Fagstein » Pop quiz

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 83

Fagstein — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:00:02 +0000

Quebec once had a small village called Dixie.

Where is it now?

UPDATE: Enough of you were close that I'll give it to you. Dixie was a small village (hamlet?) in the 19th century in what is now the lakeshore in western Lachine and eastern Dorval. It had a population of about 300 when it was made part of Lachine. You can see a map of it here from 1894, and another here from 1913 after it became part of Lachine. It only had two roads, Lakeshore Road (now St. Joseph Blvd.) and a "road to station", which is now 55th Ave.

As Zeke points out below, the name remains in use as that of a small uninhabited island just offshore near where the old town was. And as Jean Naimard points out, there's also a street in Lachine called Rue Dixie.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 82

Fagstein — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:00:52 +0000

Where is this?

UPDATE (Sept. 30): It took a while, but Pelle Moulante got the right answer below. This photo was taken from the tip of the Parc du Bout-de-l'Île, both the northernmost and easternmost point on the island of Montreal.

The waves are the result of pleasure boaters whizzing back and forth along the St. Lawrence, and the island in the distance is Île à l'Aigle.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 81

Fagstein — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:00:14 +0000

Where is this guy on his high horse?

UPDATE: Can't fool you folks. It's the Boer War Memorial (you do remember the Boer Wars, right?) in the newly renovated Dorchester Square. This is (according to Wikipedia, and we gotta trust that) the only equestrian statue in Montreal.

There’s something about Terra

Fagstein — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:15:22 +0000

My little brother graduated from high school last week.

Well, actually, he didn't graduate from high school, he just had his graduation ceremony. Because graduation ceremonies happen before final exams are graded (or even during the school year, with classes still to come), students are put through a ceremony and given a fake diploma as they cross the stage to shake hands with their principal. The real diploma comes later, unceremoniously, in the mail. Unless they failed, of course, at which point the ceremony becomes meaningless.

Anyway, after the ceremony, my brother began his summer vacation with his grandmother off-island, and since it was late and I was in the West Island, I decided to stay the night, sleeping in his room.

I noticed above his bed was a poster of the planets (including Pluto, though with a note about its current status) by a company called Eurographics. Each planet on the poster included scientific details about it, such as how many moons it has, what its gravity is and what its average temperature is.

I looked at the one for "Terra" (names are in Latin, while other information uses pictograms so it can be understood in different languages). Something there just didn't seem right.

Can you point it out?

UPDATE: You folks are fast, and you're all right. Apparently the fine folks behind this poster got oxygen (O₂) confused with carbon dioxide (CO₂). Carbon dioxide represents about 0.04% of Earth's atmosphere, and would be lethal at 20%, particularly if there's no oxygen to breathe.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 80

Fagstein — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:00:45 +0000

The line formed by 55th Ave., Côte de Liesse (Highway 520), Highway 13, Côte Vertu Blvd., Sauvé St., and Pie-IX Blvd. represents what?

UPDATE: A bunch of you got this right, though NDGer was the first. It's the border between the AMT's Zones 1 and 2 (grey and pink on this map).

The AMT's zoning system (where higher-numbered zones pay more to use commuter trains and multiple-network bus trips) is roughly based on the distance to downtown Montreal (assuming that everyone is travelling downtown to work, which of course isn't always the case).

There are some quirks though, for example Lachine is considered Zone 1 while Longueuil, which is much closer to downtown, is Zone 3. Similarly, Kahnawake (Zone 5) is closer than Pointe-Claire (Zone 2), and most of the Zone 8 territories are closer than Rigaud (Zone 6), though that won't matter once Rigaud loses its train service on July 1.

Thanks to SMS for this week's question.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 79

Fagstein — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:00:25 +0000

What bridge is this?

UPDATE: Yeah, I didn't think this would take too long. SMS is the first with the right answer: It's the bridge part of the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel, connecting the Boucherville islands with the south shore.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 78

Fagstein — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:00:54 +0000

Where is this?

UPDATE: Chris gets this right: It's Papineau Ave., looking north at the Des Carrières overpass. A (really smelly) staircase connects the two streets for pedestrians who don't want to walk all the way to Rosemont and back. But only for one side of Papineau. The other side is boarded off because the stairs are in an advanced state of decay.

Electrical pop quiz

Fagstein — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:00:22 +0000

This diagram with a piece of duct tape on it relates to something you've seen before, but probably won't see again.

What is it?

UPDATE: A few of you got this right. This was taped to the floor in the metro where an old transfer machine used to stand. The machines have recently been removed entirely and the only place you're likely to see them now is the turnstile graveyard.

Farewell, transfer dispenser

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 77

Fagstein — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:00:27 +0000

Where is this?

UPDATE: This one didn't take you long. It is, indeed, École Irénée-Lussier on Hochelaga at the corner of Pie-IX.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 76

Fagstein — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:00:56 +0000

What does this childish scribble of a drawing represent?

UPDATE: Steve Hatton needed only seven minutes to get this one. These lines represent the redesign of de Maisonneuve Blvd. between St. Laurent and St. Urbain.

