[Northern Light]

forgive my ignorance, but how do you build tall buildings on lake infill sites, I thought the fittings had to hit bedrock

No worries. You learn by asking!

1) You don't have to build to bedrock strictly speaking, but for a tall building, most do. You do require a stable soil base.

2) Depth to bedrock varies across the City, but averages a bit over 30M below grade (something in the range of 10-12 storeys deep.

3) Bedrock is shallower near the Lake. (So closer to the surface).

4) The average depth of Lakefill isn't all that deep, in the range of 10-12M. Bedrock is generally located very close to the depth of the fill.

So in many cases even w/the fill, you have less than average depth to bedrock in the Lakefill areas.

 

[junctionist]

With all the discussion about Queens Quay's freight trains, I can't believe that no one used the railway term for it, "street running". Any place where it still happens today is like a mecca for railfans.

 

[micheal_can]

With all the discussion about Queens Quay's freight trains, I can't believe that no one used the railway term for it, "street running". Any place where it still happens today is like a mecca for railfans.

Is there any freight street running in Canada?

 

[A 6264]

I know that streets get renamed, but I have not been able to find anything to suggest Queens Quay was ever called anything but that.

Consider this: As already stated (and can be verified at Wikipedia), the road was built on or after 1919. It's extremely unlikely they would have named it after Queen Victoria 2 decades after her death. If it had been named for the monarch of the time, it would have been called King's Quay. It must have been named for Elizabeth II in the 1950s or later.

Many streets in Toronto changed their name in the 20th century. Usually the old name is no longer referenced, to avoid confusion. You can find old names on old maps, but it's rare to see them elsewhere, unless there's an interesting story behind the change.

 

[A 6264]

Is there any freight street running in Canada?

When I was a kid in Toronto, trains ran on the streets all the time in a nearby factory area. When our family drove out to do grocery shopping, we often had to wait for street trains to pass. I live in a different neighbourhood now, but there is a warehouse area nearby, and old tracks can be seen everywhere. In the 25 years I've lived here, most of the tracks have been removed, along with train crossing signs and other old markers. I found it interesting enough to take photos of tracks when I first moved here, and used Google Maps to map out where all the rails went, so I have something to compare to the present. Trains on streets can be dangerous and noisy - as a kid, I'd hear them all night - and few active lines remain, if any.

Here is a map I made, and just a couple of photos as an example. On the map, red lines are active right of way rail lines, green lines are inactive street rails, numbers show places where I took photos. The 2 photos shown are at location points 5 and 9. This is southwest of Eglinton and Don Mills.