[Mustapha]

I find this 1947 aerial photo to be full of mysteries and memories.

1) One can try to imagine the future route of the Eglinton Ave. E. extension and the future appearance of Leslie St. which is nowhere in sight.
2) The exact location of the Aerodrome is now obscured by new industrial buildings.
3) The amazing RR bridge, previously pictured under construction, leads to one of my fondest memories (at the south end - circled).

As youngsters, my friends and I often explored along the Don River north of O'Connor Dr. On one occasion - probably around time of this aerial - we went further than ever before and were startled when we came upon a huge RR bridge that we had never seen before. We climbed the embankment and ventured across the bridge from north to south. At the end of the bridge (where I've placed the circle) we were thrilled by another discovery.
Imaging the joy of young boys finding a fenced-in junk yard piled high with abandoned World War II aircraft! We crawled through a hole in the fence to find mountains of planes piled one atop the other. We immediately climbed into some aircraft (wrecks of fighters and bombers) and had a grand time in the cockpits.
It was not obvious to us at the time that there may have been some danger involved in clambering over piles of junked fuselages. The whole affair is one of my fondest childhood memories.
I'm certain that the area circled is the actual junk yard. Could any aircraft remnants still be found there today?
The fact that my airplane adventure took place so close to the old Leaside Aerodrome still haunts me.

It would be great to see some ephemera related to Leaside Aerodrome,.. papers, documents, cancelled letters, something like that..

 

[r937]

nice pics, brewster, i must've just missed you, i was in the park this morning too, playing frisbee golf

here's a shot approaching the bridge from the south

i loved how the fresh snow clung to the trestle

i've been out on the trestle too (just not today), and you're right, it is pretty daunting

 

[r937]

And the trees just to the south are following the line of the now-buried Walmsley creek - which used to flow from the Bayview/Eglinton area to the West Don.

precisely, and you can see the creek bed most easily behind leaside high school

after going under the cp rail line, the creek comes out into the open in two connected ravines, one before beth nealson drive and one after, running freely (if somewhat feebly) in them

 

[Goldie]

It would be great to see some ephemera related to Leaside Aerodrome,.. papers, documents, cancelled letters, something like that..

A fine suggestion Mustapha.

This plaque and photo of the plane certainly qualify.
And if that parcel (in the photo), addressed to T.Eaton Co., had been preserved it would be a great museum-piece today.

It's reported [http://www.aerophilately.ca/history.html] that this is one of the letters carried on the flight to Leaside.

 

[PopsiclePetesCajunHoedown]

Great pictures of the rail bridge. I have to walk under it sometime this summer.

 

[Mustapha]

A fine suggestion Mustapha.

This plaque and photo of the plane certainly qualify.
And if that parcel (in the photo), addressed to T.Eaton Co., had been preserved it would be a great museum-piece today.

It's reported [http://www.aerophilately.ca/history.html] that this is one of the letters carried on the flight to Leaside.

Thanks Goldie, that's exactly what I was looking for. Did you come across this link about that flight?:

"There is a plaque at the corner of Brentcliffe Road and Broadway Avenue in Leaside (Toronto), Ontario. It was erected to commemorate the first airmail flight in Canada which took place on June 24, 1918 - a flight that almost failed."

"... the plane was landed in Kingston where they took on regular auto gas. The gas resulted in a sputtering engine and loss of power. Peck landed again at Deseronto, less than 30 miles later, to drain the fuel tanks and bring on a load of aviation fuel. At 4:55 PM, after nearly 6 hours in transit, Peck landed in Leaside and delivered the mail to the Toronto Postmaster.

"For almost 45 years the reason why the plane had so much trouble carrying the mail was hidden from the public. In 1954, in his book, Canada's Flying Heritage, Frank Ellis told the story. Prior to his flight to Montreal, Peck was asked by a friend to bring back something for a wedding. It was a time when Prohibition was in place in Ontario. Peck had loaded his plane with cases of Mull Scotch."

http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Canada/first_airmail_flight.htm

"

 

[Goldie]

Thanks for the input - that's a wonderful story.
It appears that this site - with more contributions such as yours - will soon have the full history of the Aerodrome.

 

[Anna]

brewster, you must have walked right past the site of that 1947 airplane junk-yard that I highlighted on my map.
Did you see any sign of old plane parts?

I think your airplane graveyard is the site of 210 Wicksteed. It is an undistinguished, aluminium-clad building which has recently been re-leased. Some of the cladding has been pulled away and underneath - an old brick building - old windows & doors now visible.

 

[Mustapha]

I think your airplane graveyard is the site of 210 Wicksteed. It is an undistinguished, aluminium-clad building which has recently been re-leased. Some of the cladding has been pulled away and underneath - an old brick building - old windows & doors now visible.

I've been - incredibly - giving this some thought. I've come to the conclusion that - however impractical - if permission could be gained to do a sweep with a metal detector of the unbroken ground - something might turn up, a la 'Staffordshire Hoard'.

 

[Goldie]

evidence of spur line into aerodrome

And the rail siding can be seen in this photo of the "engine test house" (1917):

I believe I've discovered the abandoned spur line that went into the Aerodrome - thanks to Google maps and Street-view.

 

[Goldie]

aerodrome 1917-18

It appears that the Leaside Aerodrome was a pretty busy place during the First World war.
Plenty of recruits and training activity.

 

[brewster]

nice pics, brewster, i must've just missed you, i was in the park this morning too, playing frisbee golf

here's a shot approaching the bridge from the south

i loved how the fresh snow clung to the trestle

i've been out on the trestle too (just not today), and you're right, it is pretty daunting

Unless you are a big guy with a black beard or a young blond girl walking around with a tripod I missed seeing you. You have walked the trestle , brave man.

 

[donoreo]

I do not live far from here. I may have some time next week to go look for airplane parts. That bridge is almost identical to one east of the DVP, just north of Eglinton. The difference is this bridge has been twinned at a later date.

Sorry, looked for better photos. You can see the two sets of footings, and the bridges beside each other. It is hard to get much of the bridge in one photo without a wider angle lens.

 

[mattelderca]

I believe I've discovered the abandoned spur line that went into the Aerodrome - thanks to Google maps and Street-view.

In the late seventies I spent many days riding around this area, many days indeed. There were active spur lines everywhere. I think I can recall almost every building that was there in that time. No airplane scrap anywhere for sure.

 

[brewster]

1920 Leaside and C.N.E. Video

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/6...ics_Curtiss-JN-4_Canadian-National-Exhibition

[video]http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675038429_Lillian-Boyer_aerial-acrobatics_Curtiss-JN-4_Canadian-National-Exhibition[/video]