Lions and elephants and streetcars, oh my!
Jun. 7th, 2010 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charloweenOn Saturday my parents and I went to the African Lion Safari (bored animals!) and the Halton County Radial Railway (streetcar museum!).
The African Lion Safari was worth it to see the elephants hanging out in their lake, swimming and playing. I guess I'm really not an animals person: watching animals sit around and eat gets old pretty quick. That doesn't mean I wasn't duly impressed by the various kinds of deer (or stop me from wondering if they breed one particular kind of deer as lion food).
But.
Let's be entirely honest: I was more into the streetcar/tramway museum.
Bored animals!
This ostrich kept pecking at the decal on this minivan. We decided that ostriches aren't the smartest birds.
Barbary sheep are from North Africa. This one was in Southern Ontario.
Giraffes! One giraffe, the largest male (named Jimmy!) kept following around a female as she tried to eat. It was funny. According to one of Mum's colleagues who was on a later bus tour, Jimmy did get lucky that afternoon. Go Jimmy!
I liked this donkey - just chillin'. I can respect that.
Zebras are apparently bitchy. Notice how this one is not hanging out with the other goat-gazelle-things.
Baby bison are rust coloured! (Adult bison are tasty.)
Elk! The one in the back refused to turn his head so you just have to pretend he looks like a quarter.
Elephants!
Elephants! This was the best part.
I took lots of pictures of elephants.
Dixie the dog thought the elephants were her herd, so she kept barking at them to keep them in line. The elephants (apparently) indulge Dixie's delusion.
Almost time to leave the water...
Leaving the water...
Out of the water...
And heading off to whatever captive elephants hang out in a theme park after leaving the water.
Streetcars!
Former TTC streetcar-turned-rail-grinder. Looks like a streetcar dressed up like a schoolbus for Halloween.
This streetcar is going to the same party, but is dressed like a zombie.
Another old streetcar was turned into an ice cream parlour. The counter was at the back, so I got to power-trip in the driver's seat. With strawberry ice cream.
Beautiful restored 1915 London & Port Stanley rail car. Inside there were chandeliers, the windows had stained glass, and the men's smoking section had a spittoon and scratch pads on the walls for lighting matches. This thing could hit 80km/h in its heyday.
Car barn!
Back in the day, streetcars were made of real wood, not that hideous fake wood panelling.
I like when design is pretty as well as functional.
Longer view of the two previous shots.
Pre-restoration.
TTC streetcar #1326, built in Toronto in June 1910 - cherry interior and oak frame/exterior. Acquired by the museum in 1954 (caused the foundation of the museum, actually), and restored by volunteers. It's a convertible car, meaning that one side could be removed leaving it open to the air in the summer months.
Driver's area of above.
Same car: heating section?
On their still-to-be-restored list, obviously.
Mr Schoolbus-Painted Utility Car, meet Mr Awesome Oldschool Open-Air Car.
A photo of the 1326 from 1974, after it'd been restored by the Halton museum, on loan to the city for some event. Wait, what does that billboard say...?
Wow. I pointed this out to Mum but she just shrugged and sang the jingle.
Dad looking at something!
Something over there!
Something up there?
Something familiar. (Actually, Dad probably rode this very car to school back in 1947-1948, back when there was a streetcar line along Bloor.)
Something on the ceiling of the streetcar-turned-cafe?
Something in the depths of the car barn? That street cleaner's bristles are wooden dowels.
The African Lion Safari was worth it to see the elephants hanging out in their lake, swimming and playing. I guess I'm really not an animals person: watching animals sit around and eat gets old pretty quick. That doesn't mean I wasn't duly impressed by the various kinds of deer (or stop me from wondering if they breed one particular kind of deer as lion food).
But.
Let's be entirely honest: I was more into the streetcar/tramway museum.
Bored animals!
This ostrich kept pecking at the decal on this minivan. We decided that ostriches aren't the smartest birds.
Barbary sheep are from North Africa. This one was in Southern Ontario.
Giraffes! One giraffe, the largest male (named Jimmy!) kept following around a female as she tried to eat. It was funny. According to one of Mum's colleagues who was on a later bus tour, Jimmy did get lucky that afternoon. Go Jimmy!
I liked this donkey - just chillin'. I can respect that.
Zebras are apparently bitchy. Notice how this one is not hanging out with the other goat-gazelle-things.
Baby bison are rust coloured! (Adult bison are tasty.)
Elk! The one in the back refused to turn his head so you just have to pretend he looks like a quarter.
Elephants!
Elephants! This was the best part.
I took lots of pictures of elephants.
Dixie the dog thought the elephants were her herd, so she kept barking at them to keep them in line. The elephants (apparently) indulge Dixie's delusion.
Almost time to leave the water...
Leaving the water...
Out of the water...
And heading off to whatever captive elephants hang out in a theme park after leaving the water.
Streetcars!
Former TTC streetcar-turned-rail-grinder. Looks like a streetcar dressed up like a schoolbus for Halloween.
This streetcar is going to the same party, but is dressed like a zombie.
Another old streetcar was turned into an ice cream parlour. The counter was at the back, so I got to power-trip in the driver's seat. With strawberry ice cream.
Beautiful restored 1915 London & Port Stanley rail car. Inside there were chandeliers, the windows had stained glass, and the men's smoking section had a spittoon and scratch pads on the walls for lighting matches. This thing could hit 80km/h in its heyday.
Car barn!
Back in the day, streetcars were made of real wood, not that hideous fake wood panelling.
I like when design is pretty as well as functional.
Longer view of the two previous shots.
Pre-restoration.
TTC streetcar #1326, built in Toronto in June 1910 - cherry interior and oak frame/exterior. Acquired by the museum in 1954 (caused the foundation of the museum, actually), and restored by volunteers. It's a convertible car, meaning that one side could be removed leaving it open to the air in the summer months.
Driver's area of above.
Same car: heating section?
On their still-to-be-restored list, obviously.
Mr Schoolbus-Painted Utility Car, meet Mr Awesome Oldschool Open-Air Car.
A photo of the 1326 from 1974, after it'd been restored by the Halton museum, on loan to the city for some event. Wait, what does that billboard say...?
Wow. I pointed this out to Mum but she just shrugged and sang the jingle.
Dad looking at something!
Something over there!
Something up there?
Something familiar. (Actually, Dad probably rode this very car to school back in 1947-1948, back when there was a streetcar line along Bloor.)
Something on the ceiling of the streetcar-turned-cafe?
Something in the depths of the car barn? That street cleaner's bristles are wooden dowels.
