Weekend Roundup

Welcome to The Weekend Roundup...hosted by Tom The Back Roads Traveler
Skywatch Friday
ABC Wednesday

1. Starts with "Q"
2. A Favorite
3. QUANTITY

For the letter of the week for this round I am going to go with all things TTC, Toronto Transit Corporation.

The things I've learned doing this TTC series and visiting stations I have never been to before.

Starts with "Q"

Queens Quay is an underground streetcar station and is the only underground streetcar station that is not part of or connected to a Toronto subway station (Union, Spadina, and St. Clair West subway stations have underground stations for streetcars as well). It was opened in 1990 as part of the former Harbourfront LRT route.

Queens Quay is a unique station in Toronto because it is served by streetcars rather than subways. It is the only station to have a pedestrian crossing between platforms at track level, as there is no electrified rail to contend with. Streetcars crossing the pedestrian walkway must stop and sound their gong before proceeding; Union-bound streetcars stop immediately after rounding a sharp curve, ring their gong, and proceed into the stopping zone to load and unload passengers. Exhibition- and Spadina-bound streetcars enter the station, load and unload passengers, ring their gong, then proceed out of the station.

Queens Quay is also the only station in Toronto that does not have any employee washrooms or an employee lunchroom, as there is no collector on duty at the station. The streetcar platform is not in a fare-paid zone, so passengers boarding pay their fare on board the streetcar.

About 25 cars have driven down Queens Quay tunnel tracks since 2014, TTC says, which means 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina streetcars have to be diverted.The TTC said it has already taken a number of measures to prevent drivers from entering the tunnel, including posting additional large signs, lowering the pole lights on both sides of the entrance and installing a flashing light on a black-and-yellow striped rectangular pole sign in the centre of the entrance.

Photos found online.

In October 2018, the TTC completed the final testing of drop-down gates that will open only for streetcars. These should make it "next to impossible for motorists to mistakenly find their way into the TTC streetcar tunnel on Queens Quay", according to a spokesperson.

Right...we're taking bets on when the first car finds their way!!!!

FAVOURITE

We had lunch at a Toronto icon on Queen St. West last week, I don't know why we hadn't been there before! We will be going back! It is very quaint!

The site now occupied by the Queen Mother Cafe has had a building on it from at least 1850. Originally it was a wooden structure which did not have a street number since that designation only came into effect in Toronto in 1861. The present brick edifice was built about 1880 in the Second Empire architectural style as reflected in its mansard roofing. That building has remained an enduring presence in the ever changing Toronto urban core.

Showcased in the restaurant’s entryway are artifacts discovered in the location during a series of renovations. A timeline listing the dates and tenants over the lifespan of the site to this day has been painted on the walls that surround the display.

QUANTITY

There is a vast quantity of junk in this stores on Queen St. West!

One always needs a rubber duck quacking at you! I know, it's a rubber chicken...