ALRV 4236 prepares to enter Humber Loop during an westbound run on Queen. Rob Hutch took the photo.

Text by James Bow.

Located near the Humber River, between the CN railway tracks and the Queensway, the Humber Loop interchange sees a lot less action as a hub than it did even ten years ago. Up until the early 1990s, the western end of the Queen Streetcar was a major transfer point, acting as a gateway into southern Etobicoke. Today, half the routes operate through it. It's location may offer little scope for redevelopment, however, so it is not expected that this loop will change significantly in the near future.

The Humber Loop Interchange has had a short but rather spectacular life. Although tracks have passed through this area since near the turn of the century, it was only after 1950 that the loop took on its gateway-like significance. Although loops appeared at the site in the 1920s, they did not see heavy traffic.

A History of the Old Humber Loops.

Until the creation of the Megacity, the City of Toronto proper ended at the Humber River. It's easy to forget that it wasn't always like this. Soon after the turn of the century, Toronto annexed the area including the site where the Humber Interchange now sits. However, this annexation was only a narrow strip of land running south of the railway tracks, from the eastern end of High Park to the river. The Village of Swansea occupied the territory north of the tracks, and it was oriented more towards Bloor Street than the lake shore. To the west, the burgeoning villages of Long Branch, New Toronto and Mimico brought about demands for improved public transit links with the city, so although interurbans and then streetcars laid down tracks through the area, there was little demand for a stopping point.

It was the beaches of Sunnyside that started to provide enough of a draw to get loops built. The first Humber Loop materialized on July 26, 1922 and was originally referred to as "Sunnyside Loop" for its first year in operation. There was also a Sunnyside loop at this time, but it was renamed Roncesvalles loop temporarily. BEACH cars were the first to make use of this loop, carrying passengers from downtown Toronto past the Sunnyside Amusement Park. Beach tracks paralleled the Mimico interurban, which extended as far east as Sunnyside.

Perhaps the location of the loop, so far west of the amusement park, was a problem, because more looks were added soon after, further to the east. Sunnyside Loop was built around September 1927, and Parkside Loop was built on June 6, 1928. BEACH cars were soon cut back to Parkside. Changes to the Mimico interurban further diminished Humber's importance. By 1929, LAKE SHORE streetcars were bypassing Humber Loop entirely taking passengers from Long Branch into downtown Toronto. Beach cars had been cut back to downtown Toronto as well.

Humber Loop didn't vanish, however. It was rebuilt in 1931, opening on July 29. In 1935, Lake Shore cars were cut back to operate between Sunnyside and Mutual loops only. The new LONG BRANCH service started running from Long Branch to Roncesvalles. In 1937, QUEEN cars started their familiar run from Neville to Parkside Loops, with rush-hour extras extended to Humber. The second Humber Loop closed on September 12, 1939 to make way for ramp construction on the new Queen Elizabeth Way. The third loop opened on July 11, 1940.

The Two Zone Fare System Creates A Suburban Gateway

Humber Loop started to take up its modern arrangement on July 1, 1954. At the time, the TTC had taken over operation of all public transportation in the new Metropolitan Toronto, and had institued a two-zone fare system. The zone boundary roughly corresponded to the boundaries of the City of Toronto. While the Kingston Road streetcar was cut back to Victoria Park as a result of this new arrangement, the existence of a separate streetcar route operating mostly outside of the zone boundary made it make sense for the TTC to keep the Long Branch route. A second westbound facing loop was built opposite the then current eastbound facing loop. All Queen cars were extended to Humber Loop to meet Long Branch cars which had been cut back there.

The final major change to the Humber Loop interchange occurred on July 20, 1957. Then, the construction of new private right-of-way along the Queensway and removal of tracks along Lake Shore Boulevard east of the Humber provided the TTC with the opportunity to construct the interchange that sits to this day. The terminal, now a major suburban gateway, featured two turning loops (one for QUEEN cars coming from the east, and one for LONG BRANCH cars coming from the west), shelters and a bus platform. Humber became a major transfer point while the two fare zone remained in effect, and it stayed as a major interchange for years after the two-zone system was abolished. By now, suburban development in Etobicoke had spread north, so that traffic was feeding into the QUEEN streetcar both from Long Branch, from west along the Queensway and from north along Berry Road.

Diminishing Needs.

The last modification to the loop's track arrangement came in 1967 when the QUEEN streetcar was converted to handle multiple-unit PCC operations. The Queen loop was expanded and a storage track added. And this is how the loop has remained, even though the routes serving it have diminished. PRINCE EDWARD buses don't come as frequently nowadays (and rush-hour extras are routed along Park Lawn), and the 80 QUEENSWAY bus was extended past the loop to Keele Station, serving Parkside Drive. On March 29, 1996, the biggest blow hit Humber when the 501 QUEEN and 507 LONG BRANCH streetcars were amalgamated. The loop serving Long Branch cars is now rarely used, and most Queen cars just trundle on through the interchange.

Humber loop is now significantly underused. Every second 501 QUEEN car loops there, and most streetcars (including the 508 LAKE SHORE specials) trundle on through. PRINCE EDWARD buses make occasional appearances, and the QUEENSWAY bus is no longer a visitor. The loops location offers little opportunity in the way of redevelopment, however, so the site is likely to stay as it is for some time, reminding visitors of grander days.

