This is what TTC subway cars looked like in the last century

Toronto might have some of the fanciest subway cars in North America, but go back 30 years and you could sill ride an old Gloucester car.

Over and above their iconic red colouring, these trains were noteworthy for the fact that they were the first to ride the rails in Toronto, and their incandescent lights would periodically turn off because of the way that they were wired.

Although the TTC was originally interested in purchasing Chicago PCC to service the Yonge line when it opened in 1954, a change of heart led to the purchasing of 104 of the Gloucester cars for $7,800,000.

To put that into perspective, the contract with Bombardier for the TTC's first 70 Toronto Rocket trains was roughly a billion dollars.

The G-series cars were followed into service in 1962 by M1 cars that were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works. These were longer trains than the G-series, and though only 36 were ordered, subsequent trains maintained the dimensions of these cars.

H-Series cars were introduced back in 1965 and would become a fixture of underground transit in Toronto, running through six series before ultimately being retired. The last H6 train made its final journey on June 20, 2014. 

Since then, the TTC subway has been run exclusively on Bombardier T1 and Toronto Rocket Trains. The lights don't randomly go out and there's no single seats anymore, but there are still little hints of the old cars in the layouts used today.

Here's what Toronto subway cars looked like back in the day.

Drawings for Gloucester Cars, early 1950s.

Car 5000 on display (note no wheels) in 1952.

Off the ship in 1953.

Gloucester Wheels.

Approaching Davisville Station 1953 before the official opening.

Sitting at the Davisville Yards 1953.

Interior of a Gloucester Car before the ad areas were filled in, 1953.

A different angle of the same car.

A transfer in 1954.

Route Map 1954.

M1Car at the CNE in 1962.

New additions to the subway line.

Carpeting (this was installed on cars 5044 and 5045).

Another carpeting shot.

Hawker Siddeley car (these don't look wildly different from the T1 models).

Fluorescent Lights on a Gloucester Car in the 1960s. Photo by Frank Denardo.

Route Map 1966. Photo via mencc1701.

Postcard view of a Gloucester train in the 1960s.

Gloucester Car in Davisville Yards, 1960s. Photo via Chuckman's Nostalgia.

Davisville Station looking south, 1969. Photo by NE2 3PN.

Gloucester Car at Davisville Yard in 1969. Photo by Frank Denardo.

Interior of H-series subway train, 1975. Photo via the Toronto Archives.

Gloucester and H-series cars 1990. Photo by Robert Lubinski.

H-series interior. Photo by Dennis Marciniak.

Late H-series interior. Photo by Danielle Scott.

T1 Specs from Bombardier.