember 24, 1888Transferred to CityFrom "McCaul & College"
Front & McCaulOctober 22, 1883June 28, 1884To "McCaul & College"
Front & ParliamentNovember 25, 1878July 25, 1881To "Parliament" and "Winchester"
High Park via QueenApril 1887Transferred to CityFrom "Queen & Parkdale"
KingSeptember 21, 1874Transferred to CityLongest continuously operated route in Toronto
King via StrachanSeptember 2, 1879September 19, 1890During Toronto Industrial Exhibition only; to "King"
Kingston Rd.June 9, 1875April 1887Kingston Road Tramway Co.; by this date; part to "Woodbine"
LeeJuly 15, 1889Transferred to City
McCaul & CollegeJune 30, 1884September 22, 1888From "Front & McCaul"; to "Dovercourt via McCaul"
McCaul & CollegeJuly 15, 1889Transferred to CityFrom "Dovercourt via McCaul"
MetropolitanJanuary 26, 1885Transferred to CityMetropolitan Street Railway
ParliamentJuly 26, 1881Transferred to Cityto City from "Front & Parliament"
QueenFebruary 2, 1861December 7, 1881to "Queen & Brockton"
QueenSeptember 4, 1883May 1884From "Queen & Brockton"; to "Queen & Brockton"
Queen & BrocktonDecember 8, 1881September 3, 1883From "Queen"; to "Queen & Brockton"
Queen & BrocktonMay 1884Transferred to CityFrom "Brockton" and "Queen"
Queen & ParkdaleSeptember 2, 1879April 1887Ended by Q2 1887; to "High Park via Queen"
Queen EastMay 11, 1885Transferred to CityFrom "Sherbourne"
Seaton VillageJuly 27, 1885Transferred to CityFrom "Spadina & Bathurst"
SherbourneDecember 1, 1874Transferred to CityMay have begun a day or two earlier
SpadinaJune 1879Transferred to City
Spadina & BathurstJune 30, 1884July 25, 1885From "Spadina"; to "Seaton Village"
Toronto Industrial ExhibitionSeptember 13, 1883September 19, 1890First electric route; operated by steam during the 1891 season
WinchesterJuly 26, 1881Transferred to CityFrom "Front & Parliament"
WoodbineMay 21, 1887Transferred to CityFrom "Kingston Rd."
YongeNovember 9, 1861Transferred to CityFirst rail transit route in Toronto

Roster

In the first year, the TSR had only 11 horsecars on the roster. Before the end of the franchise, the TSR had 262 cars, 100 omnibuses, 100 sleighs and 1,356 horses. Among the horsecar manufacturers were John Stephenson Company of New York, New York, Jones Car Company and the shops of the Toronto Street Railway. Horsecars could be open or closed vehicles, and require one or two horses to pull, depending on car length. The sleighs were built by Thomas Speight Wagon Works of Markham Village, Ontario
TypeLengthSeatsHorses
required		Fleet
Closed12192
Closed14112
Closed222102
Open50256

Closed cars

Closed horsecars were short, to feet in length, and had four wheels bolted to their bodies. Straw was placed on the floor to provide warmth in winter. There was a small coal oil lamp at one end of the car for both interior and exterior lighting at night. Larger cars had a conductor to collect fares using a hand-held box; on smaller one-man cars, a fare box was mounted on the wall by the driver. The driver had to stand on an open platform with no windshield.

Disposition

After the Toronto Railway Company completed electrification, most of the horsecars were scrapped. Some were converted into trailers hauled by a motor car, but the old horsecars were found to be unsuited for the higher speed of electric streetcar operation. The TRC repurposed two horsecars, 13 and 16, as offices at Exhibition Loop. They were both inherited by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1921 which scrapped horsecar 12 but retained horsecar 16 as a historic relic. In 1945, car 16 participated in a parade pulled by two horses on the tracks of the Queen streetcar line. In 1968, the TTC donated the horsecar to the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.
Car 16 was built in 1874 by the John Stephenson Company of New York City. It was used throughout the network of the Toronto Street Railway. It sat 16 passengers and could be pulled by one or two horses. According to historian Trevor Parkins-Sciberras, if the tram was overloaded, the horses would refuse to haul it.

Facilities

The TSR had separate facilities for horses versus vehicles with the exception of the King stables, which had storage space for buses.
FacilityLocationOpenedNotes
Yorkville stablesScollard Street1861Located behind Yorkville town hall, the stables were enlarged several times between 1861 and 1889, and consisted of 5 buildings providing 224 stalls. A track curving from Yorkville Avenue passed through an archway in the town hall building to the stables behind. Between 1861 and 1879, the TSR rented office space at the town hall. In 1891, the stables held 213 horses. In 1892, the Toronto Railway Company demolished the stables in order to construct its Yorkville Carhouse.
George Street stablesFront & George streets1881The three-storey building had 459 stalls over 3 floors: 227 stalls on the first floor, 216 on the second and 20 on the third. The building held 432 horses in 1891. It was destroyed by fire in 1902.
King stablesKing & St. Lawrence streets, SE corner1885The stables had 254 stalls and held 216 horses in 1891. The loft could store 30 buses.
Frederick Street stablesFront & Frederick streets, SE corner1888The stables had 588 stalls and held 495 horses in 1891. Since 1977, the Young People's Theatre has occupied this building.

FacilityLocationOpenedNotes
Car shopsFront & Frederick streets, NE corner1882The building had shops capable of building new cars and could store up to 38 cars on each of its three floors. An electric elevator moved cars between street level and the upper floors. After 1889, the building was used only for car building and repairs. The building was demolished in 1979 and condo towers stand on the site.
Front Street carhouseFront Street south side, east side of Frederick Street stables1883The carhouse could store 100 buses or sleighs on the ground level and 52 cars on each of its second and third levels. There was a hoist to move cars to the upper levels. The TRC used it as a stores building. The building was closed by the TTC in 1924 when the Hillcrest Complex opened, and it was demolished in 1928.
King carhouseKing & St. Lawrence streets, east of stables1886The carhouse could hold 32 cars on each of its two levels, and had an electric hoist. The nearby stables could store 30 buses. There was also a south lot that could hold 35 more buses.