De Maisonneuve Blvd., looking west toward Clark St.

As of a few months ago, drivers (and cyclists) heading west no longer have a gradual curve that takes them around Place des Arts, but rather a stop sign and hard right onto Clark before they turn left back onto de Maisonneuve. This new layout gives more space for building construction nearby, but also reduces the speed of traffic.

In order to accommodate all the cars, the direction of Clark (a one-way street) is reversed between de Maisonneuve and ... uhh ... de Maisonneuve. This effectively reserves that stretch of road for drivers heading west on de Maisonneuve.

A little history

The path of de Maisonneuve Blvd. in this area is a bit strange, particularly because it curves upward to run right next to Ontario St. The path is entirely a result of the path of the green line of the metro between St. Laurent and Place des Arts stations. Before the metro's construction, de Maisonneuve Blvd. didn't exist. What we now know as that boulevard was a handful of unconnected roads, including de Montigny St. (everything east of St. Laurent), the last bit of which (the lower red portion in the image at top) has been removed with this redesign.

UPDATE (June 9): It's been pointed out below that a tiny stretch of de Montigny still exists, between Clark and St. Urbain, under this new design.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 75

Fagstein — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:00:20 +0000

What - and where - is this?

UPDATE (April 27): John is the first to get this right below: This is the inside of what used to be a bus shelter on Pie-IX Blvd., specifically the one at Jarry St.

I didn't know it when I posted this question, but it's actually somewhat of a trick one. You see, the objects in this photograph aren't there anymore.

For those of you who haven't been to Pie IX Blvd., it has a unique history.

In 1989, the city decided to implement a partial reserved lane system on Pie IX Blvd. In fact, it would be the city's first reserved bus lane of any kind.

It made sense - Pie IX is a wide thoroughfare and its bus route - the 139 - was among the city's busiest.

But a reserved lane would disrupt car traffic, and at the worst possible time: rush hour.

So the city came up with what some urban planner no doubt thought was an ingenious plan: instead of reserving a lane in the same direction as rush-hour traffic, they'd reserve a lane on the opposite side of the street, and have the buses travel contra-flow. It's like what goes on during rush hour on the Champlain Bridge. In the morning, there would be three car lanes open heading south, and one reserved bus lane heading south on the opposite side of the median. That leaves two lanes for traffic (including buses) heading north.

Because the buses would be travelling on the opposite side of the street, passengers would get on and off at the centre median. Special shelters were setup with doors that aligned to the front and back doors of the bus, and ushered the passengers to the intersection where they would cross safely at the light.

The Jarry St. shelter as it used to look (image from Google Street View)

These shelters didn't exist anywhere apart from Pie IX Blvd., and even then there were only 10 of them, at major intersections between Monselet St. and Laurier Ave. (at the southern terminus, the bus stops at the metro station as normal). Not only was the bus that served them a reserved lane bus (assigned a number in the 500-block to denote its significance, No. 505), it was also an express, stopping at about a quarter of the stops of the 139.

Even before the buses started running, there was some concern from residents, particularly in Montreal North, about safety. Lots of precautions were taken. In addition to the special shelters designed to discourage jaywalking, cones would be setup between the contra-flow lanes and regular traffic. Overhead lights would tell drivers to get out of the reserved lane. Left turns would be prohibited at most intersections. Drivers - who all received specialized training for this particular route - would be warned in advance if there was a stalled vehicle or other obstacle, and would be directed into the regular flow of traffic at the next intersection. The buses themselves would be retrofitted with special lights to warn oncoming traffic.

The reserved lane idea quickly spread. Within months there were reserved lanes on Henri-Bourassa, Sauvé, Crémazie, and a year later they were added to Côte des Neiges and Park, although none of these were contra-flow lanes.

On Pie-IX, there was a traffic spike as thousands of passengers realized they'd save more than 10 minutes with the new bus service. For a decade people made their way to these shelters and were whisked off to the metro.

That all came to an abrupt halt just before 8am on June 12, 2002, when Annie Gervais, a 32-year-old wife of an STM bus driver, was struck and killed by one of those buses as she crossed the reserve lane.

Gervais's death came less than a year after another pedestrian was struck and killed on the reserved lane. And there were other similar incidents in the late 1990s, all involving buses travelling on the reserved lane. What might have been seen as a freak (or at least isolated) accident suddenly became a problem. (The fact that a bus driver was personally affected by this death is also cited as a reason for this being a turning point.)

The day after Gervais's death, the reserved lanes were shut down pending an investigation. The city and STM promised they would only be reopened when they could be assured they'd be safe.

They were never reopened.

The 505 bus kept running, though, this time "en bordure". Regular bus stops were installed on the curb at the same points as the shelters (even if this meant a stop coming after an intersection instead of before). Eight years later, the 505 buses still say "en bordure" on their displays. The shelters were left up, some with signs telling people to use the bus stop on the curb - it was expected the system would come back some day, as soon as it could be made safer.

But human nature can't be conquered so easily. When crossing a street with a median, you look in one direction for the traffic. Cones or no cones, it's not a given that everyone will remember that traffic is going in both directions before you get to that median.

