You’ve got a big, ugly, abandoned elevated track that just looks awful. What’s a city to do? Well, convert it into a park. of course. That’s what High Line Park is. It starts at 30th Street (though it’s being extended northward) and runs parallel to 10th Ave all the way down to 12th Street. It made for a very enjoyable walk. So without further ado, I’m going to hog the internet bandwidth to bring you the dozens of pictures I took…

That’s where they’re expanding it.

I like the bench running along the side.

Looking down the park.

Doesn’t look like the nicest street.

The fact that they kept the track is really cool.

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There were some art installations along the park. This appears to be an organ resting on a hammock. You know, generic stuff.

A little rest area.

I like that mural on the right.

A bit of contrast between two art forms.

It doesn’t even look like New York it’s so leafy.

I love how they incorporated the track into the actual path.

There’s been a security breach!

New York has a bike share service, apparently. This one isn’t very well-used.

That’s a nice view.

Looking into New Jersey.

Some flowers.

That is a really cool building.

This street is a lot nicer.

I love this view!

This is where the official gift shop is.

One of New York’s newer buses.

There was also a snack bar.

We were wondering what this building is. It’s a really nice one.

The buildings seem to be getting taller.

Going through a building.

Looking into New Jersey again. I assume that’s Hoboken.

Looks like things get ugly again.

Another leafy section.

Here’s another art installation.

The track was apparently electrified.

Next up: we finally get back to Boston bus reviews!

Okay, Google Maps. Take me from the Met to our hotel near Penn Station. Let’s see, it says to take the M4 bus rather than the subway. Well, Google Maps is always right, right?

Wrong. The subway is always faster than the bus in New York. Though it was an enjoyable ride, the M4 was so slow – and it even had its own dedicated bus lane! I mean, the Silver Line along Washington Street isn’t the best, but it does goes somewhat fast. The issue in New York is that other cars go into the bus lane anyway. You’re not gonna move any faster by doing that, guys.

We got on the bus right by the Met, at the 81st Street stop. Buses cost the same amount of money to ride as the subways: $2.50 with a MetroCard and $2.75 without one. It wasn’t that crowded inside, and it never did get crowded for the entire ride, probably because the subway is about 500 times faster than the bus. The inside was standard, but nice enough. I was sort of annoyed that there weren’t any automatic announcements, though; I mean, come on! This is New Yawk!

A bad picture of the M4.

Another bad picture of the M4.

The inside of the bus.

There could be a much better use for that.

We headed down 5th Avenue, right alongside Central Park with tall buildings on the other side. But eventually, the park ended and we were surrounded by buildings. We were stopping at every stop, but there were never too many people on the bus at any given point. And again, the bus was moving at a snail’s pace, what with the insane amount of traffic and red lights.

Also, there are about half a million bus routes that run down 5th Ave. Maybe it’s a busy corridor, but they all have different stops! For example, at Central Park South, there’s a stop for the M1-M4, then the BxM6-BxM11 stop before the intersection at 58 Street, while the M5 and Q32 stop after the intersection, then at 56 Street there’s a stop for just the BxM18, and at 55 Street the BxM3-BxM4, M1-M5, Q32, X63-X64, and X68 all share a stop, then the BM1-BM5 stop at 54 Street, while the X10, X10B, X12, X14, X17, X17J, X30, and X42 stop between 54 and 53 Streets. How is anyone supposed to figure all this out? It doesn’t help that there are all the prefix letters, and even some suffix letters to confuse people even more. Long story short, I feel sorry for anyone who’s looking for the right bus to take on 5th Ave.

We went by Rockefeller Center, and then the cool-looking New York Public Library a few blocks later. We got to 34th Street, but my mother insisted on getting off here and walking the rest of the way. I agreed, since the bus turns onto 34th Street, and going across town is even slower than downtown. Though it wasn’t the fastest way to get around, the bus did provide a nice view of the city, and it felt a lot more relaxed than a ride on the subway can ever feel.

A quick note about when we got off: these back doors were ones that you push to leave. It seemed like the driver would unlock them whenever the bus got to a stop, and passengers were free to push it if they wanted to get out the back. It was actually really heavy and hard to open, but a cool feature regardless.

The back doors.

