GO train | as I walk Toronto

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On the Move

Posted: September 1, 2026 in general Toronto
Tags: Adrian Hayes, ambsoul, Andrea Manica, artistic perception, bear, bees, bikes, birds, BJR, Bloor St., Bloor st. west, Bradley J. Reinhardt, bubzart, Bunso, butterflies, Caitlin Taguibao, Chris Perez, Colin Tea, Danilo Deluxo, Drippin' Soul, EGR, faces, flowers, Frannie Potts, getso, GO train, hands, hearts, Isabella Fassler, Jeff Blackburn, Jim Bravo, Just J. Art, Medeio, murals, Muys, Nick Sweetman, Night Owl Drawings, On the Move, Opola Karim, Phillip Saunders, portraits, Rage Williams, railway, Reboser, Rowell Soller, SKAM, StART, Stephanie Avery, streetARToronto, The graffiti studio, timmifuk, underpass, Visible Noise, Waskwane Designs, Wenting Li, WEnting Things

If you walk east on Bloor from Dundas West, you will encounter a railway bridge.

man pulling a suitcase as he walks on the sidewalk on Bloor street, eastbound, with GO train on railway bridge in the distance.

A section of the walls of this underpass have recently been painted by 40+ artists. The south side is now covered in new murals.

cyclists in bike lane on Bloor West, traveling eastbound and about to go under the railway tracks just west of Perth. Street art on the walls of the underpass

This underpass has been painted previously – back in 2015 both the north and south walls were painted in a Wallnoize project (see post from 2015). Some of the same artists appear on this updated version. This time it was StreetARToronto that sponsored the artworks. Let’s take a look at some of the murals (in no particular order)….

below: Stay young! An old man on a bike that he outgrew years ago! by Adrian Hayles

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West painted by Adrian Hayles - an old man in yellow suit and hat, riding a very small yellow, or gold, bicycle

below: Opola Karim painted this Toronto skyline scene, a view that is well known to anyone who has visited the Toronto islands.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West painte by Opola Karim, showing Toronto Harbour and Toronto skyline in a very stylized design, loon in water, beaver on a rock, Canada geese flying overhead

below: Peaceful, loving hands joining together by Phillip Saunders aka Loveishere

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Phillip Saunders, a k a Love is here. Four hands in shades of beige and brown, 2 with peace sign, one holding a round object with a red heart on it,

below: Close to the west end of the underpass is this colourful section. The collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists, Just J. Art (the hummingbird and the hibiscus flower) and Ambsoul Art

two street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. On the right side is collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists Just J. and Ambsoul. BJR painted the let side, first nations symbols and objects like a bear with a fish in its mouth,

below: The left part (of the above image) BJR aka Bradley J. Reinhardt

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, byBJR, or Bradley J. Reinhart, bear with a blue fish in its mouth and a red heart on its side

below: Ambsoul Art’s feathery bird.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, bird head, part of a larger mural, by Ambsoul

below: From under the bridge, glimpses of colour between the steel girders and concrete barricades.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West as seen from across the street metal girders supporting bridge, traffic on the road,

below: Three of the artworks

three street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. Artists were Curtia Wright, Phillip Saunders, and Artistic Perception.

below: Curtia Wright – a portrait with yellow flowers

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Curtia Wright, portrait of a brown woman with yellowy brown eyes, yellow flowers on either side of her

below: More women’s faces – some with no mouths? – have they been silenced? By Artistic Perception aka Kanisha

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Artistic Perception. three black women with short curly black hair, clothes in grey shades, with a garland of daisies

below: The Toronto Railpath runs beside these tracks.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West where it joins Wallace street entrance to the Toronto Railpath

below: By Getso – it’s green, it has sharp teeth and a tail, and it can stand on two legs (he’s standing in a boat)….

