Turntable Rides

The Toronto Railway Museum offers rides to the public on its historic railway turntable. Visitors are invited to take a ride on the turntable as it does a full rotation around the park, offering a spectacular view of the CN Tower. A rotation on the turntable takes approximately three minutes and TRM volunteers are on hand to answer questions about Roundhouse Park and Toronto’s rail history. This is a unique and memorable family-friendly experience supported by the City of Toronto.

Hours & Admission

Turntable rides are free, but a suggested donation of $5 per person is appreciated to help maintain our heritage assets. Our volunteers happily accept cash and cards through our TipTap readers. 

The TRM team operates the Turntable from 12pm to 4pm. Please note this activity is weather dependent. No tickets or reservations required. 

About the Roundhouse Turntable

Roundhouses such as the John St. CPR Roundhouse were served by turntables which were used to line up steam locomotives with their berths in the roundhouses. The fully restored and operational 120-foot long locomotive turntable serves that function even today as the museum uses it often to move rolling stock and engines into and out of the stalls and to different parts of Roundhouse Park as needed.

The Canadian Bridge Company constructed the John Street Roundhouse’s turntable while the roundhouse was being constructed in 1929. In its lifetime, this turntable would have rotated many locomotives, old and new. It is a twin-span, three-point turntable that pivots on a central axis. The weight of the locomotive is supported in the centre and at both ends on trucks that ride on a circular rail extending the circumference of the reinforced concrete pit. An air motor at each end propels the turntable by compressed air pumped up from an underground generator. At 120 feet, it is easily one of the longest built in Canada. It was fully restored by Western Mechanical in Barrie in 2007 and is now completely operational.