Hillcrest Complex
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Hillcrest Complex, the
Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...
's largest facility, is responsible for most of the maintenance work on the system's surface vehicles, including heavy overhauls, repairs, and repainting. It is located adjacent to the intersection of Bathurst Street and
Davenport Road Davenport Road is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is believed to be the oldest road in Toronto, starting as a native trail called "old portage" along the shoreline scarp of Glacial Lake Iroquois. It currently run ...
. The site is also home to the TTC's Transit Control Centre, but the operational headquarters of the organization remains at the McBrien Building, at 1900 Yonge Street. Hillcrest Complex occupies an area of about with a frontage of along Bathurst Street and along Davenport Road.


History

In 1922, the TTC purchased the Hillcrest Race Track to use its land for the new shop complex to replace smaller facilities inherited from the
Toronto Railway Company The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) was the operator of the streetcar system in Toronto between 1891 and 1921. It electrified the horsecar system it inherited from the Toronto Street Railway, the previous operator of streetcar service in Toronto. ...
. The TTC opened Hillcrest Complex on March 13, 1924, replacing the TRC's carshops, motor shops and stores building located at or near at Front and Frederick Streets. On June 9, the School of Instruction moved into Hillcrest. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Hillcrest Complex participated in the war effort by producing parts for military equipment. On July 30, 1953, Toronto's first two subway cars arrived at the Hillcrest Complex. However, all subsequent deliveries of G-series subway cars were made directly to the
Davisville Yard The Davisville Subway Yard is a rail yard on the Toronto Transit Commission's Yonge–University line, Yonge subway line. The train maintenance and storage building is referred to as the Davisville Carhouse. Location The yard is located adjoinin ...
. In the 1980s, the TTC purchased land on the west side of the complex to construct the W.E.P. Duncan Building and H.C. Patten Building. In 2008 and 2020, track replacement on Bathurst Street temporarily severed the St. Clair streetcar line from the rest of the streetcar system. During those construction periods, Hillcrest was used to store streetcars for route 512 St. Clair.


Railway access

Canadian Pacific Railway's mid-town rail line lies on the south side of the Hillcrest Complex, and the complex once had a network of
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
tracks and sidings for receiving railway cars. On the south and west sides of the complex,
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
tracks were intermixed with broader TTC gauge tracks creating four-rail
dual gauge Dual gauge railroad track has three or four rails, allowing vehicles of two track gauges to run on it. Signalling and sidings are more expensive to install on dual gauge tracks than on two single gauge tracks. Dual gauge is used when there i ...
where the standard and TTC gauge tracks overlapped. (See map.) After its opening in 1924, the Hillcrest Complex received railway shipments of coal, gravel and sand for use throughout the system. Earlier, the TTC had used the Hanson Yard (inherited form the
Toronto Civic Railways Toronto Civic Railways (TCR) was a streetcar operator created and owned by the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to serve newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve. When the Toronto Railway ...
) for such receipts. From 1940 to the 1970s, the TTC maintained standard-gauge switcher Y-18 to shunt railway cars around the complex. The TTC converted Y-18 from former dump car W-15 which the TTC had built in 1922; Y-18 was essentially a motorized flat car on two bogies with a cab at one end. Since there was no electrical overhead wires over the standard and dual-gauge tracks, Y-18 had no overhead electrical pickup device; it took power from an electrical extension cord. Some time after the retirement of Y-18, standard gauge track disappeared from the Hillcrest Complex. However, in 2014, a railway siding was constructed on the south side of the complex to receive deliveries of new
Flexity Outlook The Bombardier Flexity Outlook is a series of low-floored trams of the Two-rooms-and-a-bath car, multi-articulated type, manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. Part of the larger Bombardier Flexity product line (many of which are not low-floo ...
streetcars, as the 30-metre length of the new cars made transport by road from the factory impractical. At the east end of the siding, there is a ramp with TTC gauge tracks where another streetcar can pull a newly delivered Flexity streetcar from the flat car and shunt to the Harvey Shops for inspection. On January 24, 2020, the delivery of the last of 204 Flexity Outlook streetcars took place here, with streetcar 4603 arriving by rail from Bombardier's Thunder Bay plant.


Buildings


D.W. Harvey Shops

Named for D. W. Harvey and opened in 1923, the Harvey Shops handle the heavy maintenance of buses as well as high-floor streetcars such as the
CLRV The Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) were types of streetcars used by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from the late 1970s until they were scrapped in the late 2010s. They were built following t ...
and ALRV. The shops occupy a space of and is divided into sections for trades such as upholstery, blacksmith and carpentry. There is also a paint shop. The building contains a
transfer table A transfer table or traverser is a piece of railway equipment. It functions similarly to a turntable (railroad), turntable, although it cannot be used to turn vehicles around. Overview A transfer table, also known as a traverser, consists of a si ...
to access over 50 service bays with about 25 bays on each side of the moving table. The transfer table and most of the bays are only long. So, when ALRV streetcars with a length of were introduced, an addition was built on the easternmost tracks with direct access from outdoors to allow the ALRV cars to drive through the old building crossing the transfer table into a longer wing on the northeast side of the building where they are maintained. The new Flexity streetcars cannot be maintained at the Harvey Shops because of their length of and because the shops are oriented to service the equipment under the high floors of older streetcars rather than the roof-top equipment of the low-floor streetcars. Thus, the Leslie Barns will be handling heavy maintenance for the Flexity cars. The Harvey Shops does truck and motor overhauls for streetcar and subway equipment, and it will supplement the Leslie Barns in doing such overhauls for Flexity Outlook streetcars. The Harvey Shops can rebuild buses and older streetcars by stripping the vehicles to their frames, assessing corrosion and repairing or replacing parts as needed. Parts such as, for example, a motor may be rebuilt from more than one used motor. Some parts are manufactured within the building's various shops. Outside the Harvey Shops, the TTC stores vehicles uneconomical or impractical to repair to eventually strip them for parts to be used in other vehicles.


