Gray Coach Lines Yellow 743

The Yellow Coach model 743 was one of the handsomest buses of the thirties, and Gray Coach had 13 examples of the type. When 694 was posed for its official photograph on the north side of Hillcrest, someone wasn't paying attention when they set the sign curtains. Although the front says "Newmarket", these over-the-road coaches weren't purchased for commuter service. The "Niagara Falls" reading on the side is a much more likely destination. Now if we could only convince Corgi to release a model of it...

TTC photo, Alan Gryfe collection.

This bus has just departed from the last scheduled stop before arriving in downtown Toronto. The building behind the coach, at the northwest corner of Queen and Roncesvalles, served for many years as the Sunnyside bus terminal. The streetcar tracks curving to the left of the picture lead up from Lakeshore Boulevard and Highway 2, the route to Hamilton in pre-Gardiner Expressway days. This intersection has been called "the most complicated streetcar junction in North America" because it was an almost-complete five-way grand union, and to the rear of the bus is that ladder track for Roncesvalles carhouse.

Redden Archives photo.