Absolutely nuts to priority a low-slung mass of rusting iron over railway electrification in Toronto - ThreadSky

dawe.bsky.social • 15 days ago

Absolutely nuts to priority a low-slung mass of rusting iron over railway electrification in Toronto

The situation with Union Station and it's train shed is silly. Battery trains in the centre of a city are silly. We should probably remove the train shed. My latest, and possibly last transit post:

open.substack.com/pub/nexttoro...

Comments

nilo.bsky.social•15 days ago

Hell yeah it’s exactly this kinda shit that makes the Anglo world rule.

dawe.bsky.social•15 days ago

Must preserve this uncommon example of a bad early 20th Century Train shed as a warning to the rest

yiff.com•14 days ago

I mean, they've been prioritizing a low-slung mass of concrete pillars and spans formed around rusting iron, and spending a half billion a year to keep it from crumbling and collapsing into the lake, for decades. and yet the elevated gardiner expressway persists against all odds and all plans

dawe.bsky.social•15 days ago

If you’ve ever gotten off the train in Toronto, the old “Bush shed” isn’t even a nice old piece of railway infrastructure. Some glorious wrought iron arch this is not. It cramps the platforms due to low height

nilo.bsky.social•15 days ago

Historic preservation as a necropolitan cult

dawe.bsky.social•15 days ago

It’s just incredibly ugly and non-functional

nilo.bsky.social•15 days ago

The part where they got rid of a huge part of it and nobody objected makes this extra funny.

dawe.bsky.social•15 days ago

The new part is nice, high ceilings, light.

I have my suspicions that the bush shed has been somehow wagging-the-dog on platform heights somehow too

chittimarco.bsky.social•15 days ago

My most cancellable euro-snob take, which I normally express only in a safe space full of Italians, is that there is very little worth preserving in this continent, and preservationism here is a total travesty.

nilo.bsky.social•15 days ago

Normal Americans agree with this lol. (I assume Canadians too.)

chittimarco.bsky.social•15 days ago

Some do. Some don't. I've seen people proposing to list as heritage the pawn and auto parts shops' signs of Boulevard des Taschereau in Longueuil...

chittimarco.bsky.social•15 days ago

Italy has her best years behind her, but Canada still has to build most of the stuff worth preserving in the future.

christosilvia.bsky.social•15 days ago

I am much more pro historic preservation but like, not at the cost of railroad electrification!

dawe.bsky.social•15 days ago

Like I would not tear down the Union Station headhouse, for example

chittimarco.bsky.social•15 days ago

Absolutely not. But that is because it's still functional for today's service, with some interventions.

But I would demolish most of Bologna's central station without much regret because it's both unremarkable and dulysfunctional for a modern railway hub.

jacktatttran.bsky.social•15 days ago

The Great Hall is also quite beautiful with the marble floors, flags of the ten provinces, and the carvings on the ceiling. It is also perfectly functional for VIA rail ticket offices, grand station entrance, and meeting and greeting train travellers.

mdasilva.bsky.social•15 days ago

It’s funny how so many North Americans will fight to death for unremarkable Cape Cod and Colonial Revival houses while they are happy to let the finest examples in the world of Mid-Century Modern and International Style get knocked down.

matt439miller.bsky.social•15 days ago

Historic preservation almost entirely coopted by NIMBY.

chittimarco.bsky.social•15 days ago

If I had to protect something in this continent, it would be bridges. North American engineering has produced some of the most outstanding bridges between the middle 19th century and the 1960s.

christosilvia.bsky.social•15 days ago

Or even Federal houses! There was an 18th century house in my town that was demolished in 2024

firstclassduck.bsky.social•14 days ago

Something, something, people think those houses have charm to many people compared to more modern designs. It’s weird, but Americans are very wedded those housing types.

Bonus is that it also prevents any new apartments in a neighborhood.

kuriva.im•15 days ago

the Izzard bit about coming from the UK to the US and being shown a building "exactly as it appeared over FIFTY YEARS AGO" is so on point

skeetertjones.bsky.social•15 days ago

The test for historic preservation in North America should be: will tourists from the Old World come to specifically visit this place?

If the answer is no, it can be torn down and replaced.

jacktatttran.bsky.social•15 days ago

#AxeTheTrainShed
#KillTheBushTrainShed

thefoxandthecity.com•15 days ago

Like, I'm far more friendly to preservation than many of my peers on here.

But this is silly. Have a competition, design something better. There is nothing special about this particular shed.

dawe.bsky.social•15 days ago

Precisely. The new shed they built in the middle is dramatically nicer than the relic parts

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