Via Toronto Maintenance Centre

Toronto Maintenance Centre
Toronto Maintenance Centre closer to the camera (blue stripe). The large road running across the yard is Islington Ave.
General information
Location50 Drummond Street
Canada
Coordinates43°36′38″N 79°30′34″W / 43.61056°N 79.50944°W / 43.61056; -79.50944
Owned byVia Rail
Construction
Structure typeRail yard and locomotive and coach maintenance facility
History
Previous namesCanadian National

Via Rail's Toronto Maintenance Centre is a railway yard in the western end of Toronto, which stores and services Via trains. It lies within the south side of the former Canadian National Mimico Yard directly opposite of the Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility on the north side; GO Transit's Lakeshore West line separates the two facilities. The yard is bisected by the Islington Avenue flyover bridge.[1] Its main entrance is located at 50 Drummond Street on the eastern side with a secondary entrance on its southern side along New Toronto Street at Eighth Street.[2]

The west end of the yard has an operational railway turntable.[3] A large turnaround wye has been constructed out of an industrial spur on the eastern side that formerly served the Campbell Soup Company plant.[1]

In 1976, Via Rail took over the passenger services of both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. Originally, Via performed maintenance in Toronto at the CNR Spadina Roundhouse and CPR John Street Roundhouse, both just west of Union Station. In 1985, Via moved to its current maintenance facility in the southern half of the Mimico Yard.[3][4]

In 2022, Via demonstrated for Trains magazine the locomotive simulator in the centre's training complex.[5]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TT-2304 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Merx was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TRHA-roundhouses was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference TTR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Johnston, Bob. "Training for contingencies". Trains. No. April 2022. Kalmbach Media. pp. 38–40.