20141231. This grade-separated track replaces the railway junction after which Toronto’s Junction hood is named.

20141231_5667-2_1600x1065Now that trains no longer need to wait to cross the junction, GO Transit regional commuter trains as well as the soon to be implemented Union Station – Pearson International Airport Express train will run faster with more efficient scheduling.

20141230. Demolition of these landmark silos (c.1893) has commenced in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood.

20141230_5653-2_1600x1100These silos have a long history. Once they were the Campbell Flour Mills and were most recently owned by St. Marys Cement. There is talk about the site being used for a “suburban style plaza with surface parking” probably not unlike the Stockyards Mall recently completed nearby.

20141229. The remaining Inn on the Park building (c.1971) at Eglinton and Leslie in Toronto stands in a half demolished state.

20141229. The remaining Inn on the Park building (c.1971) at EglAccording to the Progreen Demolition website, this is one of the highest buildings (25 storeys) ever demolished in the GTA. The first Inn on the Park building, a modernist structure by architect Peter Dickinson was demolished in 2006.

20141226. The world’s highest hydraulic lift lock resides in Peterborough, Ontario on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

20141226_5483-2_1700x1100The Peterborough Lift Lock lifts ships 19.8 metres (max 30.5 m long, max 7.3 m wide, max 99,000 kg). The 386 km waterway (with 45 locks and 39 swing bridges and 20 km of man-made channels), is a Canadian National Historic Site and takes 5-7 days to traverse. Construction begain in 1833 and by 1920 a ship could travel from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron. At the time it was built, it was the largest un-reinforced concrete structure on Earth.