Oh, look, they’ve even added non-MTA services to the bus stop sign just to make it even more confusing!

That’s a much better picture.

Travelling by bus on weekends and nights must be a pain. But now that I think about it, the lack of a bus lane would make no difference.

A nice schedule and map at a stop.

This is an express bus that appears to be out of service. I find it interesting that they use coach buses for these routes.

Six bucks?! And I’ll bet the subway’s still faster.

These are just some extra pictures that didn’t have to do with the previous posts. This will be the last Service Change from my Toronto trip. Next up is the continuation of my trip to New York a while back (here’s Part 1 and Part 2 – there will likely be two more parts), then probably some Boston stuff. Aside from the very slight chance that I take any buses on a weekend trip to Rhode Island and a possible weekend in Burlington (where I already rode a bus), the next Service Change won’t be until another trip to New York in a little under a month. We’ll be taking Amtrak there and I already know which subway line I want to take for fun…

But for now, here are some extra pictures from Toronto.

The TTC’s paratransit service is called Wheel-Trans.

There’s also a bike share service in Toronto, creatively titled “Bike Share Toronto.”

This is an example of a streetcar stop with a countdown clock.

Roundhouse Park used to be a huge rail yard. This is a beautiful old train outside.

Another train. These ones outside are free to look at and (I believe) go into.

There’s a miniature railway (7.25″ gauge) that goes in a small loop around the park. Is it worth the $3.00? Probably not, since it’s a short ride and these people look ridiculous. I’m sure it’s fun, though.

For five bucks to get in the museum, there really isn’t much. The only thing of note that’s not under construction or a gift shop is this. It’s the cab of a real train, connected to Trainz Simulator 12. The novelty sort of wore off, though, since the in-game track was really short and Trainz Simulator isn’t that good. I like Train Simulator 2014 much more.

The ferry ride in question happens to be from Toronto City Airport to the mainland, a distance of about 400 feet and a ride time of about 90 seconds. Short, indeed. The overall airport process at this airportwais pretty great. Security and customs seemed to go by really quickly, and once the ferry ride was over we’d be right in the city.

So yeah, the ferry. The terminal was nice enough, pretty much just two lines. I’m not entirely sure why they would have two lines instead of one wider line, but it still works. I also like that the people getting off the ferry leave through a different door than the ones getting on, so there’s no mass confusion like on the Toronto Islands Ferry.

The ferry offered quite a lot of room for standing, with a bench running along the perimeter. We decided to stand outside (which I’m not sure you’re actually allowed to do, since there was barely anywhere to stand out there) for a better view. But after about a minute and a half, the ride was over and we headed out.

The terminal.

I don’t know if you can read that, but I liked it for some reason.

The inside of the ferry.

The destination in view.

A foggy view.

Looking back towards the airport, having completed the ride.

Vehicles can go onto the ferry for a fee.

This pedestrian tunnel will be convenient. The ferry will still stay for vehicles to be able to go over.

I took a bit of extra time on the mainland to take pictures, and so we didn’t even notice the shuttle bus waiting there. It had already closed its doors and started to leave by the time we saw it, but they saw us running and opened the doors. I love it when bus drivers do that.

Unfortunately, it was one of those buses that has an ad plastered on the outside, so you can’t see a thing out the window. It actually messes with your vision and is just really disorienting. The route was really simple: we went up Bathurst Street, crossing over the railroad tracks, then turned onto Front Street and stopped a block away from Union Station. It was an underwhelming ride, but I’m glad that they stopped for us and opened the doors. Plus, it was free. Free’s good.

I had to snap a quick picture.

The inside. Good thing there’s space for luggage.

Ah, yes. What a beautiful view.

People boarding the bus to go back.

The Toronto Islands used to be a peninsula, but nature caused them to become separated from the mainland. They’re now a popular place to visit for tourists, but they also have some residential areas. It’s actually North America’s largest urban car-free community. But there’s no bridge connecting to the islands, so there are three ferry routes to do the job. They operate with vintage ferries from the 1950’s, which is very cool, and the ride for all three is about 15 minutes.

Quite a few people, as you can see.

Again, a large number of people appear in the picture.

There is a large mass of people in the location of this waiting area

That guy up there’s probably having the time of his life.

