Peter Witt streetcars, Toronto
This image of a line of Toronto Transit Commission Peter Witt streetcars is cropped from a larger photo taken by my father, probably in the late 1940s. Location? Down on the lakeshore somewhere is my guess. What are the Witts doing there? I have no idea. Also, the photo isn't sharp enough to read the sign on top of that large building on the left.
Here's another Witt image cropped from another of my father's photos. Same vintage. Likely taken the same day as the first one. The only building I can identify is that tall, thin one just right of centre. That's the Canadian Bank of Commerce Building. It was built in 1929, and was the tallest building in the Commonwealth until 1962.
These are both interesting photos that would certainly be hard to place today! They both appear to show parts of the TTC's short lived Harbour storage yard for rush-hour Peter Wit trains laying over downtown. It was built sometime in the early 1950's to accommodate streetcars that could no longer be stored at the Eglington carhouse due to subway construction. The first photo appears to look north-west towards York street from Harbour street however as far as I know, none of these buildings survive. The second picture looks north from Harbour street nearer to Bay street with the still-standing Toronto Harbour Commission building to the left. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteThank you for that fascinating information.
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