The literal Toronto TTC subway map.
The Points of Interest London Underground map, by Dan Zambonini, replaces some of the stop names by what people might find if they disembark. For instance, Earl’s Court is ‘Antipodeans’ and Vauxhall is ‘MI6′.
I don’t want Toronto to be left out of the potential fun to be had, so I’ve had a go at making one for the TTC. Here are the two main lines, but with literal, not geographical stops. Here’s a map for comparison.
Don’t forget, I strongly suggest you change at Shoes to get from Weddings to Hockey.
Yonge-University-Spadina
Downsview
Wilson
Concrete Mall Yorkdale
Lawrence West
Glencairn
Eglinton West
St Clair West
Casa Loma Dupont
Chinatown Spadina
Shoes St George
Ugly Crystal Museum
Students Queen’s Park
Hospitals St Patrick
Rockstars Osgoode
CN Tower St Andrew
Hockey Union
Theatres King
Massey Hall Queen
Department Stores Dundas
More Students College
Rainbows Wellesley
Giant Hole In Ground Bloor-Yonge
Rich Folks Rosedale
Summerhill
St Clair
Yuppies Eglinton – thanks Adil
Lawrence
York Mills
Sheppard-Yonge
North York Centre
Bus Traffic Jams Finch
Bloor-Danforth
Hydro Towers Kipling
Islington
The Kingsway Royal York
Weddings Old Mill
Perogies Jane – thanks Laura!
Organic Butchers Runnymede
Trees High Park
Keele
The Junction Dundas West
Lansdowne
Dufferin
Hipsters Ossington
Bento Boxes Christie
Honest Ed’s Bathurst
Chinatown Spadina
Shoes St George
Bankers Bay
Giant Hole In Ground Bloor-Yonge
St. James Town Sherbourne – thanks John
Castle Frank
DVP Onramp Broadview – thanks John
Souvlaki Chester
Tzatziki Pape
Madina Masjid Donlands – thanks John
Rotting Movie Theatre Greenwood – ditto
Coxwell
Beach Woodbine – thanks Adil
Main Street
Golf Victoria Park – thanks @mmmarce
Beef Patties Warden – ditto
Mike Myers Kennedy
Some important points: I decline to make a subway map poster, for lots of reasons, but the main one is that I can’t be bothered because I’m working on a tiny netbook. If you want to do it, knock yourself out, and I’ll make sure to credit you.
And I’ve also only done the two main lines out of the four. I don’t know if there’s anything of interest on the Scarborough or Sheppard lines. Perhaps you do.
If you have any ideas for anything I’ve missed out, leave a comment below. As you can see, I know the west of the downtown core much more than the north and the east. I don’t think there’s an answer for every station – there certainly isn’t for the London map – but help would be welcomed, and I’ll update the list…
Updated: And here’s a literal GO Transit map.
Photo by Buddhabless on Flickr. Licenced under Creative Commons 2.0-by
Related links
I’m a bit disappointed that the phrase “ugly crystal” linked to the Royal Ontario Museum only appears seventh in Google. Let’s get it up a bit more, shall we? Ugly crystal!
Myers is from Scarborough, ON, and Kennedy is the busiest subway stop there. You’re therefore statisticallly more likely to see Mike Myers at the Kennedy subway stop than any other subway stop in the world. Possibly.
11 comments on "The literal Toronto TTC subway map"
umm... says:
July 29, 2009North York – ASTROS!
umm…´s last blog ..Birthday
quin says:
July 29, 2009I think they play in Downsview Park, right? So possibly a candidate for Downsview?
EDIT: Hmm, looking at a map, perhaps Downsview could be ‘Deserted Airfield’. I’ve not been up there yet, though.
Adil says:
July 29, 2009Great Idea Quinn! Some quick ideas:
What about SARSFest for Downsview?
Rich (Jewish) People for St. Clair West
Uptown for St Clair
Yuppy for Eglinton
Beach for Woodbine
quin says:
July 29, 2009I guess if we are going for Chinatown for Spadina we can go for Beach for Woodbine. And Yuppies is good for Eglinton too…
John Bowman says:
July 29, 2009The Sheppard line should read. Transfer to Ikea, Heading to Ikea, Almost at Ikea, Ikea, Past Ikea.
Donlands – Madina Masjid
Greenwood – Rotting Movie Theatre
John Bowman´s last blog ..Mapping the Canadian media landscape
quin says:
July 29, 2009It’d probably just be quicker to change the Sheppard-Yonge line to the IKEA line, really. I’ve added Madina Masjid but I’m not sure that the old theatre’s close enough to Greenwood TTC?
mmmarce says:
July 30, 2009love turning sheppard line into ikea line. wouldn’t mind:
Broadview – Brunch
Victoria Park – Golfing
Warden – Beef Patties
mmmarce´s last blog ..mmmarce: @MMMcDermott so not as in "gas?" Rats.
John Bowman says:
July 31, 2009The Roxy is at 1215 Danforth Ave, pretty close to Greenwood TTC. The whole neighbourhood is pretty run down, but building back up.
I’m trying to think of a good one for Broadview. “Viaduct,” maybe, but that’s not funny.
Sherbourne could be “St. James Town,” and the only thing around Castle Frank is the “DVP Ramp.”
quin says:
July 31, 2009Ah I thought you meant the one on Gerrard St. So I’ve added it. My map here also says the onramp’s just opposite Broadview, so if you don’t mind I’ve added it there.
I went to Castle Frank once and was frankly disappointed by the lack of castles.
Mmmarce, I’ve added yours too.
Molly says:
August 26, 2009As someone who attended the Roxy years ago when it was still open, I can assure you that it’s actually much closer to Coxwell station than Greenwood…
Molly´s last blog ..We < heart > our libraries
Andrew says:
September 29, 2009Love your concept of literal station names. Inspired by a collegue who used to call Union Station… Onion Station, my kids and I play the subway game where we announce the arriving stations with silly rhyming alternates, for example:
Greenwood… Brown mud
Pape… Ape
Donlands… Long hands
Chester… Chest hair
Broadview… Broad poo
Caslte Frank… Casle spank (There are many rude ones for this station)
Sherburne… Sideburn
Yonge & Bloor… Dung & manure
It’s fun and we arrive faster.