There are boards to show where the next ferry’s going.

Two decks.

They tried to pack as many people as they could onto this boat.

And finally, the crowded second deck.

Since it was such a short ride, the only view was of the Toronto skyline. But it was a pretty awesome view that I was completely willing to look at for 15 minutes.

Bye!

When close to the dock, you mostly just see these apartment buildings.

A view of the city.

A ferry going the other way.

Centre Island was, as you might expect, extremely crowded. We decided to get away from it all and take a walk down the rural boardwalk, visiting the cute residential areas of Algonquin and Ward’s Islands. And it was at Ward’s Island that we got on the ferry back. It was practically identical to the first one, just a little less busy. Overall, it was a pretty great day excursion – as long as you’re not claustrophobic…

Another view. Man, I love that skyline.

Another boat.

This is the ferry terminal at Ward’s Island.

For a while I thought that GO Transit was just a generic name. But then I found out that GO stands for Government of Ontario, turning the name into a cool acronym. I love it!

Two inside views.

It’s not exactly as imposing as the one at South Station, is it?

The platform we were waiting on was pretty standard. It was at track level, with a basic shelter running down it. It looks like other platforms may be a bit fancier, though.

Meh.

That looks a bit better.

A VIA Rail train – these go all across Canada.

The locomotive looks similar to some of the new ones the MBTA got – is it the same?

Double-decker! Hooray!

Forward-facing seats! Hooray!

A nice view of the financial district from Union Station.

The bathroom was disgusting, as you might expect.

There weren’t any automatic announcements, unfortunately. We left Union Station at a slow speed, with Toronto’s Old Town to the north and the elevated Gardiner Expressway to the south. There was a bridge over the Don River, the track gradually curved north, and it started getting more suburban. At one point we went by a huge yard for the Bloor Line, which was pretty cool.

Soon after we arrived at our first station, Danforth. There’s no direct connection (or free transfer), but the Main Street Bloor Line station is a short walk away. There were more suburban views until Scarborough Station, where there was a quick industrial break. After stopping at another station, Eglinton, we went past a golf course and arrived at Guildwood, which is also served by VIA Rail trains. A few other people got off here, but they all got rides while we walked to the bus stop.

The train at Guildwood.

The platform.

That’s an absurd amount of shelters going the other way.

The train leaving.

The really dingy tunnel to get out of the station.

I’m not entirely sure how Presto Cards work. It’s interesting that they’ve implemented smartcards into the commuter rail network but not the TTC.

It’s hard to see, but they even had an arrival board here!

The area just outside the entrance into the station.

A very tall sign.

The 86 coming back from the Toronto Zoo was by far the worst bus ride I’ve ever experienced. It’s not the route that’s the problem…no, the route’s fine, going from Kennedy Station on the Bloor Line to the Toronto Zoo. It’s the people that were on it. We got on the bus at Guildwood GO Station (GO is Toronto’s commuter rail network) having taken the train from Union in downtown Toronto. The ride to the zoo was full of screaming kids, and my father still talks about the odor of the bus.

The bus coming over a bridge.

Up close and personal.

The inside.

But it was the ride back that was awful for me, as you’ll find out. The bus was already pretty crowded leaving the zoo (it’s pretty much the only service there, aside from a few 85 trips), but nobody was sitting next to me…yet.

The bus at the zoo.

We left the zoo’s busway and parking lot, going by a pointless stop in the middle of nowhere, then merged onto Meadowvale Road. Right by a housing development, there was a loop for short-turn buses from Kennedy, then we went through same-house central. We then crossed over the 401, the busiest highway in North America and one of the widest. Then it was back to more housing, even after we turned onto Kingston Road.

It was sometime along here that a man came onto the bus. He had a very drunk-looking walk, a bandage over two of his fingers, and blood all over him. Of course he sat next to me. It made me very uneasy, to say the least. There were some businesses, then Kingston Road went over a bridge with a similar view to that viaduct on the Bloor Line. That is to say, a good view.

Nice and rural.

There were some weird businesses and hotels along the next stretch. At Lawrence Ave, the route was joined by another variant of the 86 that loops around a residential area and office park. It was obvious that this was a big car area, based on Kingston Road’s width, as well as the huge parking lots for every business.

