Compiled by Jeffrey Kay; Text by James Bow with assistance by Jelo Gutierrez Cantos and Robert Lubinski
Map by John Calnan
See also
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.
LANSDOWNE |
7 days a week, 24 hours a day |
March 19, 1948
The loop at Lansdowne and St. Clair is officially referred to as ‘Earlscourt loop’
Autumn 1956
Route assigned number 47.
LANSDOWNE |
47 |
ST. CLAIR |
7 days a week, 24 hours a day | ||
LANSDOWNE |
47A |
DUPONT |
Occasional short turns. |
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.
LANSDOWNE |
47 |
ST. CLAIR |
7 days a week, 18 hours a day | ||
LANSDOWNE |
315 |
ST. CLAIR |
7 days a week, “owl” service |
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.
47 |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47 |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO ST. CLAIR |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STN. |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STN. |
TO QUEEN |
|||
Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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.
NORTHBOUND |
|
SOUTHBOUND |
||
47A |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47A |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO ST. CLAIR |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STN. |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STN. |
TO QUEEN |
|||
Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
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.
NORTHBOUND |
|
SOUTHBOUND |
||
47A |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47A |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO ST. CLAIR |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STN. |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STN. |
TO QUEEN |
|||
Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
||||
|
|
|
47D |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
TO LANSDOWNE STN |
|||
Monday to Friday, morning rush hour trippers |
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.
NORTHBOUND |
|
SOUTHBOUND |
||
47/512 |
LANSDOWNE-ST. CLAIR |
|
47/512 |
LANSDOWNE-ST. CLAIR |
TO GUNNS LOOP |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47B |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STATION |
TO QUEEN |
|||
7 days a week, 18 hours a day |
||||
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
|
47C |
L A N S D O W N E |
TO YORKDALE STATION |
TO QUEEN |
|||
Monday to Friday, rush hours only |
47 Lansdowne Image Archive
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.