RCAF Scarborough Bluffs

Scarborough  isn’t known to many as a former industrial or military hotbed, but rather as a suburb onto itself just east of Toronto. Apart from light industry, malls and sub divisions and projects dotting the landscape you would have not otherwise known that the RCAF built a testing facility along the Scarborough Bluffs which was an ideal location because of it’s high cliffs and proximity to the water.  A single brick building was built (details omitted) right on the bluffs themselves where a coastal radar device was developed. The radar was known as a Microwave Early Warning/Anti-Submarine system, and after the radar device was developed the RCAF turned the building into a school, which is actually what it looks like at first glance if you happen to pass by it today.

The No.1 radio direction finding school opened it’s doors in June 1942 and trained both British and American airman and signal corps. It changed it’s name to No.1 radar school in December 1943 and operated for three months when everything was moved to the much larger radar school in Clinton, Ontario. If if isn’t already apparent, it’s amazing to see such grand waste at the hands of military during (and after the war). In 1946 the building was given to the National Research Council’s radio branch where similar work continued on experimental radar development. The site was also home to the department of transport’s radiosonde training unit as well as the National radiation Atmospheric Center. In the early 1950′s the building was also shared with the RCAF No. 5 aircraft control and warning unit ( No.5 AC&WU) until October 1951 when that was moved to RCAF Edgar where the 31 Aircraft control and warning squadron was re-located, near CFB Borden. The RCAF’s No. 271 Air Defense Control was also located here along with the 2400 Aircraft control and warning unit, No.1 Anti-Aircraft operations room, No.2 and the 206 companies of the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

The building is now used by the City of Toronto (Scarborough became amalgamated in 1998) and the only part that remains accessible (if you like walking along the bluffs to access it – I don’t recommend it) is an underground shelter that seems to have been used as a grow-op at some point. It’s hollow, and further levels exist suggested by air vents and the large flat, open space behind the main building. None of the historical documents I found make reference to what the space could have been used for but it is located near the shore, and could have been used as a stop over between Camp X (entry at some later point) and Toronto for POW’s. That’s pure speculation, but no other reasonable hypothesis was found to explain the presence of this bunker room that is far too close to the surface to have been used as an air raid shelter, out in the open.

Photos by Kathy.

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Georgetown South Rail Expansion

This past spring (2011) I happened to drive past construction vehicles one night that were parked on lansdowne setting up for the addition of a bridge. I went back that next day and got to see how everything arrives and is set up before being hoisted into place. The additional track was added to facilitate the expansion of the line out to Georgetown (North of Toronto) and also the airport.

More Info available on Go’s website.

Photos by Kathy

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Dufferin Jog Elimination

We have been following the progress of the Dufferin Jog for the past two years now and we have been curious about how it was going to turn out. It should open tomorrow, November 17, 2010. We visited a number of times (as we had an ongoing interest in documenting the graffiti) for the book we have been working on, T.Oldskool and the bridge and surrounding area really had a nice collection of decade old pieces by many artists who no longer paint anymore.

Dufferin Street and Queen Street West, 1897. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 376, File 2, Item 10.

The Dufferin jog has is located right on the border where Parkdale starts westward. I’ve always wondered why you had to go around three sides of box on Peel avenue if you happened to go south on Dufferin and was amused to learn it was much older then I first assumed. The rail lines were at grade back in the late 1800′s when the station was built and horses and carriages were the main mode of transport.hen the Queen Street Subway opened in 1898, with a train station located right behind the former toy warehouse. Since the proposed Queen Street subway was proposed (three times starting in 1911, 1944 and 1960 but never realized) the corner at Queen and Gladstone seemed to be a void where no one really stopped to do anything except maybe transfer from streetcar to bus or hang out at the coffee shop on the corner. After the Gladstone was renovated the whole area seemed to change and proliferation of condos over the past two years illustrates much of what is changing in the area. These are some of our images for our visits over the years.

Further reading

Map showing old route

City of Toronto Contract Award – Contract No. 08FS-22S

Wikipedia entry

Junctioneer Article

Photos by Kathy.

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Trains

This entry actually has two entries in one. Both museums are in southern Ontario, and one is generally open during the summer for visitors. Since neither of us are train buffs, we have just made an entry for both museums we visited in 2006 and 2009 that collects and restore old trains (freight and passenger carriages and engines) with a photo essay. We also included a train workshop we got access to which is only open for the volunteers who work there restoring old engines.

Photos by Kathy.

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Tank Farm

We had seen this plant be active off and on for over 4 years before we decided to try out access since the place was very derelict. As abandoned as the place looked, it was attached to a building which exhibited flurries of activity from time to time.  Generally when you look at images on this website, you get the impression and mood of a location, but the one thing you never get are certain cues, in this case, the smell. This location smelled really, really bad. The stench seemed to linger in the inner yard like a heavy cloud that shortened our stay considerably. Once inside, no one could see you. There were no windows in the perimeter buildings facing inwards so you could walk around without worrying about being seen by some nosey busy body. One of the holding tanks had a huge hole 7 M/20 ft high by 7 M wide that had been cut with welding torches exposing it’s interior. Inside it looked like there was a crude attempt at cleaning up the mysterious petro-chemical sludge by pouring sawdust into the tank.

This company started out as a waste management facility handling waste materials from the petroleum industry. The site was operated by Canadian oil, which was a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company. It was involved in re-refining until 1999 when it was revamped to operate a full service waste management facility. Apparently the new company inherited a huge quantity of waste that could not be processed (several million liters). It operates today as a liquid waste facility handing all types of industrial waste. We certainly didn’t feel comfortable entering such a place because we did not know what could be inside. After about an hour we decided to leave as we were beginning to feel the effects of the fumes from the waste even though we were outside.

Photos by Kathy and Jan.

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