At one point, a bloody arm impaired my vision. Turns out it was the guy sitting next to me, and he wanted to get off. He awkwardly reached across me to pull the cord, and yanked it toward him. It was like one last gross thing to do before getting off.

Hooray! I was alone again! But not for long, because a few stops later, another guy came on and sat next to me. He seemed normal enough at first, but then he started hitting himself on the head. And again. And again. He was constantly counting on his fingers, then hitting himself on the head. He couldn’t help it (he clearly had Tourette syndrome), but it was still really, really annoying.

We passed Guildwood Station where we got on before and went over the train tracks. There were a few apartments, and then it was back to housing, housing, housing. We turned onto Eglinton Ave, and that had quite a few apartment buildings, as well as more trashy businesses with huge parking lots. We passed the Eglinton GO Station, then there were was another housing development and then a lot of businesses.

We went past the Kennedy GO Station, then over the Scarborough RT tracks and then turned onto “North Service Road,” all in quick succession. Finally, we pulled into Kennedy Station and we all got off the bus.

A cool feature.

That’s the best “not in service” sign ever!

“Scarborough Center Rocket…” I like the sound of that. It’s a lot catchier than just saying “express bus.” And it was pretty fast, with only six stops on the route to Scarborough. We started out at Don Mills, the terminus of the Sheppard Line which also has a really dingy busway. There was a fair amount of people waiting with us.

It was an older bus.

The inside.

This is literally the best picture I could get of the stop announcement board.

This is literally the best picture I could get of the “stop requested” sign.

The automatic announcements reminded us after every stop that the bus was express. But what I really like about the announcements on both TTC buses and streetcars is that they say what the next stop is, rather than the current stop. It gives you more time to pull the cord.

We headed down Sheppard Ave, going by the massive mall that Don Mills Station is situated in. We crossed over a highway, with huge apartment buildings always visible. Literally 40 to 50 story buildings that apparently sprung up when they built the Sheppard Line. But there were also shopping plazas and housing developments to vary the views. This was really all there was along the entire route. I mean, we went over a small creek at one point. Is that interesting?

After a stop at Midland Ave, the bus went total express until Scarborough Town Center (the busiest stop on the Scarborough RT). We turned onto Midland, going past – something different! – an industrial wasteland. But those apartments were still in view. Then we turned onto Progress Ave, and then Borough Drive (at the corner of Progress and Brimley Road, there was a restaurant called Boston Pizza!), and finally came into Scarborough Town Center. A fast but totally unremarkable ride.

A somewhat better picture of the bus.

The TTC refers to the 510 as something like “streetcar rapid transit,” but I like to just refer to it as a Super Streetcar. Unlike most TTC streetcars (the 509 and 512 are the other two classified as SRT), the 510 runs in a median separated from other traffic. That means that the trains really move quickly along Spadina Avenue. The other cool thing about the 510 is that it runs through all three of the TTC’s underground streetcar stations. The two by the harbor were closed, but we did take it through the other tunnel up at Spadina Station.

We got on the 510 at Dundas, right in the heart of Chinatown. Fittingly, there was a cool dragon sculpture at one end of the stop, though we didn’t have very much time to enjoy it since we were running for a streetcar. Also of note is how leafy the median is: it really makes the street look nice.

Not bad, considering I was running.

So there aren’t that many trees here, but it gets better.

We sped up through Chinatown, which mostly runs up Spadina, but once we got to College the business names turned English again. Soon after College the street split up into a rotary around a big church-like building that may or may not be a church. It could also be a University of Toronto building, as we were running alongside the university during this next stretch.

There was a tall building, uncharacteristic for the neighborhood, just before the tunnel portal. In the tunnel, I could hear a lot of screeching from the streetcar. Looking on the map now, it looks like it does make some sharp curves to get into the station. There was a bit of a wait just before because of boarding streetcars, then we came in and everyone got off to go to the subway.

A streetcar going through the tunnel.

A streetcar at the station.

They do have countdown clocks here.

It’s so dark!

This was the streetcar that we took.

Replacement buses: you gotta love them. Turns out that part of the 511 Bathurst streetcar was being replaced by buses when we rode. We were waiting at the King Street stop for quite a while until finally a bus showed up. Everyone piled in (and I mean piled in), and the bus went up Bathurst at a glacial pace. The driver seemed both astonished and amused at how crowded her vehicle was.

