Building Storeys: TTC Yards

Where Toronto's public transit vehicles go for rest or repairs.

By Jamie Bradburn

Every year, Heritage Toronto works with local photographers to create Building Storeys, a visual documentation and anecdotal exhibit of our city’s heritage sites. This year’s exhibit—which is on view at the Steam Whistle Roundhouse throughout the month of May—is dedicated to rail and marine transportation. Over the month, Torontoist and Heritage Toronto are exploring the context for Building Storeys; today we look at the TTC’s maintenance and storage yards.

Building Storeys
Steam Whistle Brewing (The Roundhouse, 255 Bremner Boulevard)
May 3–31
FREE

Sometimes streetcars and subways need a little pampering. Whether it’s cleaning, critical repair work, or a good night’s sleep, the TTC’s maintenance and storage yards provide the timeout vehicles need in order to continue moving the city around. From sites that have serviced streetcars since the Victorian era to the giant yards required for the subway system, generations of transit workers have kept vehicles in as fine shape as technology and budgets have allowed. The gallery visits several of the TTC’s current yards, as well as one from the past that has been successfully reinvented for other uses.