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Getso, a green crocdile, standing, with tail wrapped around a brown pole, beside water

below: EGR (with the help of some high school students) painted these cool glasses …. and the young woman on the skateboard.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by EGR, woman with sunglasses that reflected Toronto skyline and a person cycling past, red rims and blue glass

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by EGR, a young woman skateboarding

below: Precious cargo in the old milk crate in a mural by Wenting Li aka Wenting Things.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Wenting Li, A cyclist riding a green bicycle past a stylized blue neighborhood skyline, transporting a growing branch with clusters of red fruit in a bright orange milk crate.

below: Another cyclist pedaling along, this time by Isabella Fassler

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West

below: Caitlin Taguibao and Andrea Manica created a mural of people and flowers.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a mural of people and flowers created by Caitlin Taguibao and Andrea Manica

below: A boy on the water and a blue jay watching him by Bunso, aka Night Owl Drawings

below: Adrian Hayles’ man in yellow again, with a 26 cent stamp by Frannie Potts.

below: A closer look at the bird and flowers on the stamp.

below: Part of the Nick Sweetman mural showcasing fish.

below: Visible Noise, aka Andrew Patterson

below: A pink cat with spots is the result of a collaboration between Muys and Chris Perez. Or is it a leopard?

below: Timmifuk removing not one mask, but two.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Timmifuk, young man with green face is removing two masks, one is blue and the other is a demon red

below: Rowell Soller

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Rowell Soller

below: StephVonAwesome aka Stephanie Avery

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West cartoon llike characters by StephVonAwesome aka Stephanie Avery<

monsters having a tea party, mural by Stephanie Avery, including three eyed orange guy and purple furry guy

murals on wall of Bloor street railway underpass by , Isabella Fassler, Caitlin Taguibao, Andrea Manica, and Stephanie Avery

below: “Water is Life”, Bubzart

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, water is life, pregnant woman

below: A peace dove in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West A peace dove with an olive branch in its beak, in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio, monotone grey

below: Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.

below: Facing each other, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin’ Soul

two street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin' Soul

below: Using shades of black, teal and magenta, Drippin’ Soul has created a very metallic looking profile

below: That’s one creepy red eye! Or is it two red eyes? Ahhhh…. the red eye and brass (bronze?) pieces are part of a mask and the design was apparently “inspired by the taotie motifs of the Shang dynasty” (Quote is from MonkYi’s instagram page). The Shang dynasty dates back to between 1600 BC and 1050 BC; it marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. A taotie was a mythological creature that represented greed and gluttony.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Monk Yi, woman wearing a mask that has one red eye

two men walking past street art murals on the wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West

below: Ghazaraza‘s ladies are sharing a pot of tea.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Ghazaraza, two ladies are sharing a pot of tea, seated on the ground facing each other. Pink flowers in the middle

below: Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere… Oh, I don’t know just why She simply caught my eye…. Or you can all it by its title, “Wildlife in Bloom” by Lula Lumaj.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Lula Lumaj, woman with long dark hair, flowers in her hair, monarch butterfly, bee, other flowers around her

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a butterfly and a bee by some small pink flowers

below: A cute little grey cat with green eyes.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a grey cat with green eyes and a little pink nose

three street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. an image of a GO rain engine is in the middle

below: GO train – definitely On the Move!

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, image of a GO train engine

below: “The Lookout aka the Fruit Bandits” not letting a fence get in the way! by Jim Bravo

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Jim Bravo, a group of children is picking fruit from trees that are on the other side of a fence, title is fruit bandits

below: Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea, girl is called Violet

three muralon a railway underpass, bloor street , street art, urban art,

below: Greetings from West Toronto by Rage WIlliams

Greetings from West Toronto is the text in this white, gold, and pink mural by Rage Williams.

below: Reboser’s athlete – a football player sprinting down the field.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, football players by reboser

below: From the The Graffiti Studio ….

below: Jeff Blackburn‘s young person on the move with drink in one hand and backpack in the other.

below: Two dogs and a stack of old tires, a painting by Megan Oldhues

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, two dogs and a stack of old tires, by Megan Oldhues

below: Hummingbird by an orange flower.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, hummingbird

below: Three animals by a river from Waskwane Designs – beaver, bear and wolf (with a few bees and butterflies too)

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Waskwane Designs, animal, beaver beside a river

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Waskwane Designs, bear with a butterfly

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Waskwane Designs, animal, wolf in black and white

below: Not for Sale, letters and flowers in a small square of concrete at one end of the wall.

below: A lone pigeon watches me as I pass by.

below: The wall of the underpass peters out by the time Bloor Street reaches Perth.