I was not happy to see this.

After what seemed like a million years, we finally arrived at Queen Street where passengers could get off and grab the streetcar. We waited at the Queen Street stop for another million years, until we found out that it was boarding on a side street. Really? Ever heard of signage?

I don’t have any pictures from the bus experience, so here’s another 511 we took at the normal Queen stop.

A very cool feature about all of the TTC streetcars.

There were some businesses after Queen but soon it changed to amazingly cute British style flats. After going by a park, we crossed Dundas and went by a huge hospital. There were some businesses up until College, then it was just the flats on both sides. We went by a track and field, then pulled the cord (so much better than the buttons here) and got off at Lennox Street to go see a play.

What a charming neighborhood and a great ride. It almost makes the bus ride worth it…

The 505 was the streetcar we used most often, as well as my favorite of them all. It’s just the variety of different neighborhoods seen along the route that makes it really interesting. This is another U-shaped line, going from Dundas West Station on the Bloor Line to Broadview, also on the Bloor. There’s a free transfer at Dundas West, where we got on, which makes it quick and easy. That’s not to say it was busy, though; there were only two other people on the streetcar leaving Dundas West.

The streetcar, with a really big apartment building in the background.

The inside.

Looking out the back.

There were some businesses and taller buildings heading down Dundas Street West, but as it curved to the left these were replaced with smaller apartments. We were joined by the 506 just before going on a bridge over the GO Transit tracks (GO Transit is Toronto’s commuter rail system).

Nice view…

Soon after the bridge the 506 turned onto College Street while we stayed on Dundas. There were quite a few varied businesses along this stretch. The skyline of the financial district was constantly visible in front, but Dundas doesn’t actually go through there. We headed by a big park, and it started to get more residential. We crossed over Bathurst Street, going by a big medical center, then Dundas made an s-curve south.

Crossing Spadina, we entered Chinatown. I loved this part: it really felt like we were somewhere in China, since literally every shop name is written in Chinese. After that, we passed the Art Gallery of Ontario and Dundas did another s-curve south. At St. Patrick Station on the Yonge Line, the buildings got much taller but flattened out again after.

After Dundas Station, we passed through Yonge-Dundas Square. Think of this as Times Square, but Toronto. It’s considered to be Toronto’s downtown, and it certainly has a “downtowny” feel to it. Then the neighborhood got a lot less glamorous and a lot more… not nice. We would always get off at Jarvis Street, right outside our hotel (in fact, we had a view of the streetcar out our window – see pictures below).

Okay, so there aren’t any streetcars in this picture, but it still looks cool.

An overhead view.

The streetcar that we took.

They put little flags on the backs of the streetcars in celebration of Canada’s independence day. For some reason it says 504 on the back of this 505.

This is what the streetcar stops look like.

These maps and schedules are convenient.

We barely took the 506 on its Carlton portion; most of our ride was on College, which turns into Carlton. We got on at Euclid Ave after eating in Little Italy. There was a shelter, but it didn’t have countdown clocks like some other ones on the system.

The streetcar cometh…but it’s going the wrong way.

Interestingly, the 506 comes very close to Dundas West Station but doesn’t actually serve the station. Instead it goes onto Howard Park Ave through the suburbs to a little loop called High Park. On the other end, it serves the Bloor Line station of Main Street.

So back to when we got on. Having left Little Italy, College Street was still urban with businesses lining it. Crossing over Bathurst, we passed a tall clock tower, then went on past Spadina. There seemed to be more and more offices as we went by Queens Park Station on the Yonge Line. as well as a hospital. There were some skyscrapers, then the buildings got shorter, then as we went by College Station there were taller ones again.

College was now called Carlton, but we were only on for two more stops. At Jarvis, the neighborhood seemed a bit worse, but there was still a nice church on the corner. Night was falling as we walked back to our hotel.

The streetcar leaveth. That’s apparently a word.

When writing the title, I thought about how easy it could be to misinterpret it as the Queen and King of streetcars. Rest assured, the streetcars are just named after the principal streets they run on; they don’t have special titles.

