Neville Park Loop
General information
LocationQueen Street East at Nursewood Road
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°40′25.5″N 79°16′53″W / 43.673750°N 79.28139°W / 43.673750; -79.28139
Owned byToronto Transit Commission
History
Opened1922
Rebuilt1967

Neville Park Loop is the eastern terminus of the 301/501 Queen streetcar line, the longest streetcar route of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).[1] It is also the terminus of the 143 Beaches/Downtown express bus service.[2] It is located at the southwest corner of Queen Street East and Nursewood Road in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto. It is named after the street which is just west of the loop.

Streetcars enter eastbound and loop anticlockwise to exit at Nursewood Road and turn north to Queen Street where they return westbound.

History

In 1914, the Toronto Railway Company built a wye at the eastern end of the streetcar line along Queen Street East. The wye was between Nursewood Road and Neville Park Boulevard near the eastern boundary of the old City of Toronto at the western boundary of Scarborough, Ontario. Service began to Neville Park on December 24, 1914.[3][4]

In 1921, the newly created Toronto Transportation Commission took over and amalgamated existing streetcar systems within the old city limits.[5] As part of a modernization program, the TTC decided to replace wyes with turning loops to improve operational efficiency at the end of line. (The TTC's predecessor, the Toronto Railway Company preferred wyes at the end of line.)[6]

On July 2, 1922, the TTC opened the Neville Park Loop to replace the old TRC wye. However, the TTC retained a portion of the old wye as a tail track south of Queen Street on Neville Park Boulevard. An eastbound streetcar could access this track only by backing in. In May 1989, the tail track was severed from the rest of the system, the severed portion of which still remains visible.[3][7]

The original loop was located completely off-street at the north-west corner of Queen Street and Nursewood Road; that is, the loop did not touch Nursewood Road. However, in 1967, the TTC rebuilt the loop into Nursewood Road at a larger radius in order to accommodate two-car, multiple-unit PCC trains which operated through the loop for 10 years. The rebuilt loop had a longer off-street area to hold an entire PCC-train.[3][6]

Services

Although this is the terminus for 301/501 Queen streetcars, there is no passenger access to the loop. The first westbound stop is immediately opposite on the north side of Queen Street and the last stop eastbound is at Neville Park Boulevard. The 301/501 Queen streetcars then proceed westbound, following their route, usually towards Humber Loop or Long Branch Loop. The loop is also the terminus of the 143 Beaches / Downtown premium express service, which proceeds westbound to downtown via Eastern Avenue.

Overview of Neville Park Loop at the southwest corner of Queen Street East and Nursewood Road

References

  1. ↑ Vanessa Farquharson (March 24, 2012). "Riding the 501: The longest streetcar route in North America". National Post. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Neville Park loop, which is entirely unassuming. There is no sign declaring, "You've arrived at the end of the line!" or even a fence to protect it.
  2. ↑ "TTC description of 143 Downtown / Beach Express". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved August 1, 2014. During the afternoon peak period from Monday to Friday only, these buses operate from Richmond Street and Sherbourne Street via west on Richmond Street, south on Peter Street, east on Adelaide Street, east and northeast on Eastern Avenue, and east on Queen Street East to Neville Park Loop.
  3. 1 2 3 Bow, James (June 25, 2015). "The Great Neville Loop". Transit Toronto. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  4. ↑ Bow, James (September 6, 2017). "Route 501 - The Queen Streetcar". Transit Toronto. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Looking Back". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved August 1, 2014. In 1920, a Provincial Act created the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) and, in 1921, the Commission took over and amalgamated nine existing fare systems within the city limits.
  6. 1 2 Bromley, John F.; May, Jack (1978) [1973]. Fifty Years of Progressive Transit: A History of the Toronto Transit Commission (2 ed.). New York: Electric Railroaders' Association. pp. 22, 115. LCCN 73-84892.
  7. ↑ Todd Harrison (May 19, 2008). "Street Stories: Neville Park Boulevard". Spacing Toronto. Retrieved August 1, 2014. There used to be a wye at Queen and Neville Park, but it was removed in 1989 — leaving a length of orphan streetcar track behind.

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