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• Transit Toronto Bus FAQ
• Transit Toronto Subway FAQ
• Transit Toronto Trolley Bus FAQ
• Transit Toronto Regional Transit FAQ
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How did the term "Red Rocket" come about?

It's a common misconception that the first "Red Rockets" were the Peter Witt streetcars. This misconception was inadvertantly fostered by Larry Partridge, who titled his Mind the Doors, Please chapter on the Peter Witt streetcar "Red Rockets I" (a format that we initially applied to our streetcar descriptions on Transit Toronto).

In fact, the term "Red Rocket" was only taken up by the TTC as a marketing slogan in the early to mid 1980s. It was in widespread use throughout the 1970s thanks to John Downing of the Toronto Sun, who applied the nickname during a series of articles attempting to bend the will of the TTC in favour of retaining streetcars. John Downing got the idea for the term from John Bromley during a lunch meeting between the two and Mike Filey. John Bromley originally coined the term on March 30, 1954, to (in his words) "facetiously" describe the slow Gloucester cars operating on the newly opened Yonge line. The term remained in limited use amongst John Bromley's friends during the fifties and the sixties until John used it during the lunch meeting with John Downing, and the idea took off like a (ahem) rocket.

Why are the new long red ("Flexity") streetcars so different from the older ("CLRV"/"ALRV") streetcars?

Electric vehicles tend to last longer than ones which burn fuel, like diesel or gasoline, to operate. Montreal's Deux-Montagnes operated with locomotives that had been built in the 1910s all the way to the 1990s. Whereas most American transit agencies replace their buses after 12 years (and the TTC usually squeezes six more years out of their vehicles), the TTC's streetcars were designed to operate for thirty years, and often operated longer. When the TTC retired its PCC streetcars from revenue service in 1996, the cars were 45 years old, having been rebuilt twice during their long career.

Because of this, and because of the small size of the TTC's streetcar fleet compared to its bus fleet, all the streetcars of each generation tend to be replaced at one go. The most recent generation of Toronto streetcars (the CLRVs and ALRVs, have been operating since the late 1970s and the late 1980s respectively, and are at the end of their design life. In the meantime, the technology of streetcars has advanced, and the requirements for public transit companies have changed. New accessibility requirements and changing traffic demands on streetcar drivers have led the TTC to purchase a model that is radically different from the ones that have come before.

How different are the Flexity streetcars from what has come before?

The obvious changes are that the Flexity streetcars are longer even than the ALRVs, and are 100% low floor. They offer wheelchair ramps that can be lowered onto a platform or the street itself. The length of the vehicle, and the number of passengers it serves requires all-door loading in order to speed up service. As a result, the driver has been removed from the fare payment equation, and now operates the streetcar in his own isolated cab at the front of the vehicle. Passengers must acquire proof of payment once they board the streetcars, flashing their PRESTO card in front of readers or paying their fare either on the platform or on on-board fare machines, and obtaining a transfer.

Among the changes you might not necessarily notice is how the new streetcars flip the automatic switches while enroute. The old technique of sending a signal through the trolley pole as it passes a sensor mounted on the overhead wire isn't effective on cars as long as the Flexities. Such signals must now be sent wirelessly, and the TTC has worked to change over the old switches to the new system. The TTC is also working to make the overhead wire network pantograph-friendly, and when enough of that system is converted, you will see the Flexities operate using pantographs rather than trolley poles.

Why did the TTC wait so long before converting its streetcar network to pantograph use?

Before 2014, the cost-benefit analysis of the change suggested that the benefits did not outweigh the costs. Pantograph operation has a number of advantages over trolley pole operation: it's significantly more reliable, for one thing. Pantographs do not dewire nearly as easily as trolley poles do. Pantographs are also able to deliver more power to the streetcar or light rail transit vehicle.

