Tracks to Uncertainty
by Lingfai Leung
Title
Tracks to Uncertainty
Artist
Lingfai Leung
Medium
Photograph - Photographs
Description
Photographed in November 8, 2015 at Toronto Brickworks.
The Don Valley Brick Works (often referred to as the Evergreen Brick Works) is a former quarry and industrial site located in the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Don Valley Brick Works operated for nearly 100 years and provided bricks used to construct many well-known Toronto landmarks, such as Casa Loma, Osgoode Hall, Massey Hall, and the Ontario Legislature. Since the closure of the original factory, the quarry has been converted into a city park which includes a series of naturalized ponds, while the buildings have been restored and opened as an environmentally focused community and cultural centre by Evergreen, a national charity dedicated to restoring nature in urban environments.
From The Blogs "Hiking The GTA" - Half Mile Bridge
The Canadian Pacific Railroad was founded in 1880 to complete a rail line across the continent and connect the provinces in the newly formed country of Canada. When Confederation occurred on July 1, 1867 Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were the first four provinces. Manitoba joined in 1870 and B.C. was enticed to join in 1871 by the promise of a transcontinental railway which was to be built within 10 years.
When the line was built it passed through Leaside and Toronto West Junction missing the city of Toronto. Trains had to back up 5 miles from West Junction to Union Station. In 1888 the CPR was granted permission to build a spur line from Leaside to Union Station along the west side of the Don River. In 1891 the first freight train ran along this track into Toronto, with passenger service starting the following year. A bridge was built to cross the Don River Valley. One end was near Todmorden and the other ran past The Don Valley Brickworks. A steel trestle bridge 1100 feet long (just under a quarter mile) and 75 feet high was constructed. The bridge picked up the nick-name “half mile bridge” early on even though it is only half of that in length. This photo is from the early 1920’s.
By the late 1920’s trains were becoming heavier and a new bridge was required. As this bridge was the route of the Toronto to Montreal train it was decided not to interrupt service. New concrete supports were built under the existing bridge. Then new sections of steel were assembled beside the existing bridge. When the train left for Montreal in the morning a crane would lift an existing section of bridge out. The new section would be lifted into place and secured before the train came back that evening. Finally the old girders were removed. Throughout this section of track the steel plates that the rails are mounted on all read CPR 1953 indicating the last time a major restoration was done to the tracks and ties. The bridge remained in use until 2007 when the line was abandoned. Metrolinx now owns the line and bridge with plans to integrate it into a future system.
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2023 Lingfai Leung
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October 19th, 2023
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