I was excited to ride the Toronto streetcars, since the MBTA actually leased a few for testing. They didn’t make the buy (because they didn’t have left hand doors and weren’t articulated), but some were in Boston nonetheless. The first streetcar I’ll be showing you guys (I’ll be doing these in numerical, rather than chronological, order) does use articulated trains, but I guess they must be newer than the ones the MBTA leased.

We didn’t take any of the streetcars (except the Dundas one, which will be in the next post) for especially long distances; we did the 501 from Jarvis to Bathurst, about 1 and three quarters of a mile. After a fruitless run for a stopped streetcar and about a 10 minute wait, we were off.

There was some sort of bus replacement for part of the line, it looks like.

The inside.

Looking towards the front.

The 501 runs from Neville Park in the east all the way to Long Branch in the west. Its route is a little under 20 miles in total (for comparison, the 352 is one of the MBTA’s longest – if not the longest, let me know in the comments – bus routes, and it’s only about 17 miles). The sheer length of the line is probably why it uses articulated streetcars.

We got on in a fairly bad neighborhood, with abandoned buildings and parking lots, but once we crossed over Church Street it got better. There was a nice park on the corner and the buildings got taller. We went by Queen Station and Toronto’s old city hall.

We then went by Osgoode Station and Osgoode Hall (which had a very interesting exhibit about the fence around its perimeter…very interesting), then the buildings got much smaller after that. There were some very diverse storefronts along this section. Also of note was a CTV building, which had a car smashing its way out. I didn’t take any pictures, but here’s a link that leads to the Google Street View of the building.

Nearing Spadina Ave, the neighborhood got hipper, with a lot of clothing and shoe stores lining the street. But after Spadina, it got much less so. We didn’t see much of it, though, because we got off at Bathurst to take another streetcar up to the theater district.

A better view of the train.

That may not have seemed like a very long journey, and we took the 504 an even shorter distance: from Bay (the street between the two arms of the Yonge Line) to Bathurst. The line runs from Broadview on the Bloor Line to Dundas West, also on the Bloor Line. However, it’s also the southernmost of the principal east-west lines, so that means that it’s basically shaped like a big, fat U.

The one picture I got of the 504.

We got on right in the heart of the financial district and headed west to St. Andrew Station. After going by Roy Thompson Hall (a very cool-looking building), we left the financial district, though the buildings were still pretty tall. After crossing Spadina, the buildings got smaller, but they did have very cool brick architecture. However, we soon reached Bathurst and our ride was over. Sorry, 504, for only giving you a paragraph…

But next time I’ll be doing the Dundas and Carlton Streetcars, the former of which we actually took a considerable distance!

So what does RT stand for? The other lines are all referred to as “subways,” so the Scarborough RT must be different. RT must stand for rapid transit, right? What else could it be? But all the other lines are rapid transit, too…

Anyway, the Scarborough RT is essentially an extension of the Bloor Line from Kennedy to Scarborough. Looking at the map, I was wondering why they didn’t just extend the Bloor Line, but we’ll talk about that later.

The 190 dropped us off at Scarborough Town Centre (named after a mall, of all things), which is the penultimate stop on the line. If this had been an actual transit race, we would’ve ran to McCowen (the last stop), but we just took the train there. And I have to say, the train was really cute. The cars were pretty tiny, and we had one to ourselves. The only real problem I had with it was that there was no screen to compliment the announcements; the train was pretty noisy so the announcements were hard to hear.

The dingy busway.

And the also dingy…mudroom? I don’t really know what to call it.

A nice map of the route.

And the station platform.

The train coming in…

…And the train stopped.

The camera doesn’t capture it very well at all. Well, these cars were tiny, let me tell you.

A brief look at McCowan Station.

You could see into the driver’s area! This was the middle of the train so nobody was in there.

Don’t mistake it for stop request tape.

We then headed back to Scarborough Town Centre and onward to Midland. Views on this portion were mostly of some truly huge apartment buildings and some truly huge parking lots. It was on the section after Midland that we found out why they didn’t just extend the Bloor Line: leaving the station, the train dipped down into a short tunnel, then made a really sharp turn, screeching the whole time. The full sized trains on the Bloor Line could never make such a turn.

