Queen Subway Special, 09-1997
    
    
click thumbnail pic to view. descriptions below.
I was in high school when I saw Mike Nesbitt from
City-TV do a story on the Queen St. Cavern. I don’t
remember what the occasion was, if there was one. I just
wanted to see it. So, using the same connections that got
me to Lower Bay, I endeavored to get to this place. It
took a lot more bugging, since the place was being
occupied by a whole mess of equipment as elevators were
installed at the Queen subway. Now that that’s done,
I managed to get in.
First, some background. In the 40's, the plan was to
build a north-south subway line (the “tube”),
and an underground streetcar line, following an alignment
under Adelaide, Richmond and Queen streets, with Trinity
Bellwoods Park on the west and Logan Avenue on the right.
Word is there would have been 13 stations in the
underground portion: Trinity Park, Bathurst, Spadina,
Grange, York, City Hall, Yonge, Church, Sherbourne,
Parliament, Don, Broadview, and Logan.
The proposal was put to Torontonians on New
Year’s Day (!) 1946, as part of that year’s
municipal election ballot. The question: “Are you in
favour of the Toronto Transportation Commission
proceeding with the proposed rapid transit system
provided the Dominion government assumes one-fifth of the
cost and provided that the cost to the ratepayers is
limited to such amounts as the City Council may agree are
necessary for the replacement and improvement of city
services?” It passed, 79,935 to 8,630.
While they had the intersection of Queen and Yonge
ripped up to build the main subway line, presumably
around 1950, they started to build the streetcar subway.
Shortly after they finished a small section, folks
realized the heart of the city had moved north, and ideas
for a second east-west line moved north to Bloor. The
Queen line was abandoned, with the tunnel segment still
in the ground.
Since then, Queen station’s been renovated, the
Eaton Center has been built, and the city’s grown
all around, but that hunk of tunnel was left to be.
Various posts on the Internet describe this as a
“station,” though from what I saw, it looks
more tunnel than station. I could be wrong.
It’s dark. Really dark. It’s all unfinished
concrete — there are no signs, no platforms, no
tracks, no overhead wires. It’s just the shell of a
station/tunnel. But the pillars down the middle, and the
concrete setup on the floor make it blatantly obvious
what the tunnel was intended to be. That’s what
makes it so cool. There are drains on the floors, pipes
coming out of the walls and ceiling and so on. At some
point, some 45 or 50 years ago, they were intended to go
somewhere. I wonder where they go now, if anywhere.
Overhead, there are sounds of escalator motors and the
rumble of the subway. Puddles of water collect on the
floor.
The tunnel is terminated at both ends by concrete
retaining walls, recently re-built as part of the
elevator construction project. A fair chunk of the tunnel
has also been taken up with a cinder-block wall, which is
the outside of an expanded corridor leading to the
elevator. New ductwork, pipes, and wires, have also been
added. It’s pretty easy to see what’s new and
what’s old. It’s the old part that’s
interesting, of course.
Looking up, there’s a hole in the ceiling. Neat.
It’s actually a hole in the floor of a maintenance
room near the Southbound collectors booth.
Now, one report I’ve read on the Net says
“The excavation doesn't just cross under Yonge,
though; there is tunnel continuing eastwards. I don't
remember the length; maybe 200 feet or so. It ramps
upwards, and I think the end of it is covered in wood
instead of concrete.” For the record, I didn’t
see anything ramping anywhere. It was flat.
For those interested in seeing this
marvel....well....you’ll have a hard time. There are
a few entrances. Go to the Southbound collectors booth at
Queen & Yonge. Go down the stairs near the elevator,
the ones to your left that take you under the tracks and
to the Northbound side. You’ll find the expanded
corridor mentioned above. There are two red doors before
you get to the elevator. The cavern is on the other side
of those doors. Don’t forget your key. The other
option is to fall through the floor in the maintenance
room mentioned above. Don’t forget your life
insurance premiums.
I asked a couple of prominent TTC people about Lower
Queen. Here's what they told me in RealAudio format.
- Paul Christie, Chairman
of the Toronto Transit Commission (106k)
- David Gunn, Chief General
Manager of the TTC (43k)
|
Looking down the tunnel from the entrance
stairs. The wall on the right is new, as are the
pipes. |
|
At one end, white spraypaint surrounds some
sort of rusty leaky hole, from
goodness-knows-where. There's water on the floor,
not quite draining into floor drains that don't
drain. The fresh retaining wall is here too. |
|
More pipes, holes and floor drains along an
edge of the floor. Ladder in BG. |
|
We're looking up. Big heavy beams across the
top, and wooden planking too. |
|
Looking down the tunnel from almost floor
level at one end. This gives a sense of how
really dark it is. The wall and pipes to the left
of centre are new. Imagine the tunnel without it. |
|
Turn around, this is the corner. It's really
DARK, but the flash shows the retaining wall and
some dampness. |
|
Alternate (better?) scan of Queen5 |
|
Retaining wall. Again, totally dark 'cept for
the flash. The pipes, we're told, are new. |
|
View along "platform," although
whether it's really a platform in the transit
sense is doubtful, IMHO. Ductwork is all new. |
|
Same, but with ambient lighting. I like this
one better. |
|
Cygnals #8 - Summer 1996
Cygnals #9 - Spring 1997