Humber Loop Image Archive

	TTC A11-class ex-Cincinnati air-electric PCC #4579 picks up passengers at Humber Loop in QUEEN service while an all-electric PCC waits in LONG BRANCH service on July 5, 1954. This shot was taken by Richard Glaze.
	TTC Flexity LRV #4503 pulls into Humber Loop in newly-restored 501 QUEEN service on November 11, 2023. Photo by Roman Thompson.
	TTC Flexity LRV #4503 picks up passengers at Humber Loop while LRV #4570 pulls through the loop to head eastbound in 501 QUEEN service. This shot was taken by Roman Thompson on November 11, 2023.
	TTC air-electric PCC #4248 heads eastbound from Humber Loop in QUEEN service. This photo was taken May 31, 1953, by Richard Glaze.
	TTC A13-class ex-Birmingham all-electric PCC #4705 pauses on the Long Branch side of Humber Loop on July 5, 1954. Photo by Richard Glaze.
	TTC A13-class ex-Birmingham all-electric PCC #4736 heads eastbound on private right-of-way along Lakeshore Road, approaching Humber Loop on July 5, 1954. Photo by Richard Glaze.
	TTC air-electric PCC #4080 leaves the pre-Queensway Humber Loop circa 1955, for an eastbound run on the QUEEN route. Photograph by James Victor Salmon, courtesy the Toronto Public Library.
	A view of the Humber Loop interchange in the middle of Lake Shore Road, looking west circa 1955. Photo by James Victor Salmon, courtesy the Toronto Public Library
	An aerial view of Humber Loop in 1956, as the Queensway is under construction. The image is courtesy the Toronto Archives. The current track arrangement is shown in red, courtesy Joshua Anderchek.
	This unknown photographer secured a good, high vantage point (and possibly a zoom lens) to capture an earlier version of the Humber loop interchange. Here, a QUEEN streetcar is pulling away while passengers transfer to a LONG BRANCH car. This photo can only be between 1955 and 1957, but we think it's closer to 1957 because of the evidence of the construction of the Gardiner Expressway in the foreground. This image was recovered and donated by Mike Filey.
	The newly-opened Humber Loop, served by the Queensway private right-of-way, plays host to a UCRS charter of a pair of Peter Witts, including Witt #2742, air-electric PCC #4043 in QUEEN, a GM "Old Look" in 55 MIMICO service and an all-electric PCC in LONG BRANCH service. The photographer and date of this image is not known, but it comes to us from the Eric Binns collection.
	Joseph Testagrose caught this shot of PCC 4229 looping at Humber in the mid 1960s
	TTC A7 PCC #4477 poses at Humber loop on October 14, 1968. More than ten years after the loop was rebuilt following the construction of the Gardiner Expressway and the Queensway extension, the loop sits pretty with two streetcar turning facilities, a heated shelter and a bus loop. The photo is from the Howard Wayt collection.
	A QUEEN and LONG BRANCH streetcar, both PCCs, pay a call to Humber Loop while a GM New Look bus awaits. This photo was taken by Richard Glaze circa May 1970.
	Long Branch-bound A7-class all-electric PCC #4403 makes the turn as PCC #4411 finishes its run from Neville on May 17, 1970. Photo by R. Hill, donated from the Rob Hutchinson collection.
	TTC A13-class ex-Birmingham all-electric PCC #4710 lays over at Humber Loop in LONG BRANCH service on this September 1970 shot. The photographer is unknown and the image is courtesy the Charles Houser collection.
	PCC 4737 exits Humber Loop, heading to Long Branch on what was in the process of becoming Lakeshore Boulevard on October 23, 1973. Photo by R. Hill, donated from the Rob Hutchinson collection.
	TTC A-6 class PCC 4385 pulls up behind a CLRV at Humber Loop while TTC Flyer D800A bus #7971 picks up passengers for the 80 QUEENSWAY route. This mid-to-late 1980s shot was taken by John Calnan.
	TTC A6-class PCC 4385 pulls out of Humber Loop eastbound onto the Queensway private right-of-way in 501 QUEEN service in this early-to-mid-1980s shot by John Calnan.
	TTC PCC 4500 and CLRV 4061 pass each other in this shot taken from inside the Humber shelter. James Bow took this photo in December 1999.
	PCC 4500 reflected in the windows of the Humber shelter. This December 1999 photo by James Bow.
	PCC 4500 poses in front of Humber's permanent shelter. Eastbound passengers using the shelter have to cross the streetcar tracks in order to board their cars. The TTC provides a marked crosswalk. James Bow took this photo in December 1999.
	TTC ex-TRC car 1832 sits in the newly built Humber Loop in 1922. The image is courtesy the Toronto Archives, and it originally appeared in the Globe, July 27, 1922, with the caption "DREAM COME TRUE AT LAST; b.: Street cars of city of Toronto extended their service to the Humber yesterday along the new Sunnyside improvements, thus bringing the beach and amusements in reach of whole city for one fare. Date Created year accurate; month and day unknown for 1922."

References

• Bromley, John F., TTC '28, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario), 1979.
• Bromley, John F., 'Toronto Streetcar & Radial Loop History', Transfer Points, March 1999, p4-10, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario).
• Bromley, John F., and Jack May Fifty Years of Progressive Transit, Electric Railroaders' Association, New York (New York), 1978.
• Stamp, Robert M., Riding the Radials: Toronto's Suburban Electric Streetcar Lines, The Boston Mills Press, Erin (Ontario), 1989.