However, it would have cost a lot of money to change the TTC's streetcar network to pantograph operation, as pantograph catenary is different from typical overhead streetcar wire. The two systems aren't automatically compatible; you cannot just raise a pantograph against an old trolley wire and expect it to work flawlessly. Typical trolley wire may be too frail for the heavy duty pantographs to operate, and pantograph catenary usually strung so that it shifts from side to side, so as to not wear a groove into the metal surface of the pantograph. Also, there are no frogs in pantograph catenary "switches", and major consideration is also given to the interference between the more complicated pantograph catenary with TTC and city signage (e.g. crosswalks, etc).

Mark Brader also notes that another issue on the TTC's mind may have been the fact that streetcars were being operated alongside trolley buses in Toronto until 1993. Trolley buses require trolley poles so they can flexibly connect with the trolley wires (can anybody picture a pantograph for a trolley bus?). Although cities such as San Francisco and Edmonton have shown that pantograph and trolley wires can intersect, the intersections are a lot more complicated affairs.

Either way, it would have taken a lot of time and effort to make the switch before 2014, and the TTC had limited resources and other projects demanding their attention. However, today, with the new Flexities replacing the old streetcars, the cost-benefit analysis of making such a change shifts. If there is any time to make the change, it's now, and the TTC has already converted much of its overhead wire network to allow for pantograph operation, in such a way that the older trolley poles can still operate. The system will be fully pantograph-ready by 2019.

What other changes will the Flexities bring?

In addition to rewiring the streetcar network, the TTC also had to make curb cuts and changes to its platforms to allow wheelchair users to board the new streetcars. Provincial law requires that the TTC be entirely wheelchair accessible by 2024, so while the TTC are rebuilding the old streetcars to maintain and increase capacity during the delays to Bombardier's delivery of the Flexities, these vehicles will have to be removed from revenue service on that year.

Are the Flexities LRT vehicles? What is the difference between a streetcar and an LRT?

The Flexity model the TTC is buying for its streetcar network is different from the vehicles that Metrolinx is buying to operate on the EGLINTON-CROSSTOWN LRT line, even though they both are sold by Bombardier, and are both referred to as Flexities (albeit different sub-brands of Flexity). It's complicated to explain because we're not describing two different things, but rather a spectrum of options.

A streetcar is a passenger-carrying box that runs with wheels on tracks. The LRT is a passenger-carrying box that runs with wheels on tracks. A subway is a train of passenger-carrying boxes that run with wheels on tracks. Yes, that's basically the same thing. Indeed, Toronto's streetcars and subways were so interchangeable that a number of Toronto's streetcars were converted to operate on the subway as work equipment. Toronto's CLRVs were designed to operate both on Toronto's streets in mixed traffic, and on high-speed private right-of-way through Scarborough. This is why the CLRVs have roughly the same top speed as Toronto's subway trains. What differentiates a streetcar from an LRT and an LRT from a subway is more the tracks on which the vehicles operate, and less the vehicles themselves.

In Toronto, the word "streetcar" is generally used to describe a passenger-carrying box that runs on rails in the middle of streets, in mixed traffic. This is similar to how other streetcar networks operated in cities throughout North America. It is possible to separate Toronto's streetcars from competing automobile traffic, however, by banning cars from the rights-of-way, raising the tracks up on a curb, and separating them from other traffic lanes with bollards or boulevards. A number of Toronto's early streetcar routes operated on private rights-of-way, including St. Clair from 1913 to 1935. When the Queensway was extended to meet Queen Street at Roncesvalles, new streetcar tracks were built down the centre of the road on their own rights-of-way. And, of course, the whole of 509 Harbourfront, 510 Spadina and 512 St. Clair now operate on raised curbs, separated from competing automobile traffic. They're still streetcars, however; not much different from the other streetcar routes on the network.

LRT is short for "Light Rail Transit". This is a monicker coined in the 1970s in the United States to describe a new type of rapid transit that was, essentially, streetcars with attitude. Among the first systems to use the term were in Pittsburgh and Boston, which had abandoned most of their streetcar systems, but kept a core set of routes that were particularly special. What made these routes special was that they had sections that were completely separated from competing automobile traffic. Many of them dove into tunnels and served their downtown cores like subways before rising up to the surface in the suburbs. They could compete against the automobile on their own terms, and were carring passengers as effectively as any subway.

