The Red Rocket

"The Streetcar Yard" 

If you paint vintage urban scenes of Toronto, there's simply no avoiding the fact that you'll end up painting streetcars, whether you want to or not.  Indeed, even contemporary scenes could easily...and often do...have "The Red Rocket" in them, since T.O. still has its fleet of streetcars, unlike many other Canadian cities that once deployed them but now no longer do.  

"The Newspapermen" a scene from Hamilton circa 1900

With the possible exception of the Bloor/Yonge subway, no element of Toronto's transit system is as iconic as the streetcar.  Unlike their subterranean kin, streetcars propel you through the heart of the city at street level.  You are not bypassing the busy streets, you are a part of them.  

Live in Toronto long enough, and streetcars become woven into your fabric.  I've lived and commuted in Toronto since 1985 and have ridden them too many times to mention.  I've boarded at the Long Branch loop, waited to change at the Humber Loop, and ridden all the way out to the Neville Park loop in the east end.  And that's just the Lakeshore line.

"Neville Park Loop"

Many a time have I waited to see those lights appear at the far end of the street on a rainy night.  I've sweltered along with everybody else on jam-packed cars on humid July evenings after work.  I've been on them at 3 a.m. in Parkdale, when my only company was vagrants and hookers.  I've curled up to sleep in the back compartment, been short-turned, seen fights break out, been treated to bible sermons, and had to pause on the back steps for cars that wouldn't stop for the open doors.  None of these experiences would be alien to somebody who uses the Red Rocket regularly.  

"Queen Car Afternoon"

And for all of that, there's still an element of romance to them.  The ringing bells, clattering wheels, even the whoosh as they build up speed from a stop...these are all a part of the music that fills the air of a Toronto night.  

"Boarding on St. Clair"

And I've seen the city with a level of intimacy that would be impossible with any other form of transit, especially one I would have to pilot myself.  Past those frosty/dirty/rainy streetcar windows a thousand images have rolled by my eyes...the Christie Cookie Factory's water tower...The ducks on Grenadier Pond in High Park...the old Gladstone Hotel...City TV...the Eaton Centre...Marty Millionaire...the River Street Humane Society...Jilly's strip club...the fire station that marks the start of "The Beach".  

"The Pantages"

More than once there's been talk of doing away with the streetcars, in part because of their propensity to snarl up rush-hour traffic (a situation greatly improved by the installation of concrete islands for waiting commuters).  I hope the day never comes that they are no more.  In this era of concern over carbon footprints, I'm banking that since they are electric vehicles, it will guarantee their survival.  

"Bay Car to the Docks"

If there's one thing that should be self-evident from my choice of painting subjects, I'm pretty high on nostalgia, history, and memory.  It's my hope that the Red Rocket is here for many generations to come, so others may experience the pleasure that I have all these years...to witness the beating heart of the city flowing by the windows of their very own traveling observation deck.

The surreal day when me, my son Ross, dog Riley, and Santa all ended up together on a vintage PCC car.

For a print of "The Streetcar Yards" follow this link:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-streetcar-yard-dave-rheaume.html