Toronto streetcar system loops

Turning loops of the Toronto streetcar system serve as termini and turnback points for streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The single-ended streetcars require track loops in order to reverse direction. Besides short off-street track loops these can also be larger interchange points, having shelters and driver facilities, or be part of a subway station structure for convenient passenger interchange.

Some loops include separate unloading and loading stops, some have a single stop, and some off-street loops have no stops and passengers are not allowed to ride around the loop. If streetcars loop clockwise, the track entering the loop must cross over the track exiting, and any loading or unloading platforms must be inside the loop; if anticlockwise, any platforms must be on the outside.

The minimum radius of curvature may be as short as 36 ft (10.973 m).^[1]

Current loops

Loops have various shapes according to the space available. For example, the "loop" track may actually be mostly straight, using on-street trackage to complete the looping motion (as at Bingham Loop or Oakwood Loop), or there may be a single sharp curve through almost three-quarters of a circle (as at Union Station Loop or Wolseley Loop).^[2]

Some loops consist only of a single track and are blocked when occupied by a stopped streetcar. Others have a side track or dead-end "tail track" where a streetcar can wait, or a track that allows a streetcar on the loop to make a complete circle (or equivalent) and reenter the loop.

Loops at subway stations

Bathurst Station Loop

Anticlockwise loop, northern terminus of the 511 Bathurst route, on the east side of Bathurst St. north of Bloor St. The tracks continue north of the station to connect to the Hillcrest Complex and St. Clair Ave. Streetcars can enter or leave the station from/onto Bathurst either northbound or southbound.

Broadview Station Loop

Anticlockwise loop, eastern terminus of the 504 King and 505 Dundas routes, on the east side of Broadview Ave. north of Danforth Ave. The loop track splits into two, one for each route. All streetcars enter the station from Broadview northbound, and exit onto Erindale Ave. westbound, leading to Broadview southbound.

Dundas West Station Loop

Clockwise loop, western terminus of the 504 King and 505 Dundas routes, on the west (nominally south) side of Dundas St. north of Bloor St. The loop track splits into two, one for each route. All streetcars enter the station from Dundas northbound (nominally westbound), and exit onto Edna Ave. eastbound, leading to Dundas southbound.

Main Street Station Loop

Clockwise loop, eastern terminus of the 506 Carlton route, on the east side of Main St. north of Danforth Ave. All streetcars enter the station from Main northbound, and exit onto Main southbound.

Spadina Station Loop

Anticlockwise underground loop, northern terminus of the 510 Spadina route, on the east side of Spadina Rd. north of Bloor St. A tunnel runs from Spadina Ave. and Washington Ave. to the station. All streetcars enter the tunnel northbound on Spadina, turn eastbound under Bloor, northbound under Madison Ave., and westbound into the station; they exit southbound under Spadina Rd. and Ave.

St. Clair Station Loop

Anticlockwise loop, eastern terminus of the 512 St. Clair route, on the south side of St. Clair Ave. east of Yonge St. All streetcars enter the station from St. Clair eastbound, and exit onto St. Clair westbound.

St. Clair West Station Loop

Clockwise underground loop, an intermediate stop and possible turnback point on the 512 St. Clair route, on the north side of St. Clair Ave. two blocks east of Bathurst St. There are separate eastbound and westbound loading stops on the same loop track. A tunnel runs under St. Clair from Wells Hill Ave. halfway to Tweedsmuir Ave. Streetcars can enter or leave the station from/into this tunnel either eastbound or westbound.

Union Station Loop

Streetcar underground on the Union Station Loop

Anticlockwise underground loop, eastern terminus of the 509 Harbourfront and southern terminus of the 510 Spadina route. A tunnel runs under Bay St. from Queens Quay station. All streetcars enter the station from the tunnel northbound and exit into the tunnel southbound.

