Canadian Light Rail Vehicle

CLRV Starting at the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s, the TTC's fleet of PCC streetcars approached (or exceeded in some cases) the end of their useful lives. Many Toronto citizens, and especially a group known as "Streetcars for Toronto" led by transit advocate Steve Munro, had fought successfully against the TTC's plan to convert the remaining streetcar lines to buses, which necessitated a new streetcar model to replace the aging PCCs. The "Canadian Light Rail Vehicle" was an attempt at a new, standardized streetcar design to be used in Toronto and in other new streetcar developments throughout the country. Hawker Siddeley Canada proposed their version of a streetcar in 1972 known as the Municipal Service Car, which had a bus-like chassis and a semi-low floor design with front and rear doors similar to that of the CLRV fleet. The project was abandoned the following year when the TTC selected the CLRV design. No Municipal Service Car prototypes were ever produced and only concept drawings remain of this vehicle. in Neuhausen. The first six CLRV cars (4000–4005) were manufactured by SIG of Zürich, Switzerland, and used as prototypes for Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC) (now Bombardier) to manufacture subsequent CLRVs at the Thunder Bay works of Hawker Siddeley Canada (today also part of Bombardier). The original order was for 200 CLRVs, of which ten were to be built by SIG and 190 by Hawker Siddeley. However, the order was reduced by four vehicles to 196 in order to provide parts to construct a prototype Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (number 4900). The four CLRVs removed were from the SIG portion of the order; thus, there were no CLRVs numbered 4006–4009. The 190 Hawker Siddeley CLRVs were numbered 4010–4199. The second route to use CLRVs was 511 Bathurst, on February 29, 1980, and they subsequently entered service on 512 St. Clair on April 16, 503 Kingston Rd on June 9, 502 Downtowner on August 7, 1980, and 501 Queen on January 4, 1981. By December 8, 1980, 89 cars had been accepted for service. Prototype 4900 ran trials in Toronto from August 10, 1982, until February 25, 1983, with a break when it was displayed at the 1982 Canadian National Exhibition. After completion of the trial runs, car 4900 was stored at the St. Clair Carhouse until March 7, 1987, when it was shipped to the UTDC testing facility in Kingston, Ontario. On March 24, 1988, following a test run, it was rear-ended by another streetcar on the test track and suffered extensive damage. It was scrapped in 1997. (now known as the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority), in San Jose, California, which purchased 50 vehicles in 1987. To operate in Boston, the streetcars had to be regauged and skipped Kenmore station when operating on the C and D branches as the CLRVs do not have any doors on the left side. During this time, the cars were occasionally operated as two- and three-car trains. Ultimately, the MBTA did not adopt the CLRV design for its light rail fleet. == Characteristics ==

The design and operation of the CLRVs and ALRVs carried over features from the highly successful PCCs that they replaced, having a similar interior layout, and the same two green bull's-eye lights in the upper corners of the front, above the destination sign, which uses back-lit roller boards. Braking and acceleration were controlled by the operator with the same pedal layout used on the PCC's, including the dead man's switch which was used to apply the parking brake when the vehicle was not in motion. Other features include fluorescent lighting and chopper controls to save energy. Unlike the CLRVs, the ALRVs have a large box sitting on the roof of each of the two articulated sections. Each box houses an air intake to ventilate the larger ALRV interior. All of the TTC's ALRVs were delivered without couplers, and a safety shield covers both of the empty front and rear coupler pockets. Until at least 2014, CLRV/ALRV streetcars, as well as buses, used a 1970s, pager-like communication system for Transit Control to communicate with operators. It was essentially a text-based system that could send messages to 10 vehicles at a time, and each operator had to acknowledge the message before Transit Control could communicate with other operators. In 2014, the TTC requested funding for a new radio system. A promotional graphic published by the TTC in 2009 illustrated that an ALRV could replace 55 automobiles carrying 61 passengers (assuming 1.11 passengers per auto) during the AM rush. From December 2015, the CLRVs and ALRVs accepted fare payments by Presto card and have since been installed system-wide including all TTC buses and subway stations as of December 2016. To coincide with the Presto rollout on the CLRV/ALRV fleets, the TTC also introduced a proof-of-payment (POP) system across all streetcar routes in the TTC network (including the CLRV and ALRV streetcar fleets and the aforementioned replacement shuttle buses that operate in place of streetcars) in an effort to speed up services. The POP system allows riders with proof of payment—such as a paper transfer, TTC pass or Presto card—to board at any door of the vehicle. Riders are subject to random fare inspections, and riders paying by cash or token continue to have to board at the front door of the vehicle to pay at the farebox and are required to take a paper POP transfer from the driver to show when requested. ==Operator training==

