Davisville Yard
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The Davisville Subway Yard is a
rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or u ...
on 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 ...
's Yonge subway line. The train maintenance and storage building is referred to as the Davisville Carhouse.


Location

The yard is located adjoining the
Davisville station Davisville is a 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 1954 as part of the original Toron ...
, between and stations. The yard is next to the TTC headquarters in the
William McBrien Building William McBrien Building (formally known as the W. C. McBrien Building) is the administrative headquarters of the Toronto Transit Commission. Designed by Charles B. Dolphin (1888-1969) and opened on February 7, 1958, the seven-storey building is l ...
at 1900 Yonge Street.


History

Davisville Yard acted as the main maintenance and storage yard for Toronto's
Yonge subway Yonge is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Duke Yonge (1812–1891), English historian and translator of Philo of Alexandria * Charles Maurice Yonge (1899–1986), British marine biologist * Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823†...
, which opened between
Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
and
Eglinton Avenue Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as a ...
in 1954. The first two subway cars (5000 and 5001) were delivered to the TTC's
Hillcrest Complex Hillcrest Complex is the Toronto Transit Commission's largest facility and 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 intersec ...
, but subsequent subway cars were delivered to Davisville yard via the
Toronto Belt Line Railway The Toronto Belt Line Railway was built during the 1890s in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consisted of two commuter railway lines to promote and service new suburban neighbourhoods outside of the then city limits. Both lines were laid as loops. Th ...
. Before the opening of the subway, there was a temporary interchange track between the
Yonge streetcar line Beginning operation in 1861, the Yonge streetcar line was the first streetcar line in Toronto and the first in Canada. It started off as a horsecar line and closed in 1954 operating two-unit trains of Peter Witt motors pulling a trailer. Under the ...
and the Davisville Yard on the north side of the Belt Line bridge for the interchange of rail equipment with the streetcar system. In 1953, subway cars 5000 and 5001, after being displayed at the
Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...
, were mounted on shop
bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
s and towed at night over streetcar tracks by a Peter Witt motor to the Davisville Yard via the temporary interchange. (The two subway cars had arrived at the CNE from Hillcrest via the Bathurst streetcar line. At the CNE, the two cars were displayed on their own bogies.) The Davisville Carhouse could not handle heavy repair work for subway
bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
s. Thus, until the shops at
Greenwood Yard The Greenwood Yard (also known as the Greenwood Complex) is a rail yard with support buildings that service subway vehicles on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway. Greenwood is one of two subway yards on Line 2, the other being the m ...
were opened in 1965, bogies needed to be shipped by truck to the
Hillcrest Complex Hillcrest Complex is the Toronto Transit Commission's largest facility and 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 intersec ...
on a specially built trailer. According to rail historians John F. Bromley and Jack May, this was the reason that the subway was built to the streetcar gauge of 1495mm, which is the gauge used for shop tracks at Hillcrest. There used to be an upper yard having 2 parallel stub tracks plus a shorter stub siding all running parallel to the former Belt Line Railway line (today the Kay Gardner Beltline Park). Another track, located on an incline, connected the upper and lower yards; today, a short stub siding on the west side of the yard is all that is left of that connecting track. Various pieces of work equipment were stored in the upper yard. Davisville was Toronto's sole subway yard until 1966, when
Greenwood Yard The Greenwood Yard (also known as the Greenwood Complex) is a rail yard with support buildings that service subway vehicles on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway. Greenwood is one of two subway yards on Line 2, the other being the m ...
opened. Subway car deliveries were also shifted to Greenwood at this time. While usage of it began to wane, it remained active even as the larger
Wilson Yard Wilson Yard (also known as the Wilson Complex) is the largest of the Toronto Transit Commission's subway yards and bus garages. The subway yard services subway trains on Line 1 Yonge–University. The facility is located on Transit Road north of ...
opened in 1978. The yard became deactivated after 1993, when repairs were required to a retaining wall to the south of the yard. Even after this work was completed, the yard remained inactive as the TTC had become quite satisfied with the temporary storage and maintenance arrangement during the closure. The yard was temporarily reactivated during the
1995 Russell Hill subway accident The 1995 Russell Hill subway accident was a deadly train crash that occurred in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway on August 11, 1995. Three people were killed and 30 were taken to hospital with injuries ...
, and also during the retirement of older rolling stock ( H-1/H-2, M-1). The subway yard was formally reactivated in June 2002, a few months prior to the opening of
Line 4 Sheppard Line 4 Sheppard is the newest and shortest subway line of the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It opened on November 22, 2002, and has five stations along of track, which is built without any open sectio ...
. In November 2018, the TTC completed the extension the carhouse over tracks 3 and 4 on the east side of the building. Track 3 is the wash track and track 4 is utilized for interior cleaning and floor washing of the vehicles. Before the extension, tracks 3 and 4 were long enough for only four-car trains within the carhouse building, and the overhead doors on the north and south end had to remain open to service six-car TR trains. The open doors also exposed equipment to freezing in winter. With the extension, the TTC can use tracks 3 and 4 for the overnight storage of six-car TR trains.


Current operations

Davisville Yard is home to a small portion of the TTC's revenue rolling stock of
Toronto Rocket The Toronto Rocket (TR) train is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transpor ...
subway trains which operate on
Line 1 Yonge-University Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...
and
Line 4 Sheppard Line 4 Sheppard is the newest and shortest subway line of the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It opened on November 22, 2002, and has five stations along of track, which is built without any open sectio ...
and some of the Commission's work cars. The facility is used to store, service and maintain subway cars. The yard can dispatch 12 trains onto Line 1, and this minimizes the need to deadhead trains from the
Wilson Yard Wilson Yard (also known as the Wilson Complex) is the largest of the Toronto Transit Commission's subway yards and bus garages. The subway yard services subway trains on Line 1 Yonge–University. The facility is located on Transit Road north of ...
. In addition to exterior storage tracks, the yard's carhouse has 8 tracks to perform safety inspections, unscheduled repairs, floor washing and exterior washing. Many Subway Infrastructure sections including Track, Structures, and Signals are also based at the Davisville Yard.


Future

In 2022, the city of Toronto was studying a proposal to deck over the Davisville Yard in order to build a park over the yard. The yard, the adjacent subway station, a substation and signal facility would remain in operation during construction. The city owns the Davisville Yard.


References


External links


The Davisville Subway Yards
article published b
Transit Toronto
{{TTC Toronto rapid transit Rail yards in Toronto