Link for more information on StART – StreetARToronto

Photos taken August 2026

late April searches

Posted: May 3, 2026 in construction, locations, nature, transportation
Tags: armillaria, bridges, construction, Crothers Woods, flowers, fungus, GO train, Ontario line, spring, trains, trees, trilliums, yellow trout lily

… and meanderings.

transmission towers and wires among the tree tops

X marks the spot

The original plan was to find a good place to find out how far the Ontario line construction has progressed on the portion of the line that crosses the Don Valley Parkway.

A quick reminder – this is a photo (lifted from the Metrolinx website) of the bridge in question. The bridge in the background is the Millwood Bridge. On the north side of the bridge will be the Thorncliffe station on Overlea Blvd. Immediately after the southbound trains cross the Don Valley Parkway, they enter the Minton Place tunnel which is at the north end of Pape Ave. The rest of the journey is underground. [One problem with this image – when is the traffic this light on the DVP? Like, never. Certainly not during the day.]

Our starting point was a Crothers Woods trail, specifically at the trail head behind Loblaws. There is a plaque here to honour Thomas Hauser.

circular, like a bike wheel, plaque mounted on a large rock at the start of a trail, in memory of Thomas Hauser

“In memory of Thomas Hauser Thomas had a passion for mountain biking and dedicated countless hours to help in the restoration and enrichment of the trail system in the Don Valley. Thomas’ positive attitude and hard work in this area demonstrated his love for adventure and the outdoors. “

There is also a sign that warns against walking the trail if it is muddy. Yes, it was muddy but that didn’t stop us… at first. The trail takes you downhill to river level. Just before going down, there were a lot of sirens, police cars and fire trucks, on Redway Road. This is the road that seemingly ends at Loblaws, but actually goes downhill and then runs parallel to the train tracks by the Don River (apparently it is also home to the longest staircase in the city, 194 steps, but we missed that).

There are a few signs of spring in Crothers Woods these days but in general it’s still rather grey.

below: Trilliums

below: Yellow Trout Lilies (Erythronium americanum), also known as dog-tooth violets, with it’s droopy flowers and mottled leaves.

below: It almost looks like string art but it’s actually the remains of a fungus, Armillaria root rot (Armillaria mellea), a parasitic fungus that grows under the bark of trees. It is found in soil and can attack trees (especially unhealthy ones) starting from the roots. It grows upwards, invisible, until it chokes the tree and the tree dies.

Rather than dodging puddles and trying not to slip in the mud, we retraced our steps. At the moment, no pedestrians are allowed on the Redway Road hill but that seemed like a better route to try…..

below: Bottom of the hill, Redway Road

… And there we found the construction site. But we also found a GO train that was stopped on the tracks (hence all the sirens). Unfortunately someone was hit by the northbound train and died at the scene. At this point, 5 days later, I haven’t been able to find any information beyond that.

Construction pictures:

below: The buildings on the left are at Overlea and Millwood. The Ontario Line is elevated as it parallels Overlea Blvd (where the Thorncliffe station will be). It then crosses Millwood which is where the new bridge begins. The white (erosion protection?) covers the hill that is part of the support for the elevated tracks. I wonder if construction is impacted by the transmission lines running to and from the Leaside Transmission Station (also at Overlea and Millwood)?

below: Partially completed concrete support between the railway and the river. The men in the white pickup truck have the job of making sure that it is safe to cross the tracks.

below: The concrete support in the photo above is now on the far left. The details aren’t easy to spot but the white horizontal lines on the far right mark the site of the Minton tunnel. Between the partially finished support and the tunnel are both the Don River and the Don Valley Parkway. Trains will pass over the traffic on the DVP.