W.E.P. Duncan Building

Built in 1985, and named for W. E. P. Duncan, the Duncan shop is the TTC's heavy bus maintenance facility, including rebuilds and major power plant work, to meet the needs of the bus operating divisions. The building also houses the Materials and Procurement Department. The Duncan Building replaced an obsolete bus maintenance garage in
Parkdale, Toronto Parkdale is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, west of Downtown Toronto, downtown. The neighbourhood is bounded on the west by Roncesvalles Avenue; on the north by the Canadian Pacific Railway, CP Rail line where it c ...
.


H.C. Patten Building

The revenue operations building is located at the northwest corner of the site at 835 Davenport Road. The building is named for H. C. Patten, General Manager of the Toronto Transportation Commission from 1939 until 1952. Opened in the 1980s, the building was designed with security in mind to handle fare media such cash, tickets, tokens, passes and transfers. Because of security, the building has few windows.


J.G. Inglis Building

The administrative and employment offices are in this building, which is located at the main entrance to the complex. It was named for John G. Inglis in 1991 to honour the man who pioneered the PCC streetcar.


David L. Gunn Building

The Transit Control Centre is named for David L. Gunn, Chief General Manager of the TTC from 1995 to 1999. The TTC's Transit Control Centre is located in the three storey Gunn Building at the northeastern corner of the Hillcrest Complex. The facility has of space containing mechanical, electrical, and computer equipment, offices and a training area. In addition to subway/SRT train control, the facility monitors traction power, security, fire safety, communications, ventilation and mechanical systems. It monitors all TTC operations including surface routes.


Davenport Garage

Davenport Garage is a two storey building located at the north edge of the Hillcrest Complex with road access directly from
Davenport Road Davenport Road is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is believed to be the oldest road in Toronto, starting as a native trail called "old portage" along the shoreline scarp of Glacial Lake Iroquois. It currently run ...
to its second floor. When opened in 1925, it was the main garage for all gasoline-powered TTC vehicles. Later it also served
Gray Coach Gray Coach was a Canadian inter-city bus line based in Toronto, Ontario, from 1927 to 1992. It was founded and initially owned by the Toronto Transportation Commission, until sold to Stagecoach in 1990. In 1992 the business was sold to Greyhou ...
vehicles. On the lower level, there was a repair shop with 10 repair pits and an area for storing parts and materials for bus maintenance. On the upper level, the garage had 4 inspection pits and a wash rack. The garage closed in 1993.


Streetcar Way Building

In 2019, the TTC opened a new Streetcar Way Building to support rail bending functions which involve bending pieces of rail for curves in streetcar track. The building has of floor space. Outside the building, there is of space for the pre-assembly of special track work (switches, crossings and connecting curves) and the storage of equipment and materials. Streetcar Way employees formerly located at the
Roncesvalles Roncesvalles ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some in the Pyrenees, about from the French border as the crow flies, or by road. Histo ...
and Russell carhouses were transferred to the new building. The consolidation of way functions at Hillcrest would result in a savings of $1.8 million per year.


Other buildings

Others buildings include Support Services Building and Subway Operations Building.


Future

, the TTC was contemplating several functional changes to the Hillcrest Complex. Changes considered included: * The TTC has proposed setting up a carhouse at the Hillcrest Complex to serve the 512 St. Clair streetcar route. * The TTC may repurpose the Davenport Garage for its Training and Vehicle Engineering staff, or to set up a transit museum. * If the TTC acquires electric buses, then the TTC may maintain them at the Hillcrest Complex drawing on the expertise of existing electrical staff. * With the conversion of fare media from tickets and tokens to the electronic Presto fare card, the Patten Building's usefulness is in decline. Thus, the TTC is studying alternate uses for the building. However, the TTC still needs to allow cash fares.


New carhouse

In 2020, the TTC proposed setting up a carhouse at the Hillcrest Complex, to store and service 25 streetcars; the project had a then-estimated cost of $100 million. The TTC would like to have a fleet of 264 streetcars by 2024, but currently has space at the three existing carhouses for only 239. A carhouse at the Hillcrest Complex would serve the nearby 512 St. Clair streetcar route, and would eliminate about of non-revenue travel to get to the route from other carhouses. The new carhouse might also be used for
511 Bathurst The 511 Bathurst is a Toronto streetcar route operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Ontario, Canada. Route The 511 Bathurst operates between Bathurst station and Exhibition Loop north–south along Bathurst Street in mixed traffic, ...
streetcars. The carhouse is to be constructed in two phases: * Phase 1 would see the installation of new tracks in the yard, overhead wires, an anti-squeal lubrication system and a temporary pre-serving area plus the replacement of tracks within the Harvey Shops. * Phase 2 would see the installation of a new sanding system and a permanent pre-servicing area. Construction on the new carhouse officially started in March 2025, and is expected to be completed in 5 years.


See also

*
William McBrien Building William McBrien Building (formally known as the W. C. McBrien Building) is the administrative headquarters of the Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada ...
, TTC headquarters at
Davisville station Davisville is a List of Toronto subway stations, subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 1900 Yonge Street, where it intersects with Chaplin Crescent and Davisville Avenue. The station opened in 1 ...
* St. Clair Carhouse, a former carhouse located near the Hillcrest Complex


References


External links


The Hillcrest Complex
- Article by James Bow on the history of the Hillcrest Complex.
Hillcrest Complex Site Plan
*
Hillcrest Complex Upgrades
TTC project page {{Toronto Transit Commission Toronto Transit Commission