Ellesmere Station was right after the sharp turn, then the views mostly consisted of industrial wasteland. After Lawrence East, the next stop, we went under some pylons and then through a planned housing area where all the houses are the same. Finally, we crossed under a bridge and onto one of our own, then made one final super sharp turn into Kennedy. Our short ride was done.

This is only a small fraction of the massive parking lot for Scarborough Town Centre (the mall, that is).

Some huge apartment buildings.

Lovely view. Lovely.

The train at Kennedy.

Can you see how sharp that turn is?

I had to crop this one a bit due to my finger getting into the picture.

The train again.

The trains apparently used to loop around at Kennedy, but now it’s just a single track.

The mezzanine at Kennedy.

The busway.

So then we went on our way to the Bloor Line. This one runs east to west, and uses the same older trains used on the Sheppard Line. I was disappointed to find out that Kennedy is an underground station for the Bloor Line – I got a bit worried that the whole thing would be underground.

The walkway to the Bloor Line.

The next train sign at this platform is very convenient.

It was indeed underground, but we came up just before Warden Station, the next one. The section after that went through Warden Woods (presumably the namesake of the station), so it felt pretty rural. Right before Victoria Park we passed pretty close to a playground. I’m sure I would’ve loved it as a little kid. After Victoria Park, we went…back below ground. But we were only above for, like, two stops! There was then a flurry of generic underground stations. We only used one of them, Pape, because it’s in a cool Greek neighborhood called Greektown.

A train leaving the station.

The generic platform.

Though I didn’t really understand this artwork, it was pretty cool.

Ew.

That’s a bit nicer.

Sometimes I end up capturing really weird things accidentally. I have no idea what’s going on here.

We went through a few more stations, then suddenly shot up above ground. The line goes over a huge viaduct over the Don Valley, and it’s a beautiful view. It’s really high up, and looking down at the many trees of the valley is amazing. It’s a shame the view is so short, though: after about 15 seconds the train goes back underground.

In no way does this capture the view at all.

We went through the amusingly titled Castle Frank Station, then the hard to pronounce Sherbourne Station, and arrived at Bloor-Yonge. Between the eastern and western arms of the Yonge Line, there’s one station on the Bloor Line: Bay. It’s a bit of a pain in the butt when riding the entire system without any plan, and we had to go there then wait for a train going back the way we came.

The platform at Bay.

A train leaving the station.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before that my parents are total theater fanatics. Well, they are, and Bathurst Station is very close to a big theater district so we used that station a few times. It’s the first station after the two interchanges with the Yonge Line on its western arm, but it still has that same white tile design on most of the Bloor Stations. Boring!

You can see a streetcar peeking in on the left.

The bright and airy lobby.

The hallway to the train.

The platform.

And the train coming in.

The Bloor Line has very closely spaced stations, so we passed through a flurry of them before Dundas West, the next one we used. We got off here coming back from Kipling (the last stop) so we could take the Dundas Streetcar which goes right by our hotel. But guess what? It was a generic white tiled station! Hooray!

A train leaving.

You can see where it goes above ground. Don’t get too excited.

The mezzanine.

You can see in the second photo of the above trio that the train goes above ground after Dundas. You see the backs of some apartments for about three seconds, then the train arrives at Keele. Then it goes back underground. Aw!

High Park is the next station, and it’s also underground. But then the train rises to the surface again after that, and you can see the back of a UPS store for another three seconds…then it goes under again. After a few more underground stations, it comes back up to go over the Humber River. But the river’s tiny, and once again the train goes back into its tunnel. This was, for some reason, my father’s favorite view on the system, saying that the awesome viaduct was “too short.” The Humber River is literally a two second view!

I somehow managed to get a picture.

The station after, Old Mill, is kind of cool because it’s half underground and half overground. The underground portion is just more white tiles, but the overground part has a pretty cool design on its glass windows.

I got a picture from the train.

We went above ground again after the next station, Royal York, but it was only for about a femtosecond. We did go back up after Islington, the station after, for what would be the last time. Kipling is the next and last stop, and it’s a Quincy Center sort of station (where it feels a bit like a subway station but it’s effectively above ground). The western part of the Bloor Line is a fickle thing.

Lovely view of some train tracks.

A look at Kipling, but we just stayed on the train.