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32-846: The West Toronto Diamond is a railway junction in Toronto , Ontario , Canada. It connects the Metrolinx Weston Subdivision, which carries the GO Transit Kitchener line , UP Express and Via Rail Corridor passenger services, to the CPKC North Toronto Subdivision, which is the Canadian Pacific Kansas City 's main freight line across Toronto. It is located near the intersection of Keele Street and Dundas Street in Toronto. The West Toronto Diamond

64-464: A replacement bus service . It is therefore more economically viable to plan such track occupations for periods of reduced usage (e.g. 'off-peak', overnight or holiday times) to minimise the impact on normal services and revenue. Each transport system represents a contribution to a country's infrastructure , and as such must make economic sense or eventually close. From this, each has a particular role or roles. These may change with time but they affect

96-471: A traction maintenance depot , locomotives are cleaned, inspected for wear, repaired, updated, or otherwise improved. Decommissioned locomotives with steam generation capacities were sometimes positioned in semi-permanent locations and their boiler capacity was used to provide steam to heat facilities, power machinery, warm passenger cars, or snow and ice clearing activities such as defrosting railroad switches in cold weather conditions. Railroad equipment that

128-455: A busy commuter railway might have blocks a few hundred metres long. A disadvantage of fixed blocks, is that: the faster trains are permitted to run, the longer the stopping distance, and therefore the longer the blocks need to be. This decreases a line's capacity. With moving block , computers are used to calculate a 'safe zone', behind each moving train, which no other train may enter. The system depends on precise knowledge of where each train

160-417: A circular train depot, known as a roundhouse that surrounded a turntable . The presence of a work train on a given section of track will temporarily decrease the capacity of the route. The normal method in such operations is to cease other traffic altogether during the track 'occupation'. Services may be diverted by an alternative route, if available; alternatively, passenger services may be maintained using

192-542: A federally regulated company they did not need municipal permission, and that since the building was already closed it was no longer a station and so they did not need federal permission either. However, the Canadian Transport Commission ruled on May 3, 1983, that the demolition was illegal. Junction (rail) A junction , in the context of rail transport , is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. The physical connection between

224-412: A freight yard, trains are composed in a classification yard . Switcher or shunter locomotives help the composing. A unit train (also called a block train), which carries a block of cars all of the same origin and destination, does not get sorted in a classification yard, but may stop in a freight yard for inspection, engine servicing and/or crew changes. Combining freight and passenger operations on

256-485: A single track with passing loops poses operational problems, because of the different demands of freight operators and public transport. In many smaller countries passenger operations are done during the day, while freight trains operate mostly during the night. Dedicated tracks have been assigned to some operations. Inactive locomotives may be housed in a locomotive depot (UK term) or engine house, also known as an engine shed or roundhouse (US). In engine facilities , or

288-409: A widened Weston subdivision, increasing from 2 tracks to 4. The new underpass began operation on May 26, 2014. The cost to do this separation is close to $ 500 million, but will be paid back in full in a matter of years as more trains are added to all lines. The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) built a station north of the diamond in 1907, named Carlton & Weston Road. It was located on the east side of

320-592: Is and how fast it is moving. With moving block, lineside signals are not provided, and instructions are passed directly to the trains. It has the advantage of increasing track capacity by allowing trains to run much closer together. The system is only used on very few independent networks such as underground lines. Most rail systems serve a number of functions on the same track, carrying local, long-distance and commuter passenger trains, and freight trains. The emphasis on each varies by country. Some urban rail transit , rapid transit and light rail systems are isolated from

352-431: Is considered obsolete by being outdated or inefficient when compared to newer equipment, or by being worn to a point that is un-repairable, may be taken out of railroad service. These pieces of equipment may have usable parts removed by the railroad company for reuse on other machines, or may be sold as complete units for reconditioning and reuse by another user. If the equipment is considered completely un-serviceable, and it

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384-584: Is financially unwise to attempt to make it so, the entire machine may be declared scrap and is usually sold to be taken away and dismantled for recycling of the raw materials. If the process of salvage or scrapping is financially unrecoverable, the equipment may be left in place until it becomes possible to do so. In some cases a significant or desirable piece of equipment will be purchased for preservation. There units may be placed in railway museums or may be purchased by railway preservation groups or private collectors. Steam locomotives were frequently housed in

416-459: Is often referred to as "the junction" and gives Toronto's The Junction neighbourhood its name. The junction was originally controlled by a complex interlocking built by Saxby and Farmer which controlled 21 switches , derails and locks , plus 17 signals . The interlocking was controlled from an interlocking tower located at the centre of the junction. In 1965 the interlocking was converted from local control to remote control, operated by

448-448: Is restricted by tunnels , bridges or inner-city tracks. The installation of junctions into a rail system poses many challenges, including increased maintenance costs, and problems in on-time performance. Metro rail systems have a rail network design where the number of junctions is minimized. Passengers, and not trains, move from one train station to another. Rail transport operations Rail transport operations are

480-708: The CP Toronto Terminals Dispatcher in Toronto Union Station. In April 2008, Metrolinx bought the Weston Sub from CN Rail to allow them to expand the railway to support increased train service along the corridor. The junction was grade separated to move the Metrolinx Weston subdivision into a trench, passing underneath the CP North Toronto subdivision. The project was designed to accommodate

512-504: The GTR tracks at Old Weston Road and Junction Road, and served by trains on the route to London via Guelph and Kitchener. The station passed to Canadian National (CN) in 1923, and closed in 1988. Canadian Pacific (CP)'s West Toronto station was a more notable structure, on the southwest side of the diamond. The first CP station was built in 1885, immediately west of the Weston Road bridge. It