A mockup of a CLRV which was used to train new streetcar operators is located at Hillcrest. The training simulator consisted of an operator cab, front steps and part of the front of a streetcar. Operators also train with a real streetcar. The signs on the vehicle identify it as a training car. ==Later years==

In 2014, the CLRV and ALRV streetcars began being retired and replaced by low-floor Flexity Outlook vehicles, the first of which were put into service on the 510 Spadina route. During an extreme cold snap from January 20 to 22, 2019, the TTC withdrew all CLRV/ALRV cars from service due to the high risk of the cars breaking down in the cold weather. Instead, only Flexity Outlook streetcars along with buses were used. The ALRVs remained out of service for the rest of that winter season. Replacement parts As the TTC's CLRV/ALRV streetcar fleet aged, many parts used by these older streetcars were no longer available from outside suppliers. If a CLRV or ALRV was damaged in a breakdown, collision or derailment, parts needed to be replaced or be bent back into shape. For this purpose, the TTC employed a blacksmith to craft and repair parts. The blacksmith also supplied tools such as switch irons and towing drawbars for streetcars. The use of salt brine to de-ice city streets corroded parts on the older streetcars so much that such parts often had to be cut off the car. The TTC Harvey Shops had to manufacture some of the replacements sections, such as the chevrons which attach bogies to the car body. The upholstery department constructed the bellows used between the articulated sections of the ALRV. Each set of bellows took 240 hours to construct from a vinyl-like material using electric sewing machines. In 2016, the TTC proposed using 30 to 40 ALRVs to supplement Flexity streetcars until 2024 to address increased ridership until 60 more low-floor streetcars could be ordered. In September 2019, 44 CLRVs were in service. In that month, only routes 506 Carlton and 511 Bathurst were using them. In September 2019, an artist group repainted CLRV 4178 at the Hillcrest Complex in bright colours, replacing its regular red and white livery. The repainting project was dubbed "A Streetcar Named Toronto" and is intended to make 4178 a moving artwork. Leaves in red and white were painted on the streetcar's floor and the ceiling was painted with a floral pattern. The artist group changed the colour of some seat covers and added photographs in the interior. The repainted streetcar ran until the end of the year on regular routes as well as for special events such as Nuit Blanche. The streetcar was expected to be scrapped after its retirement, but was ultimately preserved by the Halton County Radial Railway. By late November 2019, CLRV service seven days per week was planned only for 511 Bathurst. The TTC announced that it would continue to run CLRVs on that route until December 28, but it would also use some CLRVs as extra vehicles on 501 Queen between Bathurst Street and Greenwood Avenue on weekends from November 24 to December 28. Of the six CLRVs running that day, CLRV 4001 was the last to return to Russell Carhouse. The TTC has retained two CLRVs and an ALRV for special occasions and charters. Other CLRVs will be sold to various transit museums across North America or will be sold as scrap. The TTC sold CLRV 4187 at auction to a private individual for static display at Glista Family Farms in Priceville, Ontario. As a condition of sale, the TTC stripped the car of its TTC logo. The buyer paid $3,400 for the car, the minimum allowed bid, but shipping increases that cost to an estimated $8,000. The new owner plans to preserve the streetcar's interior, and has constructed a short strip of track to mount the vehicle. • ALRV 4231 was retired in mid-2014 and was used to supply parts until its scrapping in May 2015. It was the first ALRV to be retired and scrapped. • CLRV 4062 was the second CLRV retired after it suffered a serious collision with TTC bus 7807 on December 27, 2014. Previously, the TTC repaired CLRVs damaged in collisions, even those heavily damaged. Instead, CLRV 4062 was retired in January 2015. Preservation == Gallery ==

File:TorontoTram3.jpg|ALRV on a 501 Queen route at Queen Street West File:512 ROW at Avenue.jpg|CLRV on a 512 St. Clair route at St. Clair Avenue West File:CLRV 4152 and PCC 4500.jpg|CLRV with PCC at Exhibition Loop File:ALRV 4214, CLRV 4165, ARLV 4238 and ALRV 4247 at Long Branch Loop.jpg|ALRVs stopped at Long Branch Loop == See also ==