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As a side note to current discussions of speed, when I was a kid, TTC operators often left the train cab door open for young rail fans.

I remember being on what I think was the fastest run I've ever been on, NB on Yonge, on the approach to York Mills (down a very big hill).

The train definitely broke 90km/ph, briefly.

I remember the operator having fun, until he overshot the platform by several meters, with the first and second doors of the 1st car in the tunnel beyond the platform.

It wasn't too long after that the TTC changed the signals on that approach (previously all could go solid green), and coded them w/the white light below, and defaulting to reds and yellows with speed limit signs posted in the tunnel.

Such kills joys! LOL

Your trip would have been before 1996, and likely a bit before then as the only equipment that had speedometers were the H6s - and they spent most of the 1990s on the B-D line. It was as a result of the Russell Hill accident that the signal system was changed to include more grade time signals (what the white signal with a following signal flashing red indicates). Prior to that, yes, it was a bit of a free-for-all. I can recall some of the old guys rocketing into Old Mill Station - sometimes with a cigarette hanging out of their mouths - at speeds that should have been hazardous but were definitely enjoyable to a young teenager.

Unfortunately, as is frequently the case, all it takes is for one "bad apple" to ruin it for the bunch, and that's what happened.

Dan
 
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As a side note to current discussions of speed, when I was a kid, TTC operators often left the train cab door open for young rail fans.

I remember being on what I think was the fastest run I've ever been on, NB on Yonge, on the approach to York Mills (down a very big hill).

The train definitely broke 90km/ph, briefly.

I remember the operator having fun, until he overshot the platform by several meters, with the first and second doors of the 1st car in the tunnel beyond the platform.

It wasn't too long after that the TTC changed the signals on that approach (previously all could go solid green), and coded them w/the white light below, and defaulting to reds and yellows with speed limit signs posted in the tunnel.

Such kills joys! LOL

I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but it seemed to me as a kid in the 80's that the subway trains traveled much faster than today...
 
Via reddit:

I haven't seen smoking inside the station proper, much less on trains for ages. Guess it is getting laissez faire again. And in this instance, as much as pulling the alarm may seem excessive, it is the only suitable course of action.

AoD

I have seen it recently. Mostly the homeless and/or mentally ill. They have a cigarette butt they try to light up in the subway car.

If this was an actual person though I am surprised. Most cities have outlawed it in their subway trains for health reasons.
 
I have seen it recently. Mostly the homeless and/or mentally ill. They have a cigarette butt they try to light up in the subway car.

If this was an actual person though I am surprised. Most cities have outlawed it in their subway trains for health reasons.

The last time I've seen it was an apparent "normal" on the Queens' Park platform. Not sure how representative that was.

Oh and speaking of which, the vestibule at College/College Park absolutely reeked this morning - and into the mall proper.

AoD
 
I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but it seemed to me as a kid in the 80's that the subway trains traveled much faster than today...
Probably because they actually did back then. Hopefully with the Eglinton Crosstown, we can get up to 70km/h between particularly Fairbank and Caledonia in ATO mode.
 
The Access Hub at Thorncliffe Park/Overlea is coming nicely. Only the northbound stop has started work.
IMG_20200210_155910528.jpg
 
I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but it seemed to me as a kid in the 80's that the subway trains traveled much faster than today...

It has, but not in the way that you're thinking.

In terms of actual speeds along the line, the trains are running at more-or-less the same speed as they always have. There are a couple of places where grade timing has slowed the trains down a little bit, but we're talking from 80km/h to 75-ish-km/h - nothing hugely substantial.

What has changed is that the trains are given a lot more time to run from end-to-end today than they ever have. There are a number of reasons for this, but one big factor is the current trend to try and prevent/eliminate late-in, changeoffs and short turns.

Dan
 
Another TTC train derailment this morning...

There is currently no subway service on the TTC's Line 1 between St. Clair West and Union stations, the transit agency says.

The problem was caused by the derailment of a work car at St. George Station, the TTC said in a tweet.

As of 7:45 a.m., the TTC was unable to say when regular service may resume.

Shuttle buses are running.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ttc-subway-st-clair-st-andrew-derailment-1.5462195
 
Another TTC train derailment this morning...

There is currently no subway service on the TTC's Line 1 between St. Clair West and Union stations, the transit agency says.

The problem was caused by the derailment of a work car at St. George Station, the TTC said in a tweet.

As of 7:45 a.m., the TTC was unable to say when regular service may resume.

Shuttle buses are running.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ttc-subway-st-clair-st-andrew-derailment-1.5462195
T1s were running on the Yonge subway today.
 
Walking along Dundas last night to a meeting, the OS between Bay and University still waiting to be replace. There is a sign up on the west side of Bay saying no pans pas this point.

Finally got some shots of the E Bus on Bay St with 2 in a roll last night and never saw one during the day.

T1s were running on the Yonge subway today.
To have enough service on Line 1 south of St George, T1 would have to be use.
 
From this morning, at least six T-1 trains were in use on the Yonge line.View attachment 230791

Noted by Steve Munro on Twitter, the T1s do not have ATC and cannot run over an ATC section where the system is enabled.

Currently, the ATC enabled section ends at St. Patrick in the south.

But as of Feb 22-24, it will be enabled between St. Patrick and Queen.

Once that happens, this would no longer be possible.
 
Noted by Steve Munro on Twitter, the T1s do not have ATC and cannot run over an ATC section where the system is enabled.

Currently, the ATC enabled section ends at St. Patrick in the south.

But as of Feb 22-24, it will be enabled between St. Patrick and Queen.

Once that happens, this would no longer be possible.
I think those trains would have entered the line from Lower Bay so they would have traversed the section between Museum and St. Patrick in order to get to the Yonge side. Would they override the ATC for such a move? Anyone know how that would work? Radio dispatch from station to station?
 
I think those trains would have entered the line from Lower Bay so they would have traversed the section between Museum and St. Patrick in order to get to the Yonge side. Would they override the ATC for such a move? Anyone know how that would work? Radio dispatch from station to station?

The new signal system has the ability to allow non-ATC-equipped trains to run through it. Much like the original wayside signalling system, it is configured into blocks that are delineated by the wayside signals. But as each block is much, much larger than the those of the old wayside system, that also means that operating non-equipped equipment greatly reduces the throughput and capacity of the system.

In an emergency such as this, that isn't really that big an issue. But it certainly precludes the ability to do so in regular service, as the trains would have to be so widely spaced apart as to be a problem.

Dan
 

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