Compiled by Jeffrey Kay; Text by James Bow with assistance by Jelo Gutierrez Cantos and Robert Lubinski
Map by John Calnan

See also

• LANSDOWNE Night Bus (and Sunday Bus) (1925-1942)

After the Mount Pleasant experiment of 1922-25, Toronto’s next trolley bus route was LANSDOWNE. Operating on Lansdowne Avenue from Earlscourt loop at St. Clair Avenue to an on-street loop at Queen Street, it replaced a residential LANSDOWNE streetcar route operating from St. Clair Avenue to an on-street loop at Dundas. This route included a steep hill north of Davenport Avenue, which used to give streetcars some difficulty, but which the rubber-tired vehicles handled easily.

This route also passed Lansdowne Garage, which came to be where most of Toronto’s trolleybuses were stored. Royce Loop, originally a streetcar loop at Dupont and Lansdowne, was also taken over by the trolleybuses, and saw extensive use for short-turns, and to allow trolleybuses to wait clear of traffic before entering service at the right time. A 47A LANSDOWNE branch was signed for this loop but was not part of regular service. This property became surplus to the TTC’s needs in the mid-1990s and was sold off for redevelopment. Earlscourt Loop remains, still seeing some use by the St. Clair streetcar.

The end for trolleybuses came on January 3, 1992. In the last days, eight trolley coaches were required to handle five-minute intervals on this line, and night service was offered. Few changes had been seen on this line since 1947; there were no provisions made for off-street transfers between this route and the Bloor subway when it opened in 1966. When the trolleybuses disappeared altogether, Lansdowne Garage was closed down. Once converted to diesel buses, 47 LANSDOWNE changed dramatically, merging into the 18 CALEDONIA bus as part of a major route restructuring in 1994, which wasn’t possible before 1992 without stringing miles of new wire. The TTC has also considered an extension south, on Jameson and Springhurst Avenues to Dufferin loop, something else that wasn’t possible before 1992 without stringing new wires. The southward extension was not considered viable without operation on Springhurst Avenue, however, and the City of Toronto has vetoed bus operation on Springhurst.

A Chronological History of 47 Lansdowne

June 19, 1947

Toronto’s first modern trolley coach route begins operations at 8 p.m., running on Lansdowne between Lansdowne loop at St. Clair via south on Lansdowne to Queen Street. At Queen, buses loop via west on Queen, north on MacDonnell and east on Seaforth. Service replaces the LANSDOWNE streetcar and extends service to Lansdowne Avenue between Dundas and Queen. This route operates out of Lansdowne garage.

March 19, 1948

The loop at Lansdowne and St. Clair is officially referred to as ‘Earlscourt loop’

Autumn 1956

Route assigned number 47.

Note: during the trolley coach era, the roll sign included an exposure for a 47A branch (Dupont-Queen). There is no specific reference to a regularly scheduled operation of this short turn service, and it may only have been used on trips running into and out of Lansdowne garage.

February 26, 1966

Service opens on the BLOOR-DANFORTH SUBWAY. Although Lansdowne trolley buses serve Lansdowne station, no special facilities are built beyond station entrances. Although routes like 41 KEELE are extended to serve the station, looping on-street, Lansdowne trolleybuses continue through operation between St. Clair and Queen, with no looping facilities available around the station.

February 9, 1987

Overnight service is redesignated 315 LANSDOWNE BLUE NIGHT as part of the TTC’s significant expansion of night services throughout Metropolitan Toronto.

January 5, 1992

Trolleybuses are removed from service and replaced by diesel buses.

February 16, 1992

Overnight service on 315 LANSDOWNE BLUE NIGHT is discontinued.

February 13, 1994

As part of a general reorganization of routes in western Toronto, made possible by the abandonment of trolley bus service, alternate buses are extended north of St. Clair to Yorkdale station on the YONGE-UNIVERSITY-SPADINA SUBWAY, replacing service on the 18 CALEDONIA route.

Service on the 47B branch of the Lansdowne route operates from Queen and Lansdowne via north on Lansdowne, west on St. Clair, north on Caledonia and east on Bridgeland, looping via Yorkdale Road and Dufferin. Alternate rush hour buses on the Caledonia extension, branch 47C, operate both ways via Orfus Road between Caledonia and Dufferin.

The 47 branch operates out of Lansdowne Garage while the 47B/C “Caledonia” branches were assigned to Wilson Garage.

July 10, 1995

With the Yorkdale GO Bus Terminal no longer available to TTC buses, 47B and 47C branches now stop southbound on Yorkdale Road just before the intersection at the subway station.

February 18, 1996

Amidst the service cuts and the closure of Lansdowne Garage, all base service now operates out of Wilson Garage.

October 18, 1998

Designated as an accessible route using Orion V CNG lift-equipped buses.

March 21, 1999

Designated as an accessible route using Orion VI CNG low-floor buses.

November 23, 2008

Service transferred from Wilson Garage to the newly-opened Mount Dennis Garage.

July 20, 2010

At the time of this writing, service operates at frequencies of ten minutes or better on the 47 branch between St. Clair and Queen. Additional service operates throughout the day on 47B from Queen to Yorkdale station via Lansdowne, Caledonia and Bridgeport, at fifteen-minute frequencies during midday, and frequencies of twenty minutes or better through most of the weekend. Rush hour service continues on the Orfus branch at intervals of 22 minutes.

June 22, 2014

As part of a system-wide reorganization of route branch designations, buses on the regular 47 LANSDOWNE branch are redesignated 47A.