544-448: The branch is Yeovil Pen Mill . Frequently, trains are built up and taken apart (separated) at such stations so that the same train can be divided and proceed to multiple destinations. For goods trains (US: freight trains), marshalling yards (US: Classification yards ) serve a similar purpose. The capacity of the junctions limits the capacity of a railway network more than the capacity of individual railway lines . This applies more as

576-400: The building on November 25, 1982. It was one of a series of demolitions of closed stations they had carried out about that time, at least once using similar tactics. After the demolition the company rebuilt the junction curves used by the new Milton line GO trains on a gentler alignment. The company claimed that this had been urgently necessary, that they had "tried" to give notice, that as

608-431: The day-to-day operations of a railway. A railway has two major components: the infrastructure (the permanent way , tracks, stations, freight facilities, viaducts, tunnels, etc.) and the rolling stock (the passenger coaches , locomotives, freight cars , etc.) Ownership and operation of these two components varies by location. In some places (notably, most of North America) private railway companies own and operate both

640-456: The infrastructure and rolling stock (for example, Union Pacific ). In the United Kingdom, the infrastructure is owned and maintained by Network Rail while rolling stock is largely owned and operated by private railway companies. In countries with nationalized rail systems such as China and France , both the infrastructure and rolling stock are owned and operated directly or indirectly by

672-411: The intrinsic nature of the system. The slope at which trains run must also be calculated correctly. In this stage, it is decided where tunnels pass. Rail transport systems affect the human geography. Large cities (such as Nairobi ) may be founded by a railroad passing through. Historically, when a station has been built outside the town or city it is intended to serve, that town has expanded to include

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704-781: The national government. The operation of the railway is through a system of control, originally by mechanical means, but nowadays more usually electronic and computerized . Signalling systems used to control the movement of traffic may be either of fixed block or moving block variety. Most blocks are 'fixed' blocks, i.e. they delineate a section of track between two defined points. On timetable, train order, and token-based systems, blocks usually start and end at selected stations. On signalling-based systems, blocks usually start and end at signals . Alternatively, cab signalling may be in use. The lengths of blocks are designed to allow trains to operate as frequently as necessary. A lightly used branch line might have blocks many kilometres long, whilst

736-399: The national system in the cities they serve. Some freight lines serving mines are also isolated, and these are usually owned by the mine company. An industrial railway is a specialized rail system used inside factories or mines. Steep grade railways are usually isolated, with special safety systems. The permanent way trails through the physical geography. The tracks' geometry is limited by

768-496: The network density increases. Measures to improve junctions are often more useful than building new railway lines. The capacity of a railway junction can be increased with improved signaling measures, by building points suitable for higher speeds, or by turning level junctions into flying junctions , where tracks are grade-separated , and so one track passes over or under another. With more complicated junctions such construction can rapidly become very expensive, especially if space

800-445: The new route – for example by providing a triangular track layout. Rail transport operations refer to stations that lie on or near a railway junction as a junction station . In the UK it is customary for the junction (and the related station) to be named after the next station on the branch, e.g. Yeovil Junction is on the mainline railway south of Yeovil , and the next destination on

832-498: The passenger cars. Most public transport passenger operations happen in the train station and in the passenger car . The passenger buys a ticket , either in the station, or on the train (sometimes at a higher fare ). There are generally speaking two ways of validating a ticket: Some passenger cars, especially in long-distance high-speed trains, have a restaurant or bar. These need to be catered. In recent times, train catering has been diminished somewhat by vending machines in

864-583: The physical geography. Trains are pushed/pulled by one or more locomotive units. Two or more locomotives coupled in multiple traction are frequently used in freight trains. Railroad cars or rolling stock consist of passenger cars , freight cars , maintenance cars and in America cabooses . Modern passenger trains sometimes are pushed/pulled by a tail and head unit (see top and tail ), of which not both need to be motorised or running. Many passenger trains consist of multiple units with motors mounted beneath

896-496: The specifications of each particular system. Rail transport systems are built into the landscape , including both the physical geography (hills, valleys, etc.) and the human geography (location of settlements). The rail transport system may in turn feedback into the human geography. The permanent way of a system must pass through the geography and geology of its region. This may be flat or mountainous, may include obstacles such as water and mountains. These determine, in part,

928-651: The station, or buildings (especially Inns ) sprung up near the station. The existence of a station may increase the number of commuters who live in a town or village and so cause it to become a dormitory town . The transcontinental railroad was a large factor in American colonization of the Western frontier . China's railroad expansion into Tibet may have similar consequences. Rail transport systems are often used for purposes they were not designed for, but have evolved into due to changes in human geography. Politics can play

960-410: The tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge) is provided by turnouts (US: switches ) and signalling . In a simple case where two routes with one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to allow trains to transfer from one route to the other. More complicated junctions are needed to permit trains to travel in either direction after joining

992-633: The train station or on the train. When not in use, passenger cars are stored, maintained and repaired in coach yards . Freight or cargo trains are loaded and unloaded in intermodal terminals (also called container freight stations or freight terminals), and at customer locations (e.g. mines , grain elevators , factories ). Intermodal freight transport uses standardized containers , which are handled by cranes . Along their routes, freight trains are routed through rail yards to sort cars and assemble trains for their final destinations, as well as for equipment maintenance, refueling, and crew changes. Within

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1024-416: Was replaced by another structure on the east side of the bridge in 1898. In turn, this was replaced in 1911 when a larger station was built further south near Old Weston Road and Dupont Street. The station was closed when its last remaining train service, The Canadian to Vancouver, was rerouted in 1978. Heritage interests had been talking to politicians about having it preserved when CP abruptly demolished

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