The term differentiates these projects from "Heavy Rail Transit" like subways or commuter rail, which requires more expensive infrastructure (tunnels, fully grade-separated rights-of-way, et cetera) to operate. Light Rail Transit used vehicles that could be boarded in the middle of the street rather than high-level platforms. The cars were shorter and, though they could be coupled together to form trains, the trains were typically shorter as well. And because these vehicles had the flexibility to operate underground where they needed to be, and in mixed traffic where it made more sense, they were cheaper to build than tunnelled subways, and more cost effective movers of people.

The new LRT lines of Portland, Calgary, Edmonton and, later, Minneapolis, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and so on, were built to stricter standards than the legacy streetcar systems of before. Station stops were more spread out -- sometimes a kilometre apart or more. Speeds were increased. Automobile traffic was banned over much of the route, and some sections were even tunnelled, with underground stations. Thus, the LRT boom was born in America.

Toronto's legacy streetcar network has sections where tracks operate in private right-of-way. Routes 509 Harbourfront, 510 Spadina and 512 St. Clair are almost completely separated from competing automobile traffic, but these are, at best, low-end LRT lines. The stops are less than 500 metres apart, and the routes serve more as circulators serving local passengers rather than regional rapid transit corridors. Toronto's streetcars are also single-ended, and require loops to turn around. The LRT lines planned for Eglinton, Finch West and Sheppard East, however, have stations spaced 800 metres apart. The cars will be longer and achieve faster speeds. The Eglinton line will be underground for most of its route, with stations spaced every kilometre. With cab controls on both ends of the vehicle, these trains can switch direction wherever there is a crossover to route it onto the correct track. This is much more what LRT is about.

Why are there tracks on Bathurst Street, north of Bloor, when all the Bathurst Streetcars turn south at Bathurst Station?

Before the Bloor subway opened in 1966, streetcars did run on Bathurst in revenue service as far as St. Clair. From 1966 to 1978, the tracks between Bloor and St. Clair were retained so that streetcars from Wychwood carhouse (located off St. Clair Avenue) could be used on the Bathurst route, and so that the streetcar network would not be disconnected into two parts. And since 1978, when the Wychwood carhouse was closed, streetcars operating on St. Clair Avenue have had to use the tracks to get there (normally from Roncesvalles carhouse). The tracks also provide access to Hillcrest Shops at Bathurst and Davenport.

There are no plans to abandon streetcar service on St. Clair (indeed, it was recently enhanced to private right-of-way operation), so the link up Bathurst street will remain. It may end up not being the only one, however. Should the St. Clair streetcar be extended to Runnymede, as the TTC hopes, rumour has it that one should expect streetcar tracks to be laid up Dundas Street from Dundas West station to the St. Clair/Runnymede loop (effectively converting the Junction bus to streetcar). Such an arrangement would save the TTC a fair chunk in dead-head time. The Bathurst link would likely remain, however, as an alternate route onto St. Clair, and the only access to Hillcrest Shops.

What was the TTC's Streetcar Abandonment Policy?

Have you noticed that Toronto is one of the few cities operating streetcars in North America? For the longest while, Toronto was the only city in Canada to have streetcars -- Montreal and Ottawa abandoned theirs in 1959. Some people blame a conspiracy of the car companies, while others refer to it as a reality of the transit picture of the time, but the fact was, from the 1930s until the 1960s, it was fashionable for cities to abandon their streetcar lines. Cities such as Halifax(1948), Hamilton(1953), Vancouver(1950s), Edmonton(1950s) or Omaha NE(1953), it was all the same: those cities still operating streetcars in the 1960s (Toronto, Pittsburgh, St Louis, to name a few) weren't doing so because of any sense of urban forethought, but rather because they were slow in embracing what was seen as the progressive trend.

It was always the TTC's intention, from the 1950s onward, to abandon its streetcar fleet. The opening of the Yonge Subway in 1954 resulted in the abandonment of a large portion of Toronto's streetcar system. Abandonments continued as more subway extensions opened. This would have continued, the TTC thought, until 1980, when the last streetcar routes would fall concurrent with the opening of the Queen Subway.

