The G series was the first

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

cars used on the

Toronto subway The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is a multimodal rail network consisting of three heavy-capacity rail li ...

, built 1953–1959 by the

Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (GRC&W) was a railway rolling stock manufacturer based in Gloucester, England from 1860 until 1986. Products included goods wagons, passenger coaches, diesel multiple units, electric multiple uni ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, for the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...

(TTC) of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, Canada. As the only Toronto subway cars to be manufactured outside of Canada, its design was mainly influenced by the Q38 and R stocks of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The U ...

. Since the TTC's original concept for the subway system foresaw the use of rapid transit cars derived from the Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) design of its

streetcar network A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

, the cars were also equipped with bulls-eye

incandescent lighting An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxida ...

similar to that of a PCC, and a small operator's cabin located in the front left corner of each car. To this end, it was influenced by the 6000-series cars used on the Chicago "L", felt through the work of DeLeuw, Cather & Co. of Chicago, whom the TTC contracted as a consultant for the rapid transit project. The G-series cars were frequently described as "robust and reliable", despite being constructed overweight and energy-inefficient. The last G-series train ran on October 26, 1990, with the G series having been replaced by H-series trains. The only surviving cars, still mated in original condition, are fleet number 5098 and 5099, which are kept at the

Halton County Radial Railway The Halton County Radial Railway is a working museum of electric streetcars, other railway vehicles, buses and trolleybuses. It is operated by the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association (OERHA). It is focused primarily on the history of t ...

Milton, Ontario Milton (2016 census population 110,128) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing municipality in Canada, with a 71.4% increase in popul ...

Prototypes

Two mockup cars were delivered with slight variation from the final design: * doors slid on the outside of the cars * more interior lighting * no additional handle bars for standees * ceiling vents – missing on final design

Design

A total of 140 cars were built. Most were steel-bodied and had painted exteriors; however, six G2-series experimental aluminum-bodied cars demonstrated the benefits of using aluminum for rapid transit car construction. The G3-class cars were built as "non-driving motors" in that they had motorized

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

but were equipped with an operator's cab without driving controls and thus could only be used in the middle of the train. The G cars were originally designed in 2-car "

married pair A twin unit or twinset is a set of two railroad cars or locomotives which are permanently coupled and treated as if they were a single unit. A twinset of cars or coaches can also be called a twin car. In US passenger railroad parlance, twin u ...

" formations, and were run in trains consisting of 2, 3 or 4 sets (4, 6 or 8 cars). When the G3-class non-driving cars were introduced in 1956, 14 pairs of the G3-class cars were inserted between G1-class cars to form semi-permanently coupled 4-car trainsets, which could be coupled to the 2-car sets or operated on their own. The G-series vehicles were the only subway trains with painted livery.

Retirement

Upon retirement from revenue service, several G-series cars were rebuilt or refitted for duties as subway work cars. * 5068/5069 converted to grinder cars RT-36/RT-37 in 1991 and are now retired * 5100/5101 converted to garbage cars RT38/RT39 in 1987 and were retired in 1998 * 5102/5103 converted to grinding cars RT-34/RT-35 and were retired after an accident with a T1 subway car in 2004 * 5104/5105 became tunnel washing units RT14/RT15 in 1988 and were retired in 1999

Scale models

Two 1/16 scale models of cars 5042 and 5043 were commissioned by Sir Leslie Boyce of GRC&W and constructed by Bassett & Lowke, and have been located at Hillcrest and Greenwood at various times. The model cars are stored and on display at the Hillcrest Training Centre.

Notes

References