Loops at carhouses

Roncesvalles Loop

Clockwise loop through the Roncesvalles Carhouse trackage, at Roncesvalles Ave. and the Queensway, 43°38′21.5″N 79°26′48.0″W / 43.639306°N 79.446667°W, a possible turnback point for westbound 501 Queen and for 504 King in either direction. Streetcars on King or Queen westbound or Roncesvalles southbound can run onto the Queensway westbound, then turn northbound to enter the loop. They can exit the loop onto Roncesvalles Ave. northbound or southbound, with the latter leading onto the Queensway westbound or King or Queen eastbound.

No passenger access, no use by buses.

Other off-street loops

Bingham Loop

Anticlockwise loop northwest of Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue, eastern terminus for 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Road streetcars. Prior to summer 2013, it had the possibility for operators to loop-the-loop.^[3] Westbound 12 Kingston Road buses enter the loop as an intermediate stop, and when the streetcars are not running, 22A Coxwell or 322 Coxwell Blue Night buses use it as a terminus.

Distillery Loop

Distillery Loop prior to opening

Anticlockwise loop, southern terminus of the 514 Cherry route, on the east side of Cherry St. opposite Distillery Lane in the Distillery Lane. The Distillery Loop is at the southern end of the Cherry Street streetcar line, which has a junction with the King Street line at its northern end. With the junction, the Distillary Loop can turn cars coming from either direction along King Street. The loop opened on June 19, 2016.

Dufferin Gate Loop

Anticlockwise loop northwest of Dufferin Street and the Gardiner Expressway, with it possible to loop-the-loop. During the Canadian National Exhibition this loop is an access to the west end of Exhibition Place via the Dufferin Gates, and is the terminus of the 514 Cherry streetcars.

Earlscourt Loop

Earlscourt Loop

Clockwise loop southwest of St. Clair Ave. and Lansdowne Ave., 43°40′32.5″N 79°27′03.4″W / 43.675694°N 79.450944°W, possible turnback point for westbound 512 St. Clair streetcars and former terminus for 512L St. Clair streetcars.^[4] Streetcars from St. Clair in either direction can turn southbound on Lansdowne to enter the loop, and exit onto St. Clair eastbound.

A cabin is provided for drivers. Northbound 47A Lansdowne buses use the loop as a regularly scheduled turnback point.

Exhibition Loop

Anticlockwise loop northeast of Manitoba Dr. and Nova Scotia Ave., western terminus of the 509 Harbourfront and southern terminus of the 511 Bathurst route. Private right-of-way runs along the north side of Manitoba from Fleet St. at Strachan Ave. to the loop. From Fleet westbound, all streetcars continue west along the private right-of-way to the loop, where they cross north under the elevated Gardiner Expressway, run west, and cross back south under the expressway before returning eastbound to Fleet.

During the Ex, this loop is an access to Exhibition Place and is operated as a fare-paid area with ticket booths and turnstiles. At other times these are closed and it is operated as an ordinary stop. Storage tracks are provided so that extra streetcars can be rapidly dispatched for peak traffic, as well as a passing track allowing the two routes to have separate stopping points without conflict.

Exhibition GO Station is adjacent to the loop. Overnight the 307 Bathurst Blue Night and 363 Ossington Blue Night buses use the loop as their southern terminus.

The loop opened in 1996, replacing a previous Exhibition Loop that could not be used by buses and was on land about to be redeveloped.

Fleet Loop

Anticlockwise loop on the south side of Fleet Street west of Bathurst Street, in the angle with Lake Shore Blvd., and surrounding the Queen's Wharf Lighthouse. There is no passenger access and no bus access.

Gunns Loop

Anticlockwise loop northwest of St. Clair Avenue and at Gunns Road, western terminus for the 512 St. Clair route. All streetcars westbound on St. Clair turn northbound on Gunns, enter the loop westbound, and exit onto St. Clair eastbound.

High Park Loop

Anticlockwise loop west of Parkside Drive, opposite Howard Park Avenue, on the east edge of High Park, which is the western terminus for the 506 Carlton route. All streetcars enter the loop from Howard Park westbound and exit onto Howard Park eastbound.

