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Caption: A late Summer afternoon in the Davisville/Mount Pleasant area of Toronto finds TTC PCC 4515 in traffic heading southbound on Mount Pleasant Road approaching Millwood, operating on the St. Clair route heading "westbound" from Eglinton to Keele Loop. This would be a rather unremarkable shot, except for the inclusion of the famed George's Trains store, back when you could literally ride the rails to their doorstop.
In the 1940's and 1950's this location was known as Bob's Hobby Shop (owned by Bob Goodall, and later Bob's Toy Trains), at 510 Mount Pleasant Avenue. The story goes that George Olieux (the founder of George's Trains) did model repair work for a few shops in the area, including Bob's. In the early 1960's he bought out Bob's store, and the rest was history. For decades, many generations of model railroaders, railfans, and transit enthusiasts made the trek out to George's to get their model train fix (or magazine and trackside guide fix), either by driving, transit or even on foot (Millwood is a nice walk in the fall from the nearby subway). Streetcar service on Mount Pleasant was discontinued in June 1976, replaced by trolleybuses, which in turn were replaced by the present diesel bus service.
George passed away in 1995, and the business was continued by his sons. In 2007, George's Trains acquired a second location in Markham (the former Railview Trains store, owned by the late David Morgan). Alas, the old Mount Pleasant location was closed in May 2009, apparently due to a number of issues many businesses operating in Toronto have been facing in recent years (including higher taxes, increased traffic congestion, and lack of suitable parking). Operations continue at their suburban Markham location.
Photographer unknown, Dan Dell'Unto collection.
Opposite side along Mount Pleasant at Millwood: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=32380
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Wow – this sure brings back some memories! I frequently made the pilgrimage to George’s Trains in the 70′s. It was a bit of a journey to get there on the TTC but it was always worth the effort!
Much like branchline rail disappearing; the shops are all closed up or the two (George’s and CVRCO) have moved North of the GTA, largely inaccessable for me. By the time I moved closer to George’s location here, it was gone. I actually never got a chance to set foot in a George’s store! Well that’s what the internet is for.
As for the abandoned rails…just ancient history. Thanks for the photo Dan!
George was a gentleman. R.I.P.
Thanks for an image from my past. It was a great place.
I made quite a few treks out there back in the final years on Mount Pleasant, usually spending a good amount of time looking over all the latest new HO releases in the display cases before picking something up (often a kit or some modeling supplies). Always a great selection of models compared to some of the other GTA shops.
This image and the comments here brought to mind my hobby in the 1960′s, slot cars. There were – then – a number of hobby shops where you could run your own slot cars. Sing-a-long: Memories…
So many memories of that sign, Saturdays in the 1980′s, the wonders in those display cases.