Caption: Here's the aerial view of the downtown Toronto railyards, as seen looking west from the CN tower in April 1987. The whole area has and was undergoing many changes: by now many tracks of CN's Spadina Coachyard (bottom left) were either vacant or removed altogether, as VIA had moved their passenger train servicing to the new Toronto Maintenance Centre at Mimico, and all the old downtown railway lands were prime real estate for redevelopment. CN's Spadina Roundhouse (out of frame at the bottom) had also been vacated and would soon be replaced with the Skydome.

In the centre of the image is Bathurst Street bridge where the western rail lines of the Toronto Terminals Railway from Union Station split into the CN Oakville Sub, CN Weston Sub, and CP Galt Sub. The industrial pre-gentrified Liberty Village is visible above the junction (note the bright blue building along Strachan Avenue, part of the old John Inglis factory). Next to it is CP's Parkdale Yard, by then converted into a container-handling facility (full of blue CAST containers). The Massey Ferguson plants can be seen in the upper right of the photo, a series of manufacturing buildings clustered in the Strachan/King area that once manufactured farm equipment that was shipped out by rail.

On the upper left are the CNE grounds, and below that the Molsons Brewery, a large brown brick building served by rail (accessed via the CP "Wharf Lead" from Parkdale Yard, seen running on an angle across the top of the image above Inglis). Just below is the CBM/St. Mary's Cement Fleet Street plant for local concrete distribution (also served by rail). Along Bathurst Street below the Gardiner Expressway are two warehouses for Loblaws. Equipment from the displaced Canadian Railway Historical Association's former harbourfront museum is visible out back, stored on the spur leading from the old harbourfront trackage that had been removed (included is CN switcher 7988 restored in old orange and black paint, later scrapped).

Along the bottom right of the image is Spadina Avenue, with Front Street at the lower right. "The Globe" lettering on the roof of the old Globe & Mail headquarters is visible (demolished in more recent years). GO Transit commuter trains are stored at the Bathurst North Yard, once a CN freight yard. The CP "shed lead" spur that started under Bathurst St. bridge and ran up to street level at Front & Spadina to access the old freight sheds still appears to be intact.