The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) was the first operator of horseless streetcars in Toronto.

Formed by a partnership between James Ross

James Ross (Canadian businessman)

James L. Ross , was a Scottish-born Canadian civil engineer and businessman, who developed his fortune in railway construction.-Early life:...

 and William Mackenzie

William Mackenzie (railway entrepreneur)

Sir William Mackenzie was a Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur.Born near Peterborough, Ontario, Mackenzie became a teacher and politician before entering business as the owner of a sawmill and gristmill in Kirkfield, Ontario...

, a 30-year franchise was granted in 1891 to modernize transit operations after a previous 30 year franchise that saw horse car service from the Toronto Street Railways

Toronto Street Railways

After the Williams Omnibus Bus Line had become heavily loaded in 1861, the city of Toronto issued a transit franchise for a horse-drawn street railway. The winner was Alexander Easton's Toronto Street Railway which opened the first street railway line in Canada on September 11, 1861, operating...

 (TSR). At the end of the TSR franchise, the city ran the railway for eight months, but ended up granting another 30-year franchise to a private operator, the TRC. The first electric car ran on August 15, 1892, and the last horse car ran on August 31, 1894, to meet franchise requirements. There came to be problems with interpretation of the franchise terms, for the city. By 1912, the city limits had extended significantly, with the annexation of communities to the North (1912: North Toronto

North Toronto

North Toronto was a town located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It occupies a geographically central location within the current boundaries of the city of Toronto. It is a relatively narrow strip, centred around Yonge Street; it extends from the CP...

) and the East (1908: Town of East Toronto

East Toronto

East Toronto, Ontario was an incorporated community in what is today a part of the city of Toronto, Canada. It covered much of what is today the Upper Beaches neighbourhood, stretching up to Danforth Avenue in the north. The central street in the community was Main Street, running south from...

) and the West (1909: The Town of West Toronto - The Junction

The Junction

The Junction is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is near the junction of four railway lines in the area known as the West Toronto Diamond. The neighbourhood was previously an independent city called West Toronto, that was also its own federal electoral district until amalgamating...

). After many attempts to force the TRC to serve these areas, the city created its own street railway operation, the Toronto Civic Railways

Toronto Civic Railways

Toronto Civic Railways was an agency created and owned by the City of Toronto, Canada, to run streetcars in newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve...

 to do so, and built several routes. Repeated court battles did force the TRC to build new cars, but they were of old design. When the TRC franchise ended in 1921, the Toronto Transportation Commission

Toronto Transportation Commission

Before 1954, the Toronto Transit Commission was called the Toronto Transportation Commission.-History:Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by undertaker Burt Williams. The franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along Yonge...

 was created, combining with the city-operated Toronto Civic Railways

Toronto Civic Railways

Toronto Civic Railways was an agency created and owned by the City of Toronto, Canada, to run streetcars in newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve...

 lines.

Subway

The TRC had a proposal for a subway-like line under Queen Street using streetcars, but the idea died after a city vote rejected the proposal in 1910.

The proposed system consisted of three underground routes: streetcar tunnels under Queen and Bloor Streets, and a rapid transit subway along Yonge Street. These routes would have connected with surface streetcar routes and radial railways.

Routes

• Avenue Road
• Bathurst
• Belt Line
• Bloor and McCaul
• Broadview
• Carlton
• Church
• College
• Dovercourt
• Dundas
• Dupont
• Harbord
• King
• Parliament
• Queen
• Winchester
• Yonge

Roster

The TRC streetcars were made of wood and after 1906 the basic design of their cars did not change. All but ten of the TRC cars were built in-house at their car works at Front and Frederick Streets.

Because of a narrow devilstrip (distance between tracks), later cars were built with a taper to the roof on the passing side, and car bodies were offset to the right by four inches. The idea was to build a wider car and still safely pass another car traveling in the opposite direction.

Very early on, in 1894 the TRC decided on single-end operation. Many of the early streetcars were 'open' cars, where one entered from either side of the car, but with single-ended operation, only the curb 'near' side of the car was left open. In other Canadian cities (e.g., London, Montreal), this form of open car became common. Open cars carried huge loads of people, because there were no aisles.

In warm weather, people loved open cars. When it rained, there were side curtains that one could unroll from the roof to keep one dry. When it was cold, open cars were not so attractive, so the TSR developed a 'convertible car' in which the nearside of the car could be removed in the spring, and re-connected in the fall, thus changing from an open car to a closed car.

The TRC also had a subsidiary company, the Convertible Car Company of Toronto, that built cars for systems in Mexico, South America, and Western Canada. Several large interurban cars were turned out for the Toronto and York Radial Railway

Toronto and York Radial Railway

The Toronto and York Radial Railway operated radial transit services outside of Toronto. Service began in 1904 with the merger of several operators:* Metropolitan Street Railway...

.

The TRC never had a steel car, but by 1921, the city-operated Toronto Civic Railways

Toronto Civic Railways

Toronto Civic Railways was an agency created and owned by the City of Toronto, Canada, to run streetcars in newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve...

 had both single and double truck steel cars, including the standardized Birney

Birney

A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...

 Car.

Some used TRC cars were sold to Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Company

Winnipeg Transit

Winnipeg Transit is the public transit agency in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is a bus-only operator.The Winnipeg Street Railway operated a horse car operation from 1882 to 1894...

 and Winnipeg Electric Railway Company

Winnipeg Transit

Winnipeg Transit is the public transit agency in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is a bus-only operator.The Winnipeg Street Railway operated a horse car operation from 1882 to 1894...

.

Product list and details

Builder	Description	Fleet size	Year acquired	Year retired	Notes
TRC	SE-ST-T - single end single truck		1893-1894		rebuilt 363-409 (G2) sold to Monterrey, Mexico after 1908
James Crossen-Cobourg Car Works (Cobourg ON)	SE-ST-M - single end, single truck	10	c. 1911	1921?
TRC	DE-DT-T - double end, double truck		1896
TRC	SE-DT-M - single end double truck		1904?	1951	Car 1326 of this group is at the Halton County Radial Railway.

Carhouses

Facility details

Yard	Location	Year Open	Notes
Dundas Carhouse	Dundas Street West and Howard Park Avenue	1907-1921	transfer to Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission Before 1954, the Toronto Transit Commission was called the Toronto Transportation Commission.-History:Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by undertaker Burt Williams. The franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along Yonge...  1921-1954; demolished in the 1930s.
Roncesvalles Carhouse	Roncesvalles Avenue and Queen Street West Queen Street West Queen Street West describes both the western branch of Queen Street, a major east-west thoroughfare, and a series of neighbourhoods or commercial districts, situated west of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Queen Street begins in the west at the intersection of King Street, The...	1895-1921	transfer to Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission Before 1954, the Toronto Transit Commission was called the Toronto Transportation Commission.-History:Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by undertaker Burt Williams. The franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along Yonge...  1921-1954 and rebuilt; still used by the Toronto Transit Commission Toronto Transit Commission -Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
Russell (Connaught) Carhouse	Connaught Avenue and Queen Street East	1913-1921	transfer to Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission Before 1954, the Toronto Transit Commission was called the Toronto Transportation Commission.-History:Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by undertaker Burt Williams. The franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along Yonge...  1921-1954 and rebuilt; still used by the Toronto Transit Commission Toronto Transit Commission -Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...