Menage a Trois - April 18, 2004 Charter - Transit Toronto

The three stars of the charter pose at Dufferin Loop.

Text and pictures by James Bow

Click here to find some video clips of the Witt car, taken during the charter.

The year 2004 represents the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association, the owners and operators of the Halton County Radial Railway museum just outside of Rockwood, Ontario. Fifty years ago a group of dedicated railfans purchased TTC streetcars which had been bound for the scrap heap. They proceeded to cut a one-mile line along an abandoned electric railroad right-of-way through rough bush, creating a museum that has entranced me and thousands of kids and adults since it opened to the public in 1971. The Halton County Railway Museum is a remarkable testament to the power of bullheadedness and spit; there is nothing like it in southern Ontario.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary and to raise funds for further celebrations to be held throughout the year at the museum, the OERHA organized an extra-special charter. Not one, not two, but three streetcars would operate in tandem carrying railfans through the streets of Toronto. And not just any streetcars, either: using a twenty-six-year-old CLRV, a fifty-three-year-old PCC and a recently restored eighty-plus-year-old Peter Witt, the charter organizers had obtained a cross-section of the TTC's streetcar history.

The charter was by invitation only. Even so, dozens of attendees gathered at Exhibition Loop at 11 am on Sunday, April 18, 2004, in the middle of a thunderstorm, as the streetcars arrived. We did travel the city, and we turned a lot of people's heads. The only thing that would have been better is if we'd had a banner or something to promote the museum's fiftieth anniversary, but this charter was more of a fundraiser than a publicity exercise...

Here are some pictures of the day...

Menage a Trois Charter Image Archive

	Railfans gathered at Exhibition Loop, in the middle of the pouring rain. The shelter at the station became quite crowded as people struggled vainly to keep dry.
	PCC 4549 arrives...
	...followed by Small Witt 2766. Also in the charter was CLRV 4004. We would travel in a convoy with PCC 4549 in the lead, followed by Peter Witt 2766 and trailed by CLRV 4004.
	To make sure that everyone had equal access to each vehicle, the charter attendees were divided into three colour-coded teams. Each colour would board a particular streetcar and ride in it for two hours, after which teams would switch. I was on the team that got to ride Peter Witt 2766 first.
	Our charter's first stop was High Park Loop; an excellent choice, offering natural scenery and long layover periods so that railfans can get a lot of good shots in. Fortunately, by then it had stopped raining.
	The Peter Witt arrives at High Park Loop...
	...and CLRV 4004 pulls in behind.
	I'm discovering just how difficult it is to get all three vehicles into one picture.
	After running through Dundas West station, we pay a brief visit to Roncesvalles carhouse, and then it's on our way to Humber Loop!
	At Humber, teams exchange vehicles...
	...and snap pictures of streetcars in service.
	After our brief stop at Humber, we're on the road again. In the CLRV, I watch as we chase the Peter Witt and the PCC down Lakeshore Boulevard.
	At Long Branch, CLRV passengers find themselves at their Witt's End. Sorry.
	To nobody's surprise, it's easier to get two streetcars into one shot than three...
	We depart Long Branch for a lunch stop at King and Dufferin. Then it's on to...
	Dufferin Loop, where I finally get my picture of all three cars at once.
	Then we found an even better vantage point...
	At Dufferin Loop, the teams switched cars again, and I found myself on PCC 4549 trundling through the Financial District.
	As the fog started to roll in, the charter arrived at Bingham Loop. A raffle was held to raise additional funds for the OERHA anniversary and a number of prizes were given out. Finally we boarded our cars for the last leg of our journey, along Kingston Road and Queen and back to the Exhibition.