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With a natural ding-ding,1 two aging CLRV Red Rockets2 greet each other at St. Patrick Street while plying the Queen Line (Route 501) on a sunny Saturday3 afternoon. Car 4185 is on its way west to the Humber Loop4 near a place called Sunnyside. "HUMBER" is a common turnaround point for every other westbound Queen streetcar - the remainder traveling further through Mimico, New Toronto and finally "LONG BRANCH" - near the Mississauga border.5 The eastbound car 4164 is headed through Downtown Toronto to the "NEVILLE PARK" loop at the far end of the Beaches District - close to but definitely not in southern Scarborough, there's a sign.6 With the planned 2020 phase out of the CLRV and ALRV streetcar models, one would expect this to be a very rare sight to just casually capture. But one can see a lot of CLRVs on Queen Street and King Street these days. Indeed, there are actually three CLRVs to be seen in this capture if you look closely. Although, I expect this summer will be their final season of prominence. With the introduction of the FLEXITY type7 LFLRV streetcars, the TTC has been systematically converting their streetcar system from trolley pole (power) pick up to pantograph. Each conversion effectively banishes the older CLRV/ALRV models from the lines in question - the older vehicles only having trolley poles. The new (TTC commissioned) LFLRVs are equipped for both pantograph and trolley pickup - I'll post a picture soon - to allow them to function on all lines. The result being that the remaining in service CLRVs and ALRVs will soon become confined to the busy Queen and King (Route 504) lines for the remainder of their service life. It has been a long goodbye for the CLRV and ALRV streetcars. Just as they protractedly replaced the aging art deco like PCC fleet through the late 1970's to late 1980's. It's fitting I suppose, Toronto has a history of lengthy streetcar procurement and replacement periods. The PCCs first appeared in the late 1930's while the Peter Witt8 streetcars they "replaced" did not go out of service until the mid 1960's. At each instance, the process gets hung up on the politics abandonment and the procurement of the FLEXITYs was no different. Still, it is noticeable that this transition period, six (6) years, is due to be the shortest of the three in the past century. I hope the TTC will preserve and retrofit a handful of CLRVs for special events and tours. just as been done for the two PCCs and one Peter Witt they still have. Cheers! NOTES: CLRV: Canadian Light Rail Vehicle ALRV: Articulated Light Rail Vehicle LFLRV: Low Floor Light Rail Vehicle TTC: Toronto Transit Commission PCC: Presidents' Conference Car References: 1All CLRV streetcars and their predecessors have real gongs not those piezoelectric simulations. They also have three head lights to reflect their railway/street vehicle character - something also missing on the new trams. 2Red Rocket: The public nickname for Toronto's streetcar system. 3In New Toronto (including Mimico and Long Branch) it is pronounced 'Saa-er-day'. 4Yeah roll signs! 5Mississauga: Peel Region's Alberta. 6Scarborough: The Russian Steppes of Toronto transit planning since the 1960's. Well, them and the Ford family. 7FLEXITY Outlook: The brand name for the new TTC LFLRV streetcar manufactured by Bombardier.98Not so affectionately remembered as "the bone shakers". 9Bombardier: Canadian for "hurry up and wait".

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