Humber Loop

Anticlockwise loop forming a short-turn point for the 501 Queen route, located south of The Queensway, just west of the Humber River. The loop is on a section of a private right-of-way that connects tracks on the Queensway to the east and Lake Shore Blvd. to the west; streetcars can enter it from the private right-of-way westbound and turn back eastbound.

Kipling Loop

Peter Witt car at Kipling

Anticlockwise loop on the west side of Kipling Ave., north of Lake Shore Blvd., 43°35′55.8″N 79°31′03.3″W / 43.598833°N 79.517583°W, a possible turnback point for westbound 501 Queen streetcars. Streetcars can turn from Lake Shore either eastbound or westbound onto Kipling northbound to enter the loop, and exit onto Kipling southbound, leading to Lake Shore eastbound. The loop was once known as New Toronto Loop.

No bus access in this loop although the 44 Kipling South previously looped until it was extended to the former Lakeshore Asylum. The loop is used by the 145 Humber Bay Express, however.

Long Branch Loop

Anticlockwise loop northwest of Lake Shore Boulevard West and Brown's Line is the western terminus for 501 Queen routes.

McCaul Loop

Anticlockwise loop northeast of McCaul Street and Stephanie Street, western terminus of the 502 Downtowner and a turnback point for the 501 Queen in either direction. Streetcars both ways on Queen can turn north onto McCaul and then can turn into the loop, exiting onto McCaul southbound to return to Queen either eastbound or westbound. The loop was originally in the open air, but was covered when the Village by the Grange mixed-use development was built over it in 1976.^[5]

Neville Park Loop

Anticlockwise loop southwest of Queen Street east and Nursewood Road eastern terminus of the 501 Queen route. All streetcars enter the loop from Queen eastbound and exit onto Nursewood northbound to return to Queen westbound. No passenger access. Eastern terminus of 143 Downtown/Beach Express buses.

Oakwood Loop

Oakwood Loop

Anticlockwise loop northeast of St. Clair Ave. and Oakwood Ave., 43°40′50.2″N 79°26′07.8″W / 43.680611°N 79.435500°W, a possible turnback point for route 512 St. Clair in either direction. Streetcars either eastbound or westbound on St. Clair can turn northbound onto Robina Ave., then westbound to enter the loop, exiting onto Oakwood Ave. southbound to return to St. Clair either eastbound or westbound.

No passenger access. Northern terminus of 63B Ossington buses.

Queen–Coxwell Loop

Clockwise loop northeast of Queen St. and Coxwell Ave., 43°40′00.4″N 79°18′59.1″W / 43.666778°N 79.316417°W, a possible turnback point for route 506 Carlton in either direction. Streetcars either eastbound or westbound on Gerrard St. can turn southbound on Coxwell to reach the loop, then eastbound to enter the loop, exiting onto Queen westbound to return to Coxwell northbound and turn eastbound or westbound onto Gerrard. The loop exit track briefly overlaps the westbound track on Queen but does not connect with it, leading only onto Coxwell northbound.

No passenger access. This loop is not currently used by buses, although up to the mid-1980s, it was the southern terminus of the Coxwell 22 bus line.

Queens Quay and Spadina

Queens Quay and Spadina Loop

Anticlockwise loop northeast of Queens Quay and Spadina Ave (entering from the east side of 410 Queens Quay)., 43°38′18.5″N 79°23′28.5″W / 43.638472°N 79.391250°W, a possible turnback point for 509 Harbourfront or 510 Spadina streetcars in either direction. Streetcars southbound on Spadina can turn eastbound on Queens Quay to reach the loop; streetcars eastbound or westbound on Queens Quay can turn northbound into the loop. Streetcars exiting the loop can turn northbound on Spadina, or southbound on Spadina to reach Queens Quay eastbound or westbound. Although not currently used by buses, this loop was the terminus for the former route 77 Spadina bus until 1997. The loop was demolished in 2013 and finished rebuilt in 2015 as part of the Queens Quay Revitalization Project.^[6]

