I have just returned from a trip to Quebec City and this is the train station there, the Gare Du Palais which was built in 1915. The train ride from Toronto was great fun and much easier than driving or flying. I will be showing some pics from the trip for the next several days.
This stained glass window was seen near the entrance to the railway museum in Merida Mexico. At first glance it appears to be abstract but if you look inside the white circle you can see a stylized train entering the picture. I quite liked it.
These are the tracks behind the building where yesterday's mural was found. It is hard to believe that this is in the middle of the city and that it is a very busy line. Some of the trains that pass here take a good 5 minutes to go through carrying all kinds of goods.
This mural on a utility box in the Parkdale neighbourhood is a tribute to the Grand Trunk Railway which ran on tracks through this area. The Grand Trunk Railway operated from 1852 to 1923 and connected the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and also ran into several of the American states along our border. The artist for this one is Lula Lumaj.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
These are the tracks from the Up Express which is a train running from Union Station in downtown Toronto out to the Toronto Pearson International Airport. At this point in the Weston neighbourhood the tracks are first covered by these pipes and then head underground for a short distance. I'm not sure if these pipes are supposed to buffer the sound or what their purpose is.
I was parking down at the end of a dead end street which offers free parking close to Yonge St, Toronto's main street, when I spotted this addition to a row of houses. The red brick row houses were built several years ago on a shallow lot very close to a busy railway line. This stone and wood home has been added to the end of the row and it is even closer to the train tracks which curve out towards the road here. I love the look of the new house but it must get shaky in there when some of the long noisy trains go by!
There is something about train tracks that makes me wish I was on a train going somewhere. Heading for an adventure!
This train is one of the UP Express trains that run from Union Station in downtown Toronto to Toronto Pearson International Airport. They claim a total time of 25 minutes for the ride and you don't have to worry about traffic jams. The trains have been running since 2015 but I have yet to try one.
I've seen bits of this sign for years but on the other side of that new fence there are railway tracks and there were lines of scrub and bushes growing all along so you couldn't see the whole thing. Just recently work has been done that included the new fence, gravel work and the cutting down of the vegetation so the sign is now visible. Beatty Electric Washers had a factory in Fergus Ontario and I think this could have been the back wall of an office.
This was the location just several weeks ago of a derailment that fortunately caused no damage to any of the buildings around the tracks and caused no dangerous substances to leak. This is the middle of the city so it could have been horrendous.
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
Also taking part in Good Fences. Click HERE to see more fences from around the world.
This "Railway Heritage Mural" is found suitably painted on a the wall of a railway underpass located on St Clair Ave W. The artist is a local, Marcelo Pinero, who incorporated the street art style into this historic mural that was completed in 2012.
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click here for more murals.
The CDP theme for May is "Squares".
I was coming down the stairs by Casa Loma a week ago just as this train with its bright clean red engine crossed along the overpass above Spadina Rd. Everything is so drab and grey here that the red was a real eye-stopper! If you continue down the street with you eye, that little strip of darker blue is Lake Ontario and hopefully it will soon be fine weather for walking along the lakeshore.
