Toronto Division

Weston

R.L.Kennedy

West Toronto Diamond, Tremof, Mount Dennis, Weston, and Emery

Mac Tier Subdivision West Toronto Diamond Mileage .0 to Emery Mileage 9.47

West Toronto Diamond, track liner is on Galt Sub. (other track below camera) North Toronto Sub. crosses the CNR Weston Sub. and connecting track to Mac Tier Sub. Single track MacTier Sub. in the distance. Taken from the Old Weston Road bridge, looking east. September 1980 Gord Billinghurst

Another view of the Diamond with a "Transfer Power" going across it.
new Also, the Transfer with the Empress of Agincourt.

Beginning at West Toronto diamond the MacTier Subdivision is the mainline to northern Ontario and western Canada. Part of it was originally the Toronto, Grey & Bruce, a narrow gauge line from Toronto through Parkdale, West Toronto, and Weston to Bolton and Orangeville. The mainline was built 1904-1908 between Bolton and Romford, near Sudbury connecting with the mainline from Montreal, eliminating use of the GTR between Toronto and North Bay.

Right next to the diamond is Andrew Merrilees Ltd., a long time dealer in used railway equipment including locomotives, rail etc. Their private siding was removed some years ago. A little farther north at Rogers Road was Dominion Stores food warehouse, long gone, relocated to North Queen Street. Just north of here the railway crosses Black Creek. Therrien Construction siding south of Eglinton Avenue level crossing.

Tremof Mileage 3.0 (pronounced tree-mof,) for TREthewey MOdel Farms, near Mount Dennis. CTC double track begins north of Tremof at Mile 3.5 just south of Lawrence Avenue West and extends north to Mile 9.2 at Emery. CTC continues to Bolton. In ABS days there was an overlap block beyween West Toronto and Bolton. Tremof, once a passing track, has long been a service track for industries including Kodak, new on Eglinton Avenue West. Kodak was a major industry here for many decades, (since 1913), as was Dominion Bridge, Mount Dennis, which occupied a large site at Jane Street & Trethewey Drive. It closed in late 1990, and recently became a residential development of 534 homes! Next to them was Ferranti Electric (later, Feranti-Packard) which operated since 1925 shipping out large transformers etc. It closed in the early 1990’s and was finally demolished for redevelopment as a TTC bus garage due to begin in late 2005. It had been acquired for a train yard for a still-born TTC subway line along Eglinton Avenue West which would have begun on the southside of Eglinton opposite Kodak (closed 2006). This vacant terminal property was also under redevelopment in July 2005 becoming a No Frills (Loblaws) supermarket. The Kodak property is 52 acres.

Weston Mileage 3.8 John Street

Weston station in paint style of brown and cream with grey roof, ready for the1939 Royal Tour. Al Paterson

TG&B station Oak Street mileage 8.5 of the old line.

A very old community located along the Humber River. The station, at John Street following the end of its use for passenger trains remained in use as an Agency until February 28, 1973. A large number of industries were located here, along with a depressed ramp at Oak Street. Here too were CN and CP interchange tracks that were heavily used until a mutual agreement consolidated interchange at Leaside. Industries once included Beecham Products (chewing gum), and A.P.Green Fire Brick, makers of the brick used in steam locomotive fireboxes!

Crane Estate Mileage 5.88 Spurs into an industrial area between Wilson & Sheppard Avenues west of Highway 400. T.Eaton’s warehouse was once located here and had 6 tracks. Southam Murray printing had 4 tracks. This spur was built c.1950.

Signet Area Industrial Spur Mileage 8.57 a long lead into a large industrial area north of Finch Avenue West, east to Highway 400, where once the CPR had looked at building a major freight yard. This spur was built c.1960.

Emery Mileage 8.0 (9.2)

Emery was once a rural flag stop in the middle of nowhere (Mile 8.0) on Finch Avenue West near Weston Road, this old undated damaged photograph shows a typical CPR shelter often used at small flag stops. (Golf, Summerville, and Christie on the Galt Sub also had such shelters.) Collection of Al Paterson

Steamboat with 1271 meets Budd Car at Emery

Centrillium in Emery Village is the name of a new (2004) development on a 5.6-hectare site at the northwest corner of Finch Avenue West and Weston Road. Rose Valley Homes (link)

Toronto Terminals Division Limit: Mileage 9.47

Bruce Division Road Crews

Two Emery Way Freights (days and afternoons) switched industries in the area in steam days and in the early 1950's had a four man tail-end crew, the extra man being a flagman required on account of the yard limits being at Rogers Road just north of Dominion Stores private siding and most switching being beyond there with only the single track mainline. The Yard Limits were later extended to Emery and the assignments became Industrial Yards, that is road crew, yard rates and conditions. Industries grew and once kept three Industrial Yard jobs working, later redesignated as Road Switchers. The First and Second Emery Road Switchers on days and the Third Emery RS on nights were based at Lambton until 1989, then relocated to Toronto Yard. Only one job remains in 2005 and it originates at Toronto Yard.

West Toronto, Lambton, Islington, Queensway, Dixie and Cooksville.

Back to Toronto Terminal main page index