Sunnyside Loop

Anticlockwise loop northeast of the Queensway and Sunnyside Avenue.43°38′20.0″N 79°26′53.5″W / 43.638889°N 79.448194°W

Wolseley Loop

Anticlockwise loop northeast of Bathurst St. and Wolseley St., 43°38′53.8″N 79°24′14.6″W / 43.648278°N 79.404056°W, a possible turnback point for westbound route 501 Queen streetcars, and routes 504 King in either direction, as well as an alternate western terminus for the 502 Downtowner route if McCaul Loop is unavailable. Streetcars eastbound or westbound on King St. or westbound on Queen St. can turn northbound on Bathurst, then can turn eastbound on Wolseley to enter the loop northbound, exiting onto Bathurst southbound to return to Queen St. eastbound or King St. eastbound or westbound.

rare bus access, however no passenger access. A cabin for drivers is provided.

Woodbine Loop

Clockwise loop northeast of Queen St. and Kingston Rd., 43°40′04.8″N 79°18′41.5″W / 43.668000°N 79.311528°W, a possible turnback point for eastbound route 501 Queen and for 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Road in either direction. Streetcars eastbound on Queen can turn northeast (nominally east) onto Kingston Rd.; streetcars running northeast or southwest on Kingston Rd. can turn eastbound into the loop, exiting onto Queen westbound, and can then turn northeast from Queen onto Kingston Rd.

The name Woodbine refers not to Woodbine Ave., almost a half-mile to the east, but to the former Woodbine Race Course, which was once directly opposite the loop on the south side of Queen. The racetrack was renamed Greenwood Raceway after the New Woodbine Racetrack opened in another part of the city in 1957; Greenwood Raceway was demolished in 1994. Despite this, the "Woodbine Loop" name persists.

No bus access, no passenger access.

Named on-street loops

In addition to these named locations where a streetcar just runs around one or two city blocks to reverse, there are several places on the system where a longer loop around city streets is possible. The western terminus of the 503 Kingston Road, for example, is an on-street loop via Church St. southbound, Wellington St. westbound, York St. northbound, and King St. eastbound.

Waiting on Charlotte Street

Charlotte Loop

Clockwise on-street loop via King St. westbound, Spadina Ave. northbound, Adelaide St. eastbound, and Charlotte St. southbound, 43°38′47″N 79°23′38″W / 43.64639°N 79.39389°W, a possible turnback point for routes 504 King, and 510 Spadina in either direction. It is used regularly to short-turn southbound 510 Spadina streetcars.^[7] Streetcars can enter and exit the loop from/onto King eastbound or westbound and Spadina northbound or southbound.

College Loop

Anticlockwise on-street loop via Lansdowne Ave. northbound, College St. going southwest (nominally westbound), and Dundas St. going southeast (nominally eastbound), 43°39′02″N 79°26′23.4″W / 43.65056°N 79.439833°W, a possible turnback point for routes 505 Dundas and 506 Carlton in either direction. Streetcars can enter and exit the loop from/onto either Dundas or College in either direction.

Future Loops

A loop near Park Lawn Road and Lake Shore Boulevard had also been proposed but the decision was made to remove it from the TTC budget until 2017-2019.^[8]

A loop at or near Birchmount Road and Kingston Road (a resurrection of old Birchmount loop) has been proposed and funding allocated, however it has been deferred until 2018-2019. This loop is planned to service the significant increase in population due to redevelopment in the area, allow access to a large number of community centers, sports complexes and schools, and to ease high ridership on local bus routes. Preferred locations on the proposal are; Northeast corner of Birchmount Rd and Kingston Rd (across from where the old loop was located), east of Birchmount Park located in the "Y" of the intersection of Kingston Road and Glen Everest Road, or in the basketweave intersection of Danforth Avenue and Kingston Road