Enter the Streetcars For Toronto Committee. This community activist group, disturbed at the prospect of Toronto losing its system of streetcars, lobbied the TTC to rethink its policy. It worked. In 1972, the TTC proclaimed that it had abandoned its streetcar abandonment policy, and was even looking at reinstating lines (the proposal for a Spadina Streetcar was first floated in 1973). Rogers Road would be the last streetcar route to fall under this policy.

So, why was Rogers Road abandoned? Well, when the TTC made the decision to stop its streetcar abandonment program, it was making a bold, progressive move, so much so that they found that there wasn't a streetcar-construction industry prepared for it. No one in North America was making streetcars in the 1970s, so although the TTC had the free world's largest fleet of PCCs (745, with 205 of them obtained second-hand), they wouldn't last forever, and if the TTC was serious about maintaining its fleet, a builder for a new generation of streetcars had to be found. Fortunately, the Ontario Government was sympathetic to the TTC's plans, and had its crown corporation, the Urban Transit Development Corporation (UTDC), work with a Swiss manufacturer in designing the CLRV, the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle. The first of this new generation arrived on Toronto's streets in 1978. That still left a gap of seven years with which to use an aging fleet. As a result, the TTC also embarked on an extensive rebuilding program and, in order to maintain enough streetcars for the rest of the system, a route had to be abandoned. With the Borough of York requesting extension of Rogers Road service to Jane, and with the line in need of repairs anyway, the decision was a no brainer. "Rogers Road" fell to an extension of the Ossington trolley bus in 1974.

Was Rogers Road the last streetcar route to be abandoned, though?

No. Four other routes fell, but for different reasons:

In 1975 or so, the TTC broke off the portion of the St. Clair Streetcar route east of St. Clair Station and renamed it "Mt Pleasant". This route really didn't have much to do with the western half of St. Clair, and so it made sense to make it independent. However, after only a year of operation, it was abandoned and converted to bus operation temporarily before trolley bus service could be installed. The problem was that the line needed to be rebuilt, and so too did the roadway. From here, politics had a part to play. Despite the fact that the local residents preferred streetcar operation to its alternatives, the Metro Roads Department still managed to effectively veto the TTC's desire to keep the line open. Fortunately, this was the last portion of revenue streetcar trackage to be abandoned on the system.

The next of the three routes to fall was "Earlscourt", a strange route, overlapping St. Clair, with a full service schedule of its own. Sometimes, Earlscourt would run from Eglinton and Mt. Pleasant while St. Clair would run to St. Clair Station only, and sometimes this arrangement was reversed. Where the route got its name was the fact that it always used as its western terminus, Earlscourt Loop. The loop was (and is) located at the corner of St Clair and Lansdowne Avenues, in the neighbourhood of Earlscourt.

By 1978, Earlscourt had become a rush-hour branch of the St. Clair route, operating between Lansdowne Avenue and St. Clair West Station. When the new CLRVs did away with route names and replaced them with route numbers, the TTC decided that Earlscourt didn't merit its own route number, and merged it under the 512 designation used by St. Clair cars (certain PCC rollsigns had "512L" for the Earlscourt service). Separate Earlscourt transfers disappeared, replaced by standard St. Clair transfers. Today, the only remnant of the once mighty Earlscourt route happens to be a short-turn service at Lansdowne operating during the morning rush-hours only.

Then there was 522 Dundas Exhibition, the special service operating along Dundas Street, Roncesvalles, King and Dufferin to the western gates of the CNE. First the route was replaced by an express bus and renumbered 93, and then this disappeared altogether. Changing travel patterns spelt the end of this route; it was gone before the 1990s rolled around, although it made a brief reappearance due to bus shortages in 1995...

