Streetlights in Ontario...Back in the Day.

[joe_347V]

Here's a some links to a some sites and a youtube video showing how the streetlights looked in the Toronto area before the HPS refit in the early 90s.

1. Vintage King's Highways,  a site showing highway and street scenes of mostly the Toronto area sorted by year, you can see some old clamshells on the QEW page, and old Powerlites on the 401 page. The other pages have some neat stuff too. Link

2. The King's Highway.ca, another highway site, this one also has some pics of old lumes too, this one has more general Ontario pics than the first one. Link

3. Youtube video of Hurontario Street in the late 80s, the video is a bit low res but it's pretty neat since it shows a drive through of Hurontario St. in Mississauga back when MV lights were still in use. If you watch the entire video you'll see some dayburners, clamshells, a set or green traffic signals and I think some OV 25 flatties too. Part 1|Part 2

4. The Toronto Archives, has lots of old pics of Toronto but you really need to dig to sort though the large number of pics on this site.  Search Link (Check scanned photos only for easier searching)

5. The Niagara Fall Archives, mostly pics from the Niagara and St. Catherines area though, you have to do some searching like with the Toronto Archives though. Search Link

[gailgrove]

Sometimes I wish I was born in the 70's

[joe_347V]

Here's a good night pic:

So many  lamps complete with Powerlite Sign Floods. 

QEW and Dorchester Rd. May 1976

[joe_347V]

Here's another interesting pic, check out that arm the gumball in the background is mounted on.

[Mike]

The arm that the gumball is mounted on looks liek the ones Niall has posted with the R37s on it.

[joe_347V]

It's actually even taller , but those arms along with the gumballs are gone now. Having been replaced with I believe cobras and tapered e arms (the pic was from the 70s).

[Mike]

I'd love to see freeways that looked like the one you found a pic of.

[joe_347V]

Here's another freeway pic (401 near Dixon, '89) note the mercury Powerlite B2213s which were replaced with HPS highmasts a few years after.

[Mike]

There sure is nothing like those B2213s. Those early powerlites are very classic looking. It'd be really nice to see new B2213, B2215, and b2217 start popping up. That's extremely unlikely though. Even though AEL has the powerlite molds, these molds were probably discarded along the line if not AEL trashed all the powerlite molds. It's be awesome to find an old spec sheet or advertisment.

[joe_347V]

In case you haven't seen this one:


Powerlite B2215s shortly after installation, 1967 at 401 and Spadina Expwy. (now known as Allen Rd). Note the HO fluorescent signlights on the sign. The B2213s would have been on the freeway in the background.

[Mike]

Yep. I've seen that picture. Nice shiney powerlites.

[joe_347V]

Which was replaced with this:

[Mike]

That's more interesting than the FCO M-400 on davits that's found here.

[joe_347V]

Here's how Ontario freeway lights would have looked back in the 50s and early 60s. Note the remote ballasted clamshells.

[Mike]

Our freeways looked very much the same at that point. Here the clamshells were installed on PC adapters. A special splitfitter with a PC socket would attatch to the mast arm. The clamshell would bolt onto the PC's mast. Like an extra piece to the puzzle.