Ontario – Geeky Girl Engineer

Historic Don Jail

Posted on May 26, 2019 by geek

One of the buildings open for Doors Open Toronto was the historic Don Jail, which now houses Bridgepoint Active Healthcare Administration Building. The jail was built between 1800-1866 and closed in 1977. I have not toured that many old jails, but this building has ornamentation that I honestly did not think would ever be in a jail. It was built as a reform jail, and evidently sunlight was part of that idea. The cells, or at least the doorways I could see, were still pretty darn tiny though. Architecturally, it is something to behold.

After it closed, the jail evidently sat unused for a while because really, what do you do with an old jail? Bridgepoint purchased it to turn it into an administrative building next to their hospital. They preserved its historic elements. It does seem like some of the offices must be nice, but I can’t imagine working in an old jail no matter how many fresh coats of paint are put on it. There is even a closed off area, which was open for photos, where the gallows were. The are offices across the hall for the gallows room. I really don’t think I could work on that hallway.

Atrium which is shaped as half an octagon.

The atrium balconies are help up by really ornate brackets shaped like dangerous animals like servants and dragons

A better view of the dragon brackets supporting the balconies

Isolation cells for punishment were about a cot’s width

Cells that have been turned into offices

Gallows area. The outline of where the wood gallows were was left visible.

F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant

Posted on May 26, 2019 by geek

The F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant was one of my top two reasons for coming to Doors Open Toronto. Sadly, no wastewater treatment plants were open for the event, as I find them more interesting than water treatment plants. However, water treatment plants are still interesting. This plant was even more interesting than I initially thought it would be because I am fairly this is the first water treatment plant I have been to where they use ozone for the initial disinfectant. This is the second water treatment plant I have visited in Toronto. The first Doors Open Toronto I came to, I visited the absolutely magnificent R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant. F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant is not as beautiful, but it is interesting none the less.

The plant’s water intake is from pipes in Lake Ontario over 2 km from shore. It is then pumped to the plant and then up from the pipes which are (I think) nine stories below the surface. The plant sits on cliffs high above the water surface. Ozone is added to the water. Ozone disinfects the water. The ozone is made at the treatment plant from liquid oxygen. Before the water leaves the tanks where is contacts ozone, sodium bisulfite is added to remove any left over ozone.

Ozone generation unit from liquid oxygen and electricity

Coagulant is then added to the water. Coagulant causes certain ions and tiny particles to start to come together to make bigger particles, which are easier to filter out. The water is pumped to sediment filters. The filters have a lower sand layer topped with a carbon layer. The filter tanks are huge, but so are the pipes in the building.

Gigantic water pipe conveying water (I think) to the filter tanks

This is a horrible photo because is taken through glass with wire lining, but that is water in the filter tanks. The filters are at the bottom, and I think blue plastic thing is the trough where the backwash goes when the unit is backwashed.

Another horrible photo taken through glass, but on the left side is an empty filter tank, and on the right side is a filter tank with water.

Low pressure air pipes in the filtration gallery

Gigantic air pipes running through the main part of the building

After the water has been cleaned, chlorine is added. The water has already been disinfected at this point, but a residual disinfectant is needed to kill any bacteria the water may encounter in the distribution system on its way to customers.

Bay Lower Subway Station

Posted on May 25, 2019 by geek

Another site I visited with Doors Open Toronto was an abandoned subway station. When the Bay Subway Station was built, there was an upper and lower level. According to the Doors Open Toronto website “When Line 2 officially opened in 1966, Bay Lower was in full use. Alternate trains used the Wye connection, which allowed customers to travel from Line 1 to Line 2 without changing trains. The TTC tested this system for six months and also tested the two separate subway lines for six months. Following testing, the TTC decided that two trains worked best and Bay Lower was closed.” If like me, you do not live in Toronto, that means very little or nothing. Having studied the Toronto subway map for a little bit of time, I think I now understands what it means, but to be perfectly honest, it sounds like it was a dumb idea from the start. Yes, yes, hindsight is 20/20, but it just seems overly complicated, and I know how long it took me just to understand New York City’s local versus express lines, so this seems like it might have made things easier for some but confused the heck out of others. It also sounds like something that carried not insignificant risks for train operation and train traffic control.

The lower level was not used for very long, but it has been used ever since by TTC for testing and training. It has also been used by the television and movie industry quite a bit for shooting scenes. The signs they had displayed seem to indicate that it has been a stand in for many U.S. city subway lines. Ever since I visited the lower level, I have been trying to think how many U.S. cities actually have a subway, as in trains that run underground. There are not that many, and furthermore, not many look like this station. Then again, the movie industry may not always care about things like that. But I digress.

In any event, it was kind of neat to walk around the platform. They had a train on either track with all doors open, so you could walk around the trains. They also let people visit the conductor’s seat/booth/area/I don’t what it is called. Today I learned, when given the opportunity to visit this area, people both young and old, really, really, really like to honk the horn. How the employees watching everything were not developing headaches from the horns constantly going off in the confined station where the noise really bounces around, I have no idea.

One final observation. I am rather fascinated by Toronto’s subway trains because the individual cars are all connected into one true train where you can walk very easily between all the cars. I don’t how many other systems have cars like this, but I was fascinated by it. I am most familiar with the Washington, D.C. and New York City subway systems where walking between cars requires going outside and is rather frowned upon or difficult. It would seem likely this would make it rather difficult for trains to be taken apart should only one or two cars need service, but I am not sure how often cars are taken apart and reconfigured on other systems where visually at least, it would appear to be easier.

One of the trains at the Bay Lower Subway Station. You can easily walk the entire length of the train.

One of the trains at the Bay Lower Subway Station. In the foreground is where two cars are joined, and you can walk in between.

View from the end of the Bay Lower Subway Station platform into the tunnel.

City of Toronto Archives

Posted on May 25, 2019 by geek

One of the places I visited for Doors Open Toronto was the City of Toronto Archives. The main reason I wanted to visit was a photo I had seen on the website, which once I got there was the viewing gallery. All the photos taken below were taken from there. It is a really neat area where you can look to see the stacks of archive boxes. Well, you can see some of the archives box because there are a LOT of archive boxes, and you can’t see them all. They are kept in a climate controlled area with fire protection. I honestly wanted to learn more about the engineering of the climate control and fire protection, but there didn’t seem to be anyway to ask.

However, while there, I ended up spending quite a bit of time looking at some photographs from their files. I also talked with man who worked with the archives about the restoration and digital scanning of archives. It was fascinating. They scan and also photograph archives depending on the piece. They also had a lot of information about vinegar syndrome, which sounds rather funny, but happens to cellulose acetate film and causes irreversible damage once it starts occurring. They keep cellulose acetate film in a freezer to try to prevent it.

City of Toronto Archives. The lift equipment in the middle is what employees use to retrieve the high boxes, which doesn’t sound the least bit scary.

Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility

Posted on May 25, 2019 by geek

I am in Toronto for Doors Open Toronto. When any city allows people to visit a rail yard or water or wastewater treatment plant, I will be there. One of the places that was on the top of my list to visit is the Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility. It houses the Crosstown Light Rail Vehicles where they are inspected, cleaned and maintained. It only opened in January 2019, which was evident because it is still very clean and looks barely used. It is a well designed facility that appears to have been designed with the human worker in mind.

The facility has a train wash, paint booth, and numerous bay for maintenance. The maintenance areas have pit to work underneath the trains besides the platforms to work on the side or inside the trains, but it also has balconies so that the workers can get to the top of the trains.