Toronto Street Railway

After the Williams Omnibus Bus Line had become heavily loaded in 1861, the city of Toronto issued a transit franchise (Resolution 14, By-law 353) for a horse-drawn street railway. The winner was Alexander Easton's Toronto Street Railway, which was required to build streetcar lines along Yonge, Queen and King streets. Service was required to be 16 hours per day, 14 in winter with a headway of no more than 30 minutes at a speed not to exceed 6 mph (10 km/h). The fare was 5 cents with no transfer privileges and no discounted fare for children.[1][2]^:11

The company opened the first street railway line in Canada on September 11, 1861, operating from Yorkville Town Hall via Yonge and King streets to the St. Lawrence Market. (There was a ceremonial opening of the line on the day before.) The second line was opened in December 1861 operating from St. Lawrence Market via King, Yonge and Queen streets to the Queen Street Asylum at Ossington Avenue (then known as Dundas Street). By the end of 1861, the railway was operating 2 routes on 6 miles (10 km) of track using 70 horses (stabled in Yorkville) and carrying 2,000 passengers per day.[1] In 1862, the railway acquired the Williams Omnibus Bus Line.[3]

In 1868, the railway was in financial difficulty and could not pay bond interest. Thus, it passed into the hands of the bondholders under an appointed trustee. In 1973, William and George Kiely acquired the railway and obtained a new act of incorporation under the old name. The new owners operated the railway until the end of the franchise in 1891.[2]^:11

By 1891, the last year of the franchise, the railway was carrying 55,000 passengers using 264 horsecars, 99 buses, 100 sleighs and 1,372 horses. The railway had 80.69 miles (129.86 km) of track and 68 miles (109 km) of routes.[1]

By mutual agreement between the City and railway, the 30-year franchise expired on March 16, 1891. Because there was no transition agreement, the streetcar system shut down for the three following days. Streetcar service resumed on March 20, with the City as the operator. By an arbitrated agreement, the City paid the Toronto Street Railway Company $1,453,788 for the railway's assets. The City operated the system briefly, but soon elected to pass on the rights to a new company, the Toronto Railway Company on September 1, 1891 for another thirty years under William Mackenzie and associates including George Kiely from the defunct Toronto Street Railway. The TRC agreed to pay the City $1,453,788 plus a percentage of gross receipts for the franchise.[1]

The City required the TRC to electrify the horsecar lines within three years. The first electric cars were run on August 15, 1892, and horsecars were last operated August 31, 1894.[4]^:15 As part of the conversion from horse to electric traction, the TRC had replaced all the horsecar tracks with heavier rails to handle the faster, heavier electric streetcars.[2]^:11

The Toronto Street Railway created Toronto's unique gauge that is still used today by the Toronto streetcar system and 3 lines of the Toronto subway. However, the original Toronto gauge may have been 4 feet 11 inches (1,499 mm), slightly wider than today's 4 ft 10 ⁷⁄₈ in (1,495 mm). When the Toronto Railway Company took over the horsecar system of the Toronto Street Railway in 1891, its charter mentioned a gauge of 4 feet 11 inches (1,499 mm)[5]^:21

The 1861 agreement between the City of Toronto and the Toronto Street Railway stated:[6]

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.

As wagons were normally built at standard gauge, the streetcar rails were selected to be slightly wider, allowing the wagons to ride on the inside sections of the rail, and the streetcars on the outside.[6] The Williams Omnibus Bus Line changed the gauge of their buses in 1861 to fit this gauge.[2]^:16–17

Ken Heard, Consultant Museologist, Canadian Museums Association, was reported to say:[6]

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.

Routes with "Transferred to City" in the "Ended" column were operating on May 20, 1891, when the Toronto Street Railway Company's franchise expired and had their operations taken over by the City of Toronto.[7]

In the first year the TSR had only 11 horsecars on the roster. Before the end of the franchise, the TSR had 262 cars, 100 omnibuses, 100 sleighs and 1,356 horses:[1]

• 165 Front Street East. Declared surplus by TTC but left vacant and reverted to the City. It has been leased to the Young People's Theatre since 1977
• Yorkville Stables (west of Yonge between Scollard Street and Yorkville Avenue)- Built 1861 and was converted to TRC operation in 1921 and sold to TTC 1921 (closed 1922); demolished and now site of Townhall Square and condo tower.
• 132 Front Street East 1880; demolished 1979 and now condo towers (25 George and 160 Frederick)

• Metropolitan Street Railway which operated a horsecar line in then-suburban North Toronto from 1885 until the line's conversion to electric trams in 1890.