Finally, there was 507 Long Branch, operating along Lakeshore Boulevard from Humber Loop to Long Branch Loop. In 1995, the route was merged into the 501 Queen operations, producing a long route running from the Mississauga border in the west to the border of the old City of Scarborough to the east. The old interchange between the two routes at Humber was a bit of an anachronism, anyway, since most people leaving 507 at this point were doing so to board 501 cars. The arrangement had its roots in the early 1920s when the TTC interchanged with the Mimico line of the Toronto & York Radial Railway, and was maintained due to the TTC's zone fare system, forcing passengers had to pay a second fare in order to continue their trip in one direction or the other. This system was abandoned in the early 1970s, but the interchange remained in place for another twenty-four years.

The next abandonment was 521 King Exhibition, running from a loop of Richmond, Victoria and Queen, down Church, along King and then down Bathurst and Fleet to the Exhibition, operating whenever the Canadian National Exhibition is open and for special events including the Molson Indy. The route was rendered obsolete when the new 509 Harbourfront service opened on Saturday, July 23, 2000, to provide a link between Union Station and the Exhibition.

Full histories of all these routes, and more, can be found here.

You know, barely a kilometre of roadway separates the northern end of tracks on Coxwell and Coxwell subway station. Did the TTC plan to reinstate the Coxwell Streetcar?

The TTC considered it, briefly, but dropped the idea. In February 1997, the TTC commissioned a report on which bus routes in Toronto could be easily converted to streetcar operation. It ranked various routes in terms of peak-hour ridership, the capital costs required, and how many streetcars could be used. At the time, about 30+ CLRVs lay surplus, thanks to service cuts. To make use of these streetcars in the short term, the TTC considered creating streetcar routes using as much of the current streetcar infrastructure as possible.

The three routes identified as most preferable for conversion were 22 COXWELL, 29 DUFFERIN (south of Bloor) and 63 OSSINGTON (south of Bloor). Each of these had tracks already in place for part of the route, and some of these had looping facilities at one end of the route. Coxwell was found to be the easiest, as looping facilities are in place at Queen, Coxwell station could conceivably handle streetcars, and only 1 km of new track would need to be built. Evening and weekend operation could continue as it is now, with Coxwell streetcars operating up Kingston Road to Bingham Loop, as the Coxwell bus currently does.

However, the TTC could not recommend any such conversion. None of these three routes had the 3000 passengers per peak-hour load that made conversion to streetcars economically justifiable. The narrow width of these streets, compared to Spadina, also precluded the possibility of private right-of-way operation, which would negate the operating advantage that streetcars possess over buses. Conclusion: no go.

Instead, it recommended that an 850 metre gap be closed on Queen's Quay between Bathurst and Spadina streets. Doing this could allow the TTC to establish a streetcar route between Union Station and the Canadian National Exhibition for just $13.25 million, serving the rising Waterfront neighbourhood in the process. The City of Toronto agreed and, on July 23, 2000, service began on 509 HARBOURFRONT.

So, will there be any new streetcar lines in the future?

In 2007, the City of Toronto tried to kickstart construction of an inexpensive rapid transit network by launching Transit City, a plan to build LRT lines along Eglinton Avenue, Finch Avenue West, Sheppard Avenue East, Jane Street and Don Mills Road. The province of Ontario agreed to fund construction of the Eglinton, Finch West and Sheppard East LRTs. Construction had almost started when the city government changed, and an administration came in that was hostile to LRTs. Political fights ensued, and council recommitted to the construction of the Eglinton, Finch West and Sheppard East LRTs. The latter two have been delayed until 2020. Work continues on the tunnel that will carry the Eglinton LRT from Black Creek Drive to Leslie Street. This mammoth, $8 Billion line will open to the public in 2022. The above projects are part of new lines built to modern LRT standards.

As for the "legacy" Toronto streetcar network operating through the old city of Toronto, a short stretch running down Cherry Street from King to the railway tracks just north of Lake Shore Boulevard opened for service on June 19, 2016 as part of the 514 CHERRY streetcar. This new branch of the 504 KING streetcar will serve the West Don Lands neighbourhood and is the first of further streetcar extensions planned for the Portlands neighbourhood, including routes to Cherry Beach, along Commisioners Road, and along Queens Quay East and into Union Station. Funding has not been secured for these projects, however, even though developers in the Portlands are asking for these projects to start. Should pressure continue to increase, construction may start before the decade is out.