East End mural

Posted: May 8, 2021 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: basketball, Bridges to Art, Carlaw Dundas corridor, cyclist, east end, GO train, Jason Pinney, Jones Ave., mural, people, sitting

Initiated in 2017, the “Bridges to Art” program envisions murals on nine underpasses in Toronto’s east end. Several of the murals along the Carlaw-Dundas corridor have been painted including this one on Jones Avenue just north of Gerrard. It was painted by Jason Pinney and features scenes from the east end.

elicser people under the train tracks

Posted: February 25, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
Tags: buildings, community garden, couple, cyclist, Elicser, GO train, kids, Monarch Park, Monica on the moon, mural, paint, parents, people, scenes, sitting, street art, train tracks, tunnel, underpass, walking

If you walk south through Monarch Park this is the view that greets you as you approach the railway underpass. Elicser has painted a large mural that extends from the park through to the Woodfield Community Rail Garden that is on the other side. As you walk through the underpass this is what you see:

It’s February so the community garden is still resting for the winter. A shed with all four sides painted by Monica on the Moon provides some colour in the meantime.

The path continues…. a slight curve and you’re on Woodfield Road and on your way again.

Bloor GO fence

Posted: December 2, 2013 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: baseball cap, batoner, clandestino, construction hoardings, danger signs, dmc, Elicser, elicsr, faces, fence, GO train, hat, horus, jetone the lurker, Junction Joe, just ask her out, kwest, pages, peru, rhinowreck, spud, street art, tags, tuffytats, West Toronto Railpath, witch, yo maysr

The Bloor GO station is undergoing a number of renovations as it will be the first stop on the updated Kitchener rail corridor running between Union Station and Kitchener. Bloor will be a stop for the new Union Pearson Express service to the airport.

A temporary wood fence has been erected between the tracks and the West Toronto Railpath for the duration of the construction. This fence has become a canvas for some of the local graffiti artists. I walked the length of the fence yesterday and I took a lot of photos! I started at the north end of the fence and the following photos appear in the order that they were taken.

large graffiti picture of a close up of a mouth interior showing many orange teet, a blue tongue and purple gums.

open wide and say “ah”!

graffiti of a witch's face. She has green eyes and green hair. She is wearing a purple hat. Her boney hand is in front of her mouth so you can see her long green finger nails.

Wickedly enchanting.

Spud graffiti tag on a pink background. Rob Ford faces fill the letter U. The S P and D are different colours

Rob Ford and U in the middle of Spud.

Street art picture of 2 male heads. One is wearing a brown baseball cap backwards. The word Toronto is written on it in orange letters.

Toronto on backwards.

Three faces graffiti. Two men's heads on the left and a woman's head on the right. They are painted on a wood gate that is closed and locked with a chain.

Face to face across the chained gate.

Looking along a temporary wood fence that has been covered with graffiti. The art that you can see in the foreground consists of a number of head. A dirt pathway runs along beside the fence.

Looking up and down the railpath.

graffiti picture of the face, shoulders and arms of a fat man. The backs of his hands have tattos of a bicycle and a cupcake.

Eyes closed, with a cupcake and a bike and perhaps a prayer.

graffiti picture of the upper bodies of 3 people, 2 men and a girl. The girl seems to have an orange halo around her head. The men have orange crowns on their heads.

Of kings and angels.

tagged

graffiti picture of the head and shoulders of two men. The one of the right is in shades of grey while the one on the left is a more natural colour.

Two

close up of part of a graffiti tag. Multicoloured.

dotted eyes

graffiti tag - stylized letters forming the word Peru in green, blue and red. Some grey bricks have been painted behind the letters.

Peruvian tag

parts of a couple of pieces of graffiti. Multicoloured. Also in the picture is a black and white cat's head.

Danger cat.

Part of an orange and beige graffiti tag. It surrounds a small sign that points to the entrance to the train station.

To the trains, orange and orange.

green and orange graffiti tage on blue background

Unfortunately I cut off some of the words written in purple, Junction Joe , Kwest, Takefive, Other Sense, Honour?, Rhinowreck

Graffiti of two women's heads. There is also a red and white danger sign in the middle of the picture.

Danger women and something black.

part of two green tags. A sign pointing to the train station entrance is in the middle. Someone has written the word dark on the sign.

Dark and Jetone the lurker.

Silver and black graffiti that consists of drawings many different things - skull, bottles, hearts, hats, moon, dice, etc. as well as some words, slayed, the truth is out there, and danger

The truth is out there, and many other things in black and silver.

Listen, study, develop

The gate was boarded up too.

sink in

blue man by elicser

***

Between the 2nd of October and the end of November when my photos were taken, there were some additions to the street art pieces, especially at the north end of the fence.

as I walk Toronto

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