Former loops

Mutual Loop in 1929

Name	Location	Streetcar route last using loop	Status and notes
Asquith Loop	Church Street north of Bloor Street East	Church	Later bus loop, now redeveloped as office complex
Avon Loop	Weston Road & Rogers Road[9]	Weston Road	Later trolleybus loop, now buses. Currently under renewal for new streetcar/bus loop in 2014.
Bedford Loop	Bloor Street West & Bedford Road	Bloor	Partially redeveloped, partially parking lot
Bicknell Loop	Rogers Road & Bicknell Avenue	Rogers Road	Belongs to the City of Toronto.[9] Currently under renewal for new streetcar/bus loop in 2014.
Birchmount Loop	Birchmount Road & Kingston Road[10]	Kingston Rd.	Sold, redeveloped into condominiums
Caledonia Loop	St. Clair Avenue West & Station Street	St. Clair	Commercial development
Christie Loop	Dupont Street & Christie Street	Dupont	Redeveloped
City Hall Loop	on-street: Louisa, James, Albert & Bay Streets	Dundas	Louisa St. closed and redeveloped; tracks removed from other streets
Danforth (or Danforth-Coxwell) Loop	Danforth Avenue & Coxwell Avenue	Coxwell	Was part of Danforth Carhouse property; now redeveloped
Erindale Loop	Broadview Avenue & Erindale Avenue north side of street, opposite parkette	King	Redeveloped
(old) Exhibition Loop	north of Princes Boulevard, 1/4 mile (400 m) west of Strachan	Bathurst	Redeveloped into National Trade Centre (now Direct Energy Centre)
Ferry (or Ferry Docks) Loop	Queens Quay West west of Bay Street	Dupont	Parking lot
Gilbert Loop	Eglinton Avenue West & Gilbert Street	Oakwood	Parkette
Glen Echo Loop	Yonge Street & Glen Echo Avenue	Yonge	Redeveloped as retail and residential area
Hillingdon Loop	Danforth Avenue & Hillingdon Avenue	Bloor	Was part of Danforth Carhouse property
Jane Loop	Bloor Street West & Jane Street	Bloor	Now redeveloped as new mall
Keele Loop	Keele Street north of St. Clair Avenue West	512 St. Clair	Redeveloped
Keele Stn. Loop	Indian Grove & Bloor Street West	Bloor	Temporary loop 1966–68; redeveloped
Lawton Loop	north of Yonge Street and Lawton Boulevard intersection	Yonge	Lawton Parkette
Lipton Loop	Lipton Avenue & Pape Avenue	Harbord	Now the site of Pape Station and bus loop
Luttrell Loop	Danforth Ave., between Luttrell & Kelvin Avenues (west of Victoria Park Ave.)	Bloor	Sold, redeveloped into housing
Main Loop	Main Street north of Danforth Avenue	Carlton	Rebuilt into Main Street Station Loop
Mt. Pleasant Loop	Eglinton Avenue East & Mount Pleasant Road	Mt. Pleasant	Also known as Eglinton Loop. Later trolleybus loop, now buses. Originally open-air, now under an apartment building.
Mutual Loop	Mutual Street & Queen Street East	Lakeshore	Redeveloped, now a parking lot
Moore Park Loop	Mount Pleasant Road & St. Clair Avenue East	St. Clair	Loring-Wyle Parkette
Northlands Loop	Weston Road & Northlands (or Northland) Avenue.[9]	Weston Rd.	Redeveloped as commercial plaza
Park Loop	Bloor Street West & High Park Avenue	Bloor	Part of High Park
Parliament Loop	King Street East	Parliament	Later bus loop only; now under part of a car dealership.
Prescott Loop	Prescott Avenue and St. Clair Avenue West	Dovercourt	Now St. Clair Garden Parkette
Royce Loop	Lansdowne Avenue & Dupont Street	Harbord	Redeveloped
Runnymede Loop	Dundas Street West & Runnymede Road	Dundas	Later trolleybus loop, now buses
St. Clair (or Wychwood) Carhouse Loop	Wychwood Avenue & Benson Avenue	St. Clair	Reduced to wye after carhouse closed, then closed
St. Clarens Loop	St. Clarens Avenue & Davenport Road	Harbord	Primrose Avenue Parkette
Simcoe Loop	Front Street West & Simcoe Street	Yonge	Redeveloped
Small Arms Loop	Long Branch Small Arms factory, on Lake Shore almost 0.5 mile west of Long Branch Loop	Long Branch	For temporary 1942–45 extension of route
Terauley	on-street: Bay, Richmond, Victoria, Queen	Bay	Bus loop
Townsley	north of St. Clair Avenue West & Old Weston Road	512 St. Clair	Bus loop
Vaughan Loop	north of Bathurst Street/Vaughan Road intersection	Bathurst	Redeveloped
Viaduct Loop	Bloor Street East & Parliament Street	Parliament	Parkette
Vincent Loop	across from Dundas West Station	King	Redeveloped as Crossways Mall and condos
Woodbine Stn. Loop	Cedarvale Avenue & Strathmore Boulevard	Danforth	Temporary loop 1966–68; now part of parking lot. Some loop track still visible on Strathmore Blvd.