The one "legacy" component of Transit City called for the extension of streetcar tracks west of Exhibition loop to the Queen/Roncesvalles intersection, and the installation of private right-of-way on the streetcar tracks operating on Lake Shore Boulevard. This would give the residents of southern Etobicoke a more reliable route into Toronto's downtown. However, the province of Ontario never offered funding for this Waterfront West LRT, and it has slipped down the priority list. Construction may not begin until after 2020.

I have heard that standard railway equipment can not operate on TTC tracks. Is this true? And why?

It's true, at least for the legacy streetcar system and Toronto's subway network. Standard railway gauge is 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches, whereas the TTC uses a decidedly non-standard 4 feet 10 7/8 inches. The TTC is the only railway in the world to use this gauge (they and the Halton County Railway Museum, which runs equipment retired from the TTC). The gauge used by Toronto's streetcars and by its subways but not by the Scarborough RT (which uses standard gauge, just to confuse matters), and the gauge has existed since streetcars began operation in Toronto, back in 1861.

In the Articles of Agreement negotiated between the City of Toronto and the Toronto Street Railway on March 26, 1861, article five states the following: "That the gauge of the said railways shall be such that the ordinary vehicles now in use may travel on the said tracks, and that it shall and may be lawful to and for all and every person and persons whatsoever to travel upon and use the said tracks with their vehicles loaded or empty, when and so often as they may please, provided they do not impede or interfere with the cars of the party of the second part (Toronto Street Railway), running thereon, and subject at all times to the right of the said party of the second part, his executors, and administrators and assigns to keep the said tracks with his and their cars, when meeting or overtaking any other vehicle thereon."

Note that there is no mention of a specific gauge in this passage. However, Bill Miller of Electric Lines of Southern Ontario cites Ken Heard, Consultant Museologist, Coordinator, Technology and Transport Museums Sector, Canadian Museums Association, as stating: "One of the terms of these agreements was that the track gauge was to accommodate wagons. As horse car rail was step rail, the horse cars, equipped with iron wheels with flanges on the inside, ran on the outer, or upper step of the rail. Wagon wheels naturally did not have a flange. They were made of wood, with an iron tire. Wagons would use the inner, or lower step of the rail. The upper step of the rail guided the wagons on the track. In order to accommodate this arrangement, the track gauge had to be 4 feet, 11 inches. As the streets themselves were not paved, this arrangement permitted wagons carrying heavy loads a stable roadbed."

This is the definitive story, and not the tale that the odd gauge was selected because the city feared that Mackenzie and Mann would operate steam trains over streetcar tracks (one quoted by the TTC itself). After all, the TTC's unique gauge was in place right from the beginning, 1861, when the issue of Mackenzie and Mann and their ownership of both the TRC and Canadian Northern was over thirty years away. The myth about steam railways is proving a difficult one to put down, however.

The odd gauge was maintained because it was easier to convert streetcar equipment to use the track as each piece arrived, rather than to put in all that work to convert the track. Why did the subways maintain streetcar gauge? When subways were being seriously designed for Toronto in the 1940s, there were suggestions that streetcars could be routed into the subway right-of-way, or be converted into the subway cars themselves. Certainly, a number of streetcars were converted for use as subway work trains, and there has been plenty of mixing of parts between the streetcar and subway network that the two have benefitted from the common gauge.

There are TTC vehicles that operate using standard gauge, however, and more are coming. Although the Scarborough RT was initially designed to be a streetcar line, the ICTS system which replaced it was designed from the ground up, and its design did not allow for interchanging of parts between the subway and RT networks. Finally, there is the new LRT under construction beneath Eglinton Avenue. When the Transit City plan was first proposed, there were suggestions that the new lines and the legacy streetcar network could share maintenance facilities, and thus the two should share the same gauge. When the Transit City proposal was taken up by the provincial government in Move Ontario 2020 -- a wider plan to build 52 public transit projects across the Greater Toronto Area and Waterloo Region -- there was a suggestion that the TTC's legacy gauge should be applied to the LRT projects in Mississauga, Hamilton and Waterloo, creating an "Ontario gauge." However, the ease and simplicity of sticking to the North American standard won out, and Toronto's new LRT lines will be built to standard, rather than TTC gauge.

