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Canadian Domain Ride
Abandoned Other in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Feb 21 2011
| Recent status | Abandoned |
| Location # | 2431 |
The Canadian Domain Ride, or Toronto Zoo Monorail, definitely the big tourist attraction at the Toronto Zoo. The Canadian Domain Ride started service in 1976 and was a four car train, if you will, that drove on a concrete guide-way. The CDR had rubber tires which it drove on, and got power from the guide-way system. Thus making it not really a monorail but considered an AGT{Automated Guide-way Transit}.
The ride would travel around to different sections of the zoo property. Some of these section{Domains} weren(a)t reachable from the footpaths in the zoo. Only moose, white-tailed deer, wolfs, and elk were viewable from the monorail.
The CDR ran until 1994 after the final straw was drawn due to several brake failures. The last accident happened on a day where there was a larger than normal attendance at the zoo. A train was approaching a station and it lost power going up a hill. After loosing power it had rolled backwards down the track towards the previous station and collided with another train. There was a total of 30 people injured and a single law suite.
Today the concrete guide-way still stands strong in parts of the zoo as well as parts of the Rouge Valley. The sections that are located in the Rouge will most likely never be torn down due to conservation regulations and by-laws. The animal domains and care centers also still remain in the sections of the ride that spans through the Rouge.
During the summer months it is very hard to see the monorail through the thick brush where as in the winter months the monorail sticks out like a sore thumb.
The Canadian Domain Ride is definitely a part of Ontario history and it has been forgotten. Many people have been on this ride when it was up and running{I know I have been} and wish it still was around. Even though this location isn(a)t really all that exciting to see now, it definitely is a must see location in my books!
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I want to go back here and stand on the exact spot the monrail crashed. Lol
In my opinion if the zoo was smart they would erect some fencing along each side, in order to make it safe, and turn it into a walking trail. There is an elevated trail at the Belle Isle zoo in Detroit and it's quite nice, it gives you a good look into some of the enclosures where the resident animals might otherwise be out of sight from ground level.
I can't wait to visit these tracks. What a cool piece of Torontos' history!...
<i>timo explorer</i> you are correct with the crash and the location of the monorail on the inside of the property. <i>don</i> the tracks can be easily accessed just not from the inside of the zoo property well unless you want to risk being seen by someone. As I stated before if anyone needs a POE, send me a PM I will gladly help out.
When you go in the front gates of the zoo, look to your left. The building that now houses a snack bar/washrooms was the original train station where you started your ride. The remains of the monorail can clearly be seen behind here and easily followed from there.
Well Done!! I rode the monorail a few times in the early '90s, it was the best way to see much of the zoo. Now its just a heck of a long walk. I believe the crash occurred at the bottom of the long hill in the North America domain.
The monorail remnants are in the Rouge Valley, finding them is part of the adventure. If you need a POE PM me.
Thank you! The Rouge Valley has overtaken the monorail with brush, trees, and other thick overgrowth. Makes for an interesting walk during the summer months.
3 years ago
Still very much here and accessible. Not sure when (likely some point in the last two years), but the Zoo has installed fences and gates on the bridges where the guideway crosses the Rouge River to return to the main property. This means if you enter from off the grounds (as most people do) it's impossible to enter the main Zoo property and access the rest of it. However, this means they've basically turned their back on the roughly 1km of track on the south side of the river and left it to nature, making it very low risk.