Disused streetcar track on Strathmore Blvd.

Former wyes

As an alternative to a loop, a streetcar can also be turned using a manoeuvre similar to a three-point turn, involving at least two switches and a suitable layout of connecting tracks. This can be done if necessary at any intersection or other track junction where suitable tracks exist, but the TTC also had a few wye tracks with no other purpose. There are none of these any more; the table shows some of the last ones to be removed.

Name	Location	Date closed	Notes
Adelaide Wye	Bathurst Street & Adelaide Street West	1973	Remnant of through tracks on Adelaide Street
Glencairn Wye	Yonge Street & Glencairn Avenue	1954	Closure with the opening of Yonge subway and closure of Yonge streetcar
Hillside Wye	Lake Shore Boulevard West and Hillside Avenue	2002	Track removed
Junction Wye	Keele Street & Junction Road	1963	Removed as part of closure of Bloor streetcar route
St. Clair Carhouse Wye	Wychwood Avenue & Benson Avenue	1998	Access tracks for former carhouse retained when it closed in 1978

See also

• Balloon loop
• Wye (rail)

References

1. The Canadian Light Rail Vehicles - Transit Toronto
2. Calnan, John (July 2006). "Toronto Transit Commission - 2006 Streetcar Track Layout and Route Map" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission.
3. "Venerable Bingham Loop - Transit Toronto - Content". transit.toronto.on.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
4. "Route 512L - The Earlscourt Streetcar - Transit Toronto - Content". transit.toronto.on.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
5. A Brief History of McCaul Loop
6. http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/explore_projects2/central_waterfront/queens_quay/constructing_the_community___queens_quay
7. Introducing Charlotte Loop
8. "Park_Lawn_Streetcar_Loop_2.pdf" (PDF). TTC. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
9. James Bow (2013-02-17). "A History of the Rogers/Weston Streetcar Loops (Northlands, Avon and Bicknell)". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2014-07-20. In 1972, the TTC decided to retain its streetcar operations within the City of Toronto, but needed to rebuild its fleet of PCCs to keep the system going until a replacement vehicle could be found. In order to have enough spares to maintain service while the rebuilds were continuing, it was decided to end streetcar service on Rogers Road.
10. James Bow (2013-08-24). "Remembering Birchmount Loop". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2014-02-18. The easternmost streetcar loop in the TTC's history is Birchmount Loop, located at the Kingston Road / Birchmount Avenue intersection inside the old City of Scarborough.

External links

Media related to TTC streetcar loops at Wikimedia Commons

• TTC Toronto Track Diagram 1966
• Toronto Transit Commission Track Diagram 1973
• TTC Streetcar Track Map (1995)