So, how do you know all this stuff?

The information presented here is not crammed into our heads. We have access to a number of publicly available sources which have helped us get our facts straight. You can consult these sources too. Here is a listing of what we have used...

• Bromley, John F., TTC '28, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario), 1968.
• Bromley, John F., and Jack May Fifty Years of Progressive Transit, Electric Railroaders' Association, New York (New York), 1973.
• Bromley, John F., 'Toronto Streetcar & Radial Loop History', Transfer Points, March 1999, p4-10, Toronto Transportation Society, Toronto (Ontario).
• Brown, James A. and Brian West, 'All about the Bloor-Danforth Subway' UCRS Newsletter, March 1966, p50-56, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario), 1966.
• Carlson, Steven B., and Fred W. Schneider III PCC: The Car that Fought Back, Glendale: Interurban Press #64, 1980.
• Corley, Raymond F., ALRV: Articulated Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, The Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto (Ontario), October 1996.
• Corley, Raymond F., 'Beach Car Lines Reach Back 120 Years', Rail and Transit, September 1995, p4-5, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario).
• Corley, Raymond F., CLRV: Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, The Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto (Ontario), October 1996.
• Corley, Raymond F., The PCC Car: Presidents' Conference Committee Car, The Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto (Ontario), February 1988.
• Corley, Raymond F., 'Roncesvalles Centennial', Rail and Transit, February 1995, p4-5. Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario).
• Corley, Raymond F., Vehicle Handbook, Toronto: Toronto Transit Commission, 1988.
• Corley, Raymond F., The Witt Car: Peter Witt Design, The Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto (Ontario), February 1988.
• Filey, Mike, Not a One-Horse Town: 125 Years of Toronto and its Streetcars, Gagne Printing, Louiseville (Quebec), 1986.
• Filey, Mike, The TTC Story: The First Seventy-Five Years, Dundurn Press, Toronto (Ontario) 1996.
• Hood, J. William, The Toronto Civic Railways: An Illustrated History, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario), 1986.
• Kashin, Seymour and Harre Demero. An American Original: The PCC Car, Glendale: Interurban Press #104, 1986.
• Mallion, Godfrey, 'Operational Improvements on the 504 King', Transfer Points, April 2000, p4, Toronto Transportation Society, Toronto (Ontario).
• Partridge, Larry, Mind the Doors, Please, The Boston Mills Press, Erin (Ontario), 1983.
• Pursley, Louis H., Street Railways of Toronto 1861-1921, Ira Swett, INTERURBANS, Los Angeles (California), 1958.
• Pursley, Louis H., The Toronto Trolley Car Story, INTERURBANS, Los Angeles (California), 1961.
• Roschlau, M.W., 'Adieu, Mt Pleasant' Rail and Transit, Sept-Oct 1976, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario), 1976.
• Schneider, Fred W. III, and Stephen P. Carlson PCC From Coast to Coast, Glendale: Interurban Press #86, 1983.
• Smith, Michael. "Alternatives to Spadina rapid transit line to be studied." The Toronto Star 5 Feb. 1987: A7.
• Smith, Michael. "Spadina line wins support as solution to congestion." The Toronto Star 9 Jun. 1988: A7.
• Smith, Michael. "Streetcar line to have European Touch." The Sunday Star 12 Mar. 1989: B6.
• Stamp, Robert M., Riding the Radials: Toronto's Suburban Electric Streetcar Lines, The Boston Mills Press, Erin (Ontario), 1989.
• Toronto Transit Commission, Report No. 7: Opportunities for New Streetcar Routes, The Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto (Ontario), January 21, 1997.

We are also heavily indebted to a number of people whose authority over TTC history was gained through personal experience. This includes, but is not limited to John Bromley, Mark Brader, Ray Corley, Curt Frey, George Davidson, Pat Scrimgeour, William E. Miller and others too numerous to mention. We would like to thank them for helping to make this website what it is...