John Street Roundhouse, Railway park in Old Toronto, Canada
The John Street Roundhouse is a railway park in Old Toronto with a central turntable that directed locomotives into maintenance bays for servicing. The facility sits between Bremner Boulevard and Lake Shore Boulevard West, near the waterfront.
Canadian Pacific Railway built this roundhouse between 1929 and 1931 to replace an older 1897 facility that couldn't handle the larger steam engines of the time. The new building was designed to service the modern locomotives that were becoming common.
The Toronto Railway Museum occupies restored sections of the roundhouse, where you can see historical locomotives and railway equipment that tell the story of the workers who kept trains running. The space shows how maintenance crews organized their daily work and cared for these machines.
The park is open daily between Bremner Boulevard and Lake Shore Boulevard West, near the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The grounds are easy to navigate, with clear pathways and good visibility of the historic structures and equipment.
Railroad workers called locomotives that were exceptionally clean and well-maintained the "John Street polish," a nickname that reflected the facility's reputation for high standards. This phrase shows how proud maintenance crews were of their craftsmanship and attention to detail.
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