So for eight years the shelters stood empty. Until last December, when the city announced it would go another route on Pie IX. Bus rapid transit would involve two lanes, reserved at all times. Still in the centre of the street, but apparently designed in such a way as to make them safer.

Partially dismantled Jarry St. shelter, in a photo taken April 1, 2010

That meant the existing shelters would have to go. The big central median would be replaced with two medians on either side of the reserved lanes.

The shelter at Jean-Talon was the first to go. Jarry was next. The other eight are still standing, though won't be for long.

The now empty concrete median, in a photo taken April 26

I happened to pass by the Jarry shelter after its roof, windows and front and back doors had been removed. The shelters were all locked to prevent people from getting in them (and waiting hours for a bus that would never come). Without a door, there was no lock, and I could walk freely up and down the now non-shelter shelter.

Inside the Jarry St. shelter - note the "embarquement" and "débarquement" signs in green and red.

Less than a month later, it was all gone. All that remains is a strange looking median with gaps in its wall.

Pie-IX median as it looks now at Jarry

UPDATE (Aug. 4): Metro catches on to this story and reports that the AMT has removed the last of the shelters.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 74

Fagstein — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:00:57 +0000

Where is this?

UPDATE (April 26): One comment was on the right trail, but nobody posted a correct answer a week later, so here it is: It's the end of Legendre St. in St. Michel, looking toward the old quarry. That tower at the centre - your guess is as good as mine.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 73

Fagstein — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:00:47 +0000

Back to transit this week, on a suggestion from reader Zain Farookhi:

What bus stop is shared between the most bus lines?

(Note that for the purposes of this question, a terminal with multiple stops is not considered one stop.)

UPDATE: Steve Hatton is the first to get the right answer.

STM bus stop at René-Lévesque and Mansfield (westbound)

This stop at René-Lévesque Blvd. and Mansfield (that's the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in the background) has 10 bus lines serving it as of March 29:

150 René-Lévesque, the "regular" day route serving the street
358 Sainte-Catherine, the night bus (the eastbound service is on Ste. Catherine St., which is why the stop across the street doesn't have the same number of bus routes)
410 Express Notre-Dame, an east-end-to-downtown express bus
427 Express Saint-Joseph, the new express from Saint-Joseph Blvd.
430 Express Pointe-aux-Trembles, similar to the 410
480 Pointe-Nord/Île-des-Soeurs, the rush-hour bus connecting downtown with the Bell campus on the northern tip of Nuns' Island
515 Vieux-Montréal/Vieux-Port, the underused loop bus connecting downtown with the Old Port
535 R-Bus Du Parc/Côte des Neiges, the reserved-lane bus that uses Montreal's two busiest axes during rush hour
747 Express Bus, the new airport express
935 Trainbus Blainville, the STM-operated but AMT-administered shortcut for Blainville train users

Of those 10 routes, two are less than a month old and two others are less than two years old. Before last week, the answer would have been (unless I'm mistaken) the stop at Brunswick Blvd. and St. John's Blvd. outside the Fairview mall in the West Island, which is served by nine routes all coming out of the terminal.

Kellergraham points out an alternative that also has 10 routes serving it.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 72

Fagstein — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:00:49 +0000

What is this a rough sketch of?

UPDATE: Cool Fat Michael gets on the right track, and SMS nails it: This is the border between Dollard des Ormeaux (above) and Pierrefonds (below, as it existed before municipal mergers). The gap represents Roxboro, which had been merged with Dollard in the Montreal merger, but was split and re-merged with Pierrefonds after Dollard demerged.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 71

Fagstein — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:04:40 +0000

In 1926, the city of Montreal made a request of the city of Verdun related to the latter city's geography.

Verdun politely declined, and turned around and suggested the city of Montreal do the same.

What was it?

UPDATE: William Moss got it right on the first shot: Montreal wanted Verdun to rename Church St., because there was already a Church St. in Montreal and they were worried about confusion. Verdun said its Church St. was bigger than Montreal's and suggested the bigger city change the name of its smaller street if it cared so much.

Of course, Church St. in Verdun is now called de l'Église.

~~But, for an extra point, what became of Church St. in Montreal?~~

Montreal's Church St. was renamed shortly after Verdun's response. The downtown street, which runs only from Sherbrooke to Ontario, was renamed in 1927 after John Wodehouse, count of Kimberley, on the 25th anniversary of his death.

Though it is now part of UQAM's downtown campus and closed to traffic, Rue Kimberley still exists.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 70

Fagstein — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:00:15 +0000

What is the significance of these numbers:

45, 100, 131, 132, 159, 171, 179, 197, 221, 505

UPDATE: It took a day, but two of you (plam and Kaycee) got it within minutes of each other: These are STM bus routes that end at a métro station and share the same name.

From contributor and transit geek Shanake Seneviratne:

The practice of placing a bus route's ultimate terminus on the destination sign is not one that has been adopted by the STM. Unlike other systems that indicate the endpoints of a route (Laval, Longueuil, Ottawa, and Toronto all do good jobