Text by Godfrey Mallion, with additional information by Robert Lubinski.
Davenport Garage was built in 1925 as the Main Garage for all gasoline-powered TTC, and later, Gray Coach vehicles. It was located immediately north of the TTC's Hillcrest Complex, where the system's main maintenance and repairs took place. Davenport commenced operations with the premium-fare HILL coach route on September 14, 1925.
As originally built Davenport Garage had two 10,000 gallon underground gasoline storage tanks. Gasoline was distributed to all other garages from Davenport.
The lower level of this two-story facility was used as a repair shop, with 10 repair pits in constant use. A "free stores" area for parts and materials for bus maintenance was also located on the lower level. The upper level was the divisional operating garage, equipped with 4 inspection pits and a wash rack.
The "ball yard" area at Hillcrest was used for bus parking for Davenport. This is visible in pictures from the 1970s and 1980s, where it was used to store many PCCs before they were scrapped. Prior to using the open "ball yard" area, most bus parking at Davenport was along the garage building and around the west side of the Harvey Shops building.
The 4 solid-tired bus fleet of 1921 grew to ninety city buses (red paint) and coaches (gray paint) by 1927.
In 1992, near the end of service Davenport Garage operated NFIL D40-88, OBI ORION V, GMC T6H-5307N, and D-901 city buses. The garage fleet had grown to 157 buses.
In the midst of declining ridership and cutbacks of the 1990s, the Commission has closed Davenport Garage on January 4, 1993, making it the first TTC facility to close since the depression of the 1930s.
Today, Davenport Garage sits mostly vacant, although the TTC plans to repuropse the garage for its Training and Vehicle Engineering staff, or to set up a transit museum.
Routes
At the time of the closure, Davenport operated the following routes as of December 30, 1991:
- 7 BATHURST
- 19 CHURCH
- 33 FOREST HILL
- 65 PARLIAMENT
- 75 SHERBOURNE
- 77 SPADINA
- 82 ROSEDALE
- 88 SOUTH LEASIDE
- 90 VAUGHAN
- 94 WELLESLEY
- 100 FLEMINGDON PARK
- 121 FRONT-ESPLANADE
- 126 CHRISTIE
- 127 DAVENPORT
- 140 DOWNTOWN EXPRESS VIA SHERBOURNE
- 310 BATHURST NIGHT
- 317 SPADINA NIGHT
Davenport Garage Image Archive
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The Davenport Garage building, June 3, 1929. Photo courtesy the Toronto Archives. |
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Reconditioned TTC buses are lined up outside Davenport Garage for a photograph on August 23, 1929. Photo courtesy the Toronto Archives. |
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Buses parked at Davenport Garage on December 12, 1930. The photographer is looking east. This photo is courtesy the Toronto Archives. |
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Buses resting outside at Davenport Garage on June 28, 1934. One of these has a LAWRENCE rollsign. Photo courtesy the Toronto Archives. |
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Buses gathered at Davenport Garage after the evening rush (around 8 p.m.) on June 28, 1934. Photo courtesy the Toronto Archives. |
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This image from the Toronto Archives shows the coach washing facilities inside Davenport Garage on April 24, 1935. |
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The entrance to the former Division office of Davenport Garage, located at 793 Davenport Road. Photo by Robert Lubinski on August 14, 2014. |
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A view of the former division office portion of the Davenport garage building, taken on August 14, 2014 by Robert Lubinski. |
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Another view of the western end of the building at Davenport Garage, where the former division office was located. This photo was taken on August 14, 2014 by Robert Lubinski. |
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The east side of the garage building showing the entrance to the lower level repair bay. The blank sign next to the large door #6 used to say "DAVENPORT GARAGE". This photo was taken by Robert Lubinski on August 14, 2014. |
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A view of the east end of the building on Davenport Road. This area was the upper level repair bay. This photo, taken on August 14, 2014, is by Robert Lubinski. |
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A view of the repair bay portion of the building located on the south side of Davenport Rd. west of Bathurst, at the north end of the Hillcrest Complex. This photo was taken on August 14, 2014 by Robert Lubinski. |
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A view of the bus exit from the upper level repair bay, buses exited the repair bay to Davenport Road, from the east end. This photo was taken on August 14, 2014 by Robert Lubinski. |
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A view inside the old upper level repair bay, now used for storage of various materials. This photograph was taken by Robert Lubinski on August 14, 2014. |
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The west end of the garage building showing part of the office area in the corner, and the west entrance to the upper level repair bay, visible just behind the parked cars. This photo was taken by Robert Lubinski on August 14, 2014. |
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A side rollsign from a bus operating out of Davenport Garage circa 1988, showing 7 BATHURST, 100 FLEMINGDON PARK and 33 FOREST HILL exposures. Image donated by Pete Coulman. |
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TTC GM TDH 4512 "Old Look" bus #1984 rests at Davenport Garage in June 1977, bearing a 33 FOREST HILL rollsign. The photographer is unknown and the image is courtesy the John Knight Collection. |
Sources
- Boutilier, Robert, Bus Maintenance and Shops - 1999 Insider's Guide
- Kay, Jeffrey (ed.), "Bus and Route Allocations" Transfer Points, July 1992, December 1992 and Feb/Mar 1993, Toronto.
- TTC Route Histories, City of Toronto Archives, Toronto.
- The Coupler, TTC Employee Magazine, July 1927 and June 1931