January 6, 2020

Morning peak-period tripper service is introduced on a new 47D branch operating between St. Clair Loop and Lansdowne station. Four trips are assigned to operate from Mount Dennis garage, deadheading to St. Clair and Caledonia and operating in service via St. Clair and Lansdowne to Bloor Street. Trippers are scheduled to depart at 7:46 a.m., 7:55 a.m., 8:08 a.m., and 8:19 a.m., after which they deadhead to College Street to become 506 CARLTON trippers.

While this branch is designated 47D, it’s uncertain whether this was reflected on bus destination signs, or if a “SHORT TURN” exposure was used instead.

January 4, 2021

The morning peak-period trippers continue, but now interline with 505 DUNDAS service at Lansdowne instead of 506 CARLTON.

March 28, 2021

Coinciding with the opening of McNicoll Garage, service is transferred from Mount Dennis Garage to Wilson Garage.

May 7, 2023

As the construction of the Caledonia Rail Bridge takes shape, buses on the 47A LANSDOWNE (signed as the 47/512 LANSDOWNE-ST. CLAIR) are extended west to Gunns Loop connecting to the 189 STOCKYARDS buses. The 512 ST. CLAIR cars are cut back to Earlscourt Loop for the duration of the work.

47 Lansdowne Image Archive

	A map showing the TTC's plans to replace the streetcar tracks in advance of the launch of the ANNETTE, LANSDOWNE and OSSINGTON trolley coaches, and the replacement of the DOVERCOURT route by a revision of the HARBORD line. Note that plans included extending Harbord Street (or their tracks) west from Ossington to Dovercourt. This plan never materialized. This image was originally published in a 1960s issue of the UCRS Newsletter.
	A diagram showing the extent of Toronto's trolley bus overhead wire network, circa May 1948. Image courtesy the Leonard Jacks collection.
	TTC Canadian Car & Foundry bus heads southbound on Lansdowne Avenue, crossing Seaforth Avenue in 47 LANSDOWNE service. Richard Glaze took this photograph circa December 1971.
	TTC Canadian Car & Foundry heads southbound on Lansdowne Avenue, having passed Seaforth and approaching Queen in 47 LANSDOWNE service in this December 1971 shot by Richard Glaze.
	TTC Western Flyer rebuilt #9205 heads southbound on Lansdowne, approaching Davenport in 47 LANSDOWNE service. This photo was taken by Richard Glaze circa December 1971.
	TTC Western Flyer rebuilt trolley coach #9233 heads southbound on Lansdowne Avenue crossing Dundas in 47 LANSDOWNE service. Notice the abandoned southbound streetcar track in the middle of the street, and the abandoned sockets for the southbound trolley wire. This photo was taken by Richard Glaze circa December 1971.
	After looping at Queen, TTC Canadian Car & Foundry turns from Seaforth onto northbound Lansdowne in service on 47 LANSDOWNE. This photograph was taken by Richard Glaze circa December 1971.
	TTC Western Flyer rebuilt trolley coach #9265 pulls out of Earlscourt loop onto St. Clair Avenue in 47 LANSDOWNE service in the summer of 1974. This photograph was taken by Gerald Landau and is courtesy the Rob Hutchinson collection.
	TTC Western Flyer rebuilt trolley coach #9290 climbs up the switchback on Lansdowne Avenue, approaching St. Clair Avenue in 47 LANSDOWNE service. Richard Glaze snapped this shot on June 21, 1981.
	TTC Western Flyer rebuild trolley coach #9216 heads southbound on Lansdowne, approaching Bloor. Wade Yard is in the background. This mid-1980s shot was taken by John Calnan.
	On a snowy day on January 18, 1992, a fan trip commemorating the end of trolley bus service in Toronto arrives at Earlscourt Loop. Western Flyer rebuilt coach #9323 poses with a leased Edmonton vehicle. Edward Wickson photographer; from the John Knight collection.
	An official TTC map of 47 LANSDOWNE operations, effective January 3, 2011
	Roman Fomin caught this picture of TTC Orion VII bus #1541, running along Bridgeland Avenue on March 19, 2012.
	TTC Orion VII "Next Gen" bus #1641 prepares to turn from southbound Lansdowne to westbound Queen in service on the 47 LANSDOWNE route. This photo was taken on the afternoon of September 29, 2017 by James Bow.
	TTC A8-class all-electric PCC #4542 lays over at Earlscourt loop in EARLSCOURT service alongside Western Flyer rebuild trolley bus #9267 in 47 LANSDOWNE service on August 29, 1977. This photograph is unknown and the image is courtesy the Nick Chase collection.
	A pre-rebuild CC&F trolley bus loses its pole as it leaves Lansdowne Garage. Photo by R. Hill; donated from the Kenneth Josephson collection.
	The hill on Lansdowne south of St. Clair had been one of the steepest grades on Toronto's streetcar network. It was one of the few places where trolley coaches (like 9123 pictured here) could display their superior hill-climbing abilities. This photo is donated from the collection of Brad O'Brien.
	TTC Western Flyer rebuild trolley coach #9316 stops at Lansdowne and Queen at the south end of the 47 LANSDOWNE route in this mid-1980s shot. Photo by John Calnan.

References

• Filey, Mike, The TTC Story: The First Seventy-Five Years, Dundurn Press, Toronto (Ontario) 1996.
• Hood, J. William, The Toronto Civic Railways: An Illustrated History, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario), 1986.