So this has been in the works forever and I'm still not perfectly happy with it, but if I don't post it soon it's just never going to happen. More or less inspired by the now ancient Transport America TL I've taken a much earlier POD with the idea of doing the same for urban transit in Canada. Or just created a chance to wade around in drawing lines on maps, but whatever 
1: 1881-1900: Early Days in Toronto
While the corporate origins of the Metropolitan Railway of Toronto date only to 1877 it would be more reasonable to place the true beginning of the railway in 1862 with the establishment of the Toronto Street Railway. Discontent with the terms of it’s fifty year [1] franchise would lead directly to the Metropolitan’s construction in the form we know it today, and was key to the otherwise overambitious construction of an elevated railway in 19th century Toronto.
The first portion of what would become the Metropolitan opened in 1882 as a roadside steam tram[2] operating from a connection with the Toronto Street Railway at the CPR's crosstown tracks, to approximately Eglinton Ave. This line was extended in phases reaching Glen Echo in 1891[3]. To this point the operation was basically a street railway, albeit with steam power. While some photos show multi car trains company records show no indications that this was a regular occurrence.
In parallel with the basically streetcar operation being developed on Yonge Street James Edgar and associates had been purchasing land north of Toronto in anticipation of their Belt Line commuter railway. While initial proposals had moved slowly 1890 saw several American financiers invest in the Belt Line corporation. Inspired by the project in Sioux City the Americans publicly raised the possibility of an Yonge elevated railroad from St Lawrence Market area to city’s limits at the CPR tracks as an alternative to the sparsely populated and rather difficult Don Valley route pursued by the Belt Line associates. Response to the elevated plan was lacklustre, but it did find favour in council chambers, where patience with the Toronto Street Railway’s steadfast refusal to move away from horsecars was more than exhausted. Despite a drawn out and public fight between the Belt Line group and the Toronto Street Railway council approved a charter late in the year, taking the position that as a railway the elevated would not be a violation of the Street Railway's monopoly and would in any case be a provincial responsibility.
With appropriate modifications to the Beltline's charter construction of the elevated began from the CPR tracks south during the summer of 1891. Plans to this point had, at least in the public eye, remained vague as to how the railway would bridge the gap between CPR's tracks and the Belt Line's private right of way near Eglinton. This question was answered when shortly after construction it was revealed that the Metropolitan Street Railway had been acquired and ramps to street level were built just north of the CPR tracks. Questions were again raised about the nature of the street railway contract and while the question would eventually be brought as far as the Privy Council no violation of the Railway Company’s street railway monopoly in the City was ever proven.
With construction on the elevated well under way crosstown service from the CPR tracks to Fairbank Station began in the spring of 1892. The ongoing recession combined ongoing legal disputes between the Met and Toronto Street Railway had halted of work on the planned Moore Park branch by this time and while much of the Yonge Street viaduct was at least partially complete little work had been accomplished on stations. Funds intended for extensions north to Richmond Hill and Aurora were also redirected toward the elevated through the summer such that a limited through service was able to open in 1893. The line now originated at a “temporary” terminal just south of King Street with additional elevated stations operating only at College and Bloor streets, though Queen station would open within the year. Though sharing ownership and a terminal the Metropolitan Street Railway and Belt Line Railway’s had to this point operated independently of each other; this arrangement ended with the start of elevated service, both Yonge and Crosstown trains now operating under the new Metropolitan Railway of Toronto banner. At the same time plans were announced for further extensions north to Richmond Hill and Aurora, East to Leeside and west to Weston, however with funds essentially exhausted and towns north of Toronto balking at the prospect of further on street steam operation these plans remained little more than fuel for real estate speculators; realistically the company was struggling to raise funds for completion of the elevated to St Lawrence Market and Union Station. The railway had in fact sold the “Moore Park” lands it intended to develop on the eastern branch shortly after halting work on the right of way through Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The western loop in the Humber River area mentioned in some early pre-elevated Belt Line promotional material had disappeared entirely by this point.
Despite struggles on the Metropolitan, 1893 and 94 proved to be remarkably busy years for railway construction in Toronto, with the Toronto and Scarboro, Toronto and Mimico and Toronto Suburban electric railways all opening new lines on Kingston Rd, Lakeshore Blvd and Weston Rd respectively. Significantly for future developments, while these lines were all essentially suburban and rural extensions of Toronto Railway Company routes they were all constructed to standard gauge and electrically operated from day one. Bowing to the inevitable the Toronto Street Railway also belatedly abandoned its plans for cable cars and began experimenting with electric operation on Yonge Street in direct competition with the Metropolitan Railway’s faster but expensive, infrequent and comparatively dirty elevated service. The TSR would flirt with electrification for a number of years, but would not fully commit to the project until 1898, by which all parties were more than fed up with the deteriorating state of the system and the by now totally unsatisfactory horsecar service. The company’s protestations that it could not be seriously expected to invest in a franchise with no future beyond it’s 1911 expiration fell on deaf ears.
