Curt Frey

I was startled and saddened to learn in the most recent OERHA Radial Report of the passing of Curt Frey last January. I feel bad that I didn’t learn about it until long after the fact. I did not know Curt well, but I knew him enough to know him as a kind gentleman, who had a wealth of information and liked to talk. He would call me out of the blue on the phone to talk about pictures he had taken, articles I’d put up on the Transit Toronto website, and a Chinese restaurant he had discovered near where he lived.

Through others at the museum, I learned that he had been active in the early restoration work on TTC 416, a vehicle which plied the North Yonge railways until 1948. I learned that he was a talented model railroader, and knew the ins and outs of the Pittsburgh streetcar network. He shared a lot with me, including a large collection of vintage photographs, but also his time and his tales. It is to my regret that I did not get to know him better.