[Woodbridge_Heights]

I'm reaching way back with memory here to like 35 years ago when it opened, I recall the Skywalk was lined with retail stores, cafes and take out food restaurants, all of which probably needed regular loading space for resupply and parking space for employees of those stores. That lasted all of about four years or so, I guess until the leases expired, and they slowly shut down from a lack of business. I think they far overestimated the business the Jays / CN Tower would generate (can't win the World Series every single year), not to mention people wanted to eat at the ballpark and not in a busy hallway with limited seating, and also people preferred to walk outside to/from the SkyDome, weather permitting. There was also a sharp recession in Canada in the early 90's and consumer discretionary spending dropped off a cliff until around 1995 and many downtown office workers were laid off, so it never matured into the retail destination as envisioned and they simply gave up on the space.

Ahh I remember stopping by the sports memorabilia shop on our way to a WWE house show at the then Skydome in the mid to late 90's

 

[Richard White]

Union was not "designed for postal use" - CN's express depot flanked the west side of the station while CP's was on the east. The current Union Station (the third such building using that title) was designed for long distance passenger use and the narrow platforms reflect this. It was never envisioned as a 'commuter station' a hundred years ago because 'commuting' wasn't a thing.

One of the many things I learned from Derek Boles is the use of the narrow platforms.

They were designed for mail, baggage and goods.

The wider platforms were for people

 

[ProjectEnd]

The goods loading platforms were for baggage, express freight and mail – many passenger trains had mail cars – so yeah, they were used for that purpose with elevators connecting to the express buildings and to the Bay Street side of the station, where there were postal facilities before GO Transit built the original Bay Concourse. (It was attached to the postal station where the arena is now.) They were separated from the passenger platforms. GO uses both these days.

And there were “commuter” trains operated by CN; these were local trains making frequent stops from Hamilton, Barrie, Oshawa, Lindsay/Stouffville, and Kitchener on a commuter-friendly schedule; GO just replaced these with more frequent service and higher capacity trains. CP and later VIA had one from Peterborough too. But you’d never have more than a few hundred passengers on any one train back then. GO can carry many times that.

But about half the platforms were designed for baggage, goods, postal services, etc. I think the wider ones were for passengers.

One of the many things I learned from Derek Boles is the use of the narrow platforms.

They were designed for mail, baggage and goods.

The wider platforms were for people

You're all correct here. I misinterpreted Richard's comment - the trainshed was designed for long-distance passenger service. Those same trains were also loaded with baggage and other ancillary things like mail. I mistakenly took Richard's comment to mean they designed it only to carry mail out of here, my bad.

All that said, you will note that many (most?) of the baggage-only platforms do not currently serve passengers and today sit entirely unused (minus BoH movement by staff).

I'm still not sold on Sean's narrative that CN ran "commuter services" - they ran local-ish trains that happened to carry proto-commuters between nearby cities, but that wasn't CN's core function and they lost money all day long on them. CP ran similar trains too but under Crump and Sinclair were able to cancel that as they were a private company. At CN - "The People's Railway" - Gordon and MacMillan felt a responsibility that their railway served a social function for Canadians along with core profitability and as such continued to do so until GO took over in 1967 and VIA a decade later. I don't think anyone is under any illusion that GO is 'profitable', and nor should it be. I've always been of the mind that if transit is 'profitable', it just means you're not pumping that money back into the system.

 

[WB62]

All that said, you will note that many (most?) of the baggage-only platforms do not currently serve passengers and today sit entirely unused (minus BoH movement by staff).

Which platforms are those? The only passenger restricted platforms are 14-16 and 18-19, VIA Rail uses those for baggage and servicing. I wouldn’t really say back of house stuff is an exception because they are consistently being used every day.

But about half the platforms were designed for baggage, goods, postal services, etc. I think the wider ones were for passengers.

From what I understand, the wider platforms in the centre of the station (over the present day VIA Concourse) were for passengers, with every other platform (shown in green on the diagram) being for passengers use.

Where the present day Bay and York Concourses are were the baggage and mail facilities, and the wider platforms over those sections (shown in red on the diagram) were used for those purposes.

This is the ugliest diagram in the world, I don’t feel like making a better one

Notice how all the platforms change width in the middle.

 

[ProjectEnd]

Which platforms are those? The only passenger restricted platforms are 14-16 and 18-19, VIA Rail uses those for baggage and servicing. I wouldn’t really say back of house stuff is an exception because they are consistently being used every day.



From what I understand, the wider platforms in the centre of the station (over the present day VIA Concourse) were for passengers, with every other platform (shown in green on the diagram) being for passengers use.

Where the present day Bay and York Concourses are were the baggage and mail facilities, and the wider platforms over those sections (shown in red on the diagram) were used for those purposes.

This is the ugliest diagram in the world, I don’t feel like making a better one

Notice how all the platforms change width in the middle.

So nomenclature difference. But I trust you've got the numbers accurate there.

 

[WB62]

In retail news that won't interest most (me neither) LOL.........Almond Nail Bar is opening here, in a very prominent spot in the Bay Concourse.

At the north-east corner, across from Sephora.

Incredible random thing to come across, I found some renderings for the cancelled Almond Nail Bar retailer that was supposed to go where Lids currently is:

My UT shortcut takes me to the page where that was announced, probably the only reason why I remember it

 

[Amare]

Incredible random thing to come across, I found some renderings for the cancelled Almond Nail Bar retailer that was supposed to go where Lids currently is:

View attachment 666637

View attachment 666638

My UT shortcut takes me to the page where that was announced, probably the only reason why I remember it

Great thing it never came to be, it would've been a waste of prime retail real estate.

 

[picard102]

Great thing it never came to be, it would've been a waste of prime retail real estate.

as opposed to Lids?

 

[Amare]

as opposed to Lids?

To be fair, they make more sense due to the proximity of Scotiabank Arena and Rogers Centre.

 

[picard102]

To be fair, they make more sense due to the proximity of Scotiabank Arena and Rogers Centre.

They are also in close proximity to the 99.9% of people with nails.

 

[Amare]

They are also in close proximity to the 99.9% of people with nails.

True. But then there's dozens of nail salons all around Union Station.

I'm not saying Lids is the greatest use of the space, but it's far more sensible compared to a nail salon.

 

[reinventingthewheel]

I'm not saying Lids is the greatest use of the space, but it's far more sensible compared to a nail salon.

I think the reason for this perception is people are usually making quick, mid-journey stops at Union while a manicure usually takes at least half an hour.

 

[PL1]

I think the reason for this perception is people are usually making quick, mid-journey stops at Union while a manicure usually takes at least half an hour.

If a nail salon is a good use of the space, it will be viable. If not, the next concept can move in in a few months.

Just because I won't frequent it doesn't make it a good use of the space!

 

[WB62]

One year ago Union Station flooded. These photos aren’t from then, because Union flooded again today…

Impacted areas marked in red:

 

[Northern Light]

Lessons not learned and all that.