Bingham Loop

Bingham Loop
Location Victoria Park Ave/Kingston Rd
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates 43°40′53.5″N 79°17′05″W / 43.681528°N 79.28472°WCoordinates: 43°40′53.5″N 79°17′05″W / 43.681528°N 79.28472°W
Owned by Toronto Transit Commission
Line(s)  502   503 
Connections TTC buses
History
Opened 2 December 1922
Rebuilt 1954, 2013

Bingham Loop is a station and turning loop at the eastern terminus of the 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Rd streetcar lines of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It lies between Victoria Park Avenue and Bingham Avenue, just north of Kingston Road in Toronto.

Streetcars loop anticlockwise from Victoria Park Avenue and stop on the south side of the platform, while buses enter in the other direction from Bingham Avenue and stop on the north side. The island platform is covered by a one-piece 50 ft (15.2 m) long canopy.[1] A small brick building provides facilities for TTC staff.

History

The private Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company had operated a single track suburban radial line along Kingston Road to West Hill.[2] When the TTC assumed the route between Queen Street and Victoria Park in 1922, they double tracked the line and built the return loop at Bingham. The TTC extended the double track east to Birchmount Loop in 1928. The Bingham Loop was rebuilt in 1954, with one track removed to accommodate buses as it is today, and streetcar service east of Victoria Park was discontinued.[3]

The tracks at the loop and along Kingston Road were replaced in 2013.[4] The remnants of the old trackage were removed, including a feature which allowed streetcars exiting from Bingham Avenue to turn east on Kingston Road and reenter the loop.[3]

Comparing views looking east along the tracks at the Bingham Loop
In 1923 soon after being built in 1922
In 2014 soon after the 2013 renovation

Services

References

  1. ↑ "Bingham Loop New Canopy". Trade Sync. Retrieved August 2014. Trade Sync installed a one-piece 50 ft canopy that is supported by five heavy-duty columns
  2. ↑ James Bow. "Kingston Road's Suburban History". Transit Toronto. Retrieved August 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 James Bow. "Venerable Bingham Loop". Transit Toronto. Retrieved August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Kingston Road Reconstruction" (PDF). City of Toronto. May 15, 2013. Retrieved August 2014. The City of Toronto and TTC are replacing streetcar tracks on Kingston Road as part of TTC's commitment to infrastructure renewal and maintenance.

External links

Media related to Bingham Loop at Wikimedia Commons