1895 little improved Metropolitan’s finances, and electrification of other railways had all but destroyed the prospects for extension north under steam power. Matters were little helped by the lack of local stations on the Yonge St viaduct, lower fares on the street railway and the utter inability of steam trams to provide an efficient service on the Yonge line which, north of the elevated was still essentially a suburban streetcar route. By the fall creditors had taken possession of the line, and though elevated service was briefly suspended while an attempt was made to sell the locomotives and scrap the viaduct a new group of investors led by William Mackenzie and Donald Mann purchased the line as the year ended. Full elevated service resumed immediately with electric extensions northward promised for 1896.
With new financial backing from Mackenzie and Mann progress quickened, the first Metropolitan electric train reaching Richmond Hill in 1897 and meeting the southernmost mainline steam railway station located on Yonge St proper, at Aurora, by 1899. As the newly obtained franchise required that all service on Yonge Street north of Glen Echo operate electrically a small number of electric streetcars were built for local service on Yonge Street while a limited of round trips operated directly to the King St terminal hauled by makeshift electric locomotives pieced together by the company shops. In practice this service was little faster than transferring between elevated trains and streetcars, especially after “local” electric service was extended south to the CPR junction line in 1898. Crosstown service on the Belt Line route, originally the whole purpose of the endeavor, had by now dwindled to only a few services daily, but attention would soon refocus on this operation, permission having been acquired for an extension to the village of Weston. Electrification of the elevated portion followed the Aurora extension, but as opening was delayed until additional local stations could be opened and the line fully double tracked this would not be complete before the turn of the century.
[1]POD #1, OTL this was a thirty year franchise expiring in 1891, then transferring to William Mackenzie under another thirty year franchise – the city wouldn’t be fed up with him for another few years, missing the opportunity for the Belt Line to amount to anything.
[2]POD #2, OTL the metropolitan applied to operate steam dummies but was turned down and did not open until 1885 as a horsecar line.
[3]A couple years ahead of OTL but we opened a couple years ahead of schedule.
And for those not especially familiar with Toronto a google map of the Metropolitan circa 1900, following the extension north but before electrification or expansion of the elevated.
I've also stuck a poll in as to what forum I should continue this on seeing as I intend a multi-part TL and this is the only pre-1900 post I've planned.
1: 1881-1900: Early Days in Toronto
While the corporate origins of the Metropolitan Railway of Toronto date only to 1877 it would be more reasonable to place the true beginning of the railway in 1862 with the establishment of the Toronto Street Railway. Discontent with the terms of it’s fifty year [1] franchise would lead directly to the Metropolitan’s construction in the form we know it today, and was key to the otherwise overambitious construction of an elevated railway in 19th century Toronto.
The first portion of what would become the Metropolitan opened in 1882 as a roadside steam tram[2] operating from a connection with the Toronto Street Railway at the CPR's crosstown tracks, to approximately Eglinton Ave. This line was extended in phases reaching Glen Echo in 1891[3]. To this point the operation was basically a street railway, albeit with steam power. While some photos show multi car trains company records show no indications that this was a regular occurrence.
In parallel with the basically streetcar operation being developed on Yonge Street James Edgar and associates had been purchasing land north of Toronto in anticipation of their Belt Line commuter railway. While initial proposals had moved slowly 1890 saw several American financiers invest in the Belt Line corporation. Inspired by the project in Sioux City the Americans publicly raised the possibility of an Yonge elevated railroad from St Lawrence Market area to city’s limits at the CPR tracks as an alternative to the sparsely populated and rather difficult Don Valley route pursued by the Belt Line associates. Response to the elevated plan was lacklustre, but it did find favour in council chambers, where patience with the Toronto Street Railway’s steadfast refusal to move away from horsecars was more than exhausted. Despite a drawn out and public fight between the Belt Line group and the Toronto Street Railway council approved a charter late in the year, taking the position that as a railway the elevated would not be a violation of the Street Railway's monopoly and would in any case be a provincial responsibility.
With appropriate modifications to the Beltline's charter construction of the elevated began from the CPR tracks south during the summer of 1891. Plans to this point had, at least in the public eye, remained vague as to how the railway would bridge the gap between CPR's tracks and the Belt Line's private right of way near Eglinton. This question was answered when shortly after construction it was revealed that the Metropolitan Street Railway had been acquired and ramps to street level were built just north of the CPR tracks. Questions were again raised about the nature of the street railway contract and while the question would eventually be brought as far as the Privy Council no violation of the Railway Company’s street railway monopoly in the City was ever proven.
With construction on the elevated well under way crosstown service from the CPR tracks to Fairbank Station began in the spring of 1892. The ongoing recession combined ongoing legal disputes between the Met and Toronto Street Railway had halted of work on the planned Moore Park branch by this time and while much of the Yonge Street viaduct was at least partially complete little work had been accomplished on stations. Funds intended for extensions north to Richmond Hill and Aurora were also redirected toward the elevated through the summer such that a limited through service was able to open in 1893. The line now originated at a “temporary” terminal just south of King Street with additional elevated stations operating only at College and Bloor streets, though Queen station would open within the year. Though sharing ownership and a terminal the Metropolitan Street Railway and Belt Line Railway’s had to this point operated independently of each other; this arrangement ended with the start of elevated service, both Yonge and Crosstown trains now operating under the new Metropolitan Railway of Toronto banner. At the same time plans were announced for further extensions north to Richmond Hill and Aurora, East to Leeside and west to Weston, however with funds essentially exhausted and towns north of Toronto balking at the prospect of further on street steam operation these plans remained little more than fuel for real estate speculators; realistically the company was struggling to raise funds for completion of the elevated to St Lawrence Market and Union Station. The railway had in fact sold the “Moore Park” lands it intended to develop on the eastern branch shortly after halting work on the right of way through Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The western loop in the Humber River area mentioned in some early pre-elevated Belt Line promotional material had disappeared entirely by this point.
Despite struggles on the Metropolitan, 1893 and 94 proved to be remarkably busy years for railway construction in Toronto, with the Toronto and Scarboro, Toronto and Mimico and Toronto Suburban electric railways all opening new lines on Kingston Rd, Lakeshore Blvd and Weston Rd respectively. Significantly for future developments, while these lines were all essentially suburban and rural extensions of Toronto Railway Company routes they were all constructed to standard gauge and electrically operated from day one. Bowing to the inevitable the Toronto Street Railway also belatedly abandoned its plans for cable cars and began experimenting with electric operation on Yonge Street in direct competition with the Metropolitan Railway’s faster but expensive, infrequent and comparatively dirty elevated service. The TSR would flirt with electrification for a number of years, but would not fully commit to the project until 1898, by which all parties were more than fed up with the deteriorating state of the system and the by now totally unsatisfactory horsecar service. The company’s protestations that it could not be seriously expected to invest in a franchise with no future beyond it’s 1911 expiration fell on deaf ears.
1895 little improved Metropolitan’s finances, and electrification of other railways had all but destroyed the prospects for extension north under steam power. Matters were little helped by the lack of local stations on the Yonge St viaduct, lower fares on the street railway and the utter inability of steam trams to provide an efficient service on the Yonge line which, north of the elevated was still essentially a suburban streetcar route. By the fall creditors had taken possession of the line, and though elevated service was briefly suspended while an attempt was made to sell the locomotives and scrap the viaduct a new group of investors led by William Mackenzie and Donald Mann purchased the line as the year ended. Full elevated service resumed immediately with electric extensions northward promised for 1896.
With new financial backing from Mackenzie and Mann progress quickened, the first Metropolitan electric train reaching Richmond Hill in 1897 and meeting the southernmost mainline steam railway station located on Yonge St proper, at Aurora, by 1899. As the newly obtained franchise required that all service on Yonge Street north of Glen Echo operate electrically a small number of electric streetcars were built for local service on Yonge Street while a limited of round trips operated directly to the King St terminal hauled by makeshift electric locomotives pieced together by the company shops. In practice this service was little faster than transferring between elevated trains and streetcars, especially after “local” electric service was extended south to the CPR junction line in 1898. Crosstown service on the Belt Line route, originally the whole purpose of the endeavor, had by now dwindled to only a few services daily, but attention would soon refocus on this operation, permission having been acquired for an extension to the village of Weston. Electrification of the elevated portion followed the Aurora extension, but as opening was delayed until additional local stations could be opened and the line fully double tracked this would not be complete before the turn of the century.
[1]POD #1, OTL this was a thirty year franchise expiring in 1891, then transferring to William Mackenzie under another thirty year franchise – the city wouldn’t be fed up with him for another few years, missing the opportunity for the Belt Line to amount to anything.
[2]POD #2, OTL the metropolitan applied to operate steam dummies but was turned down and did not open until 1885 as a horsecar line.
[3]A couple years ahead of OTL but we opened a couple years ahead of schedule.
And for those not especially familiar with Toronto a google map of the Metropolitan circa 1900, following the extension north but before electrification or expansion of the elevated.
I've also stuck a poll in as to what forum I should continue this on seeing as I intend a multi-part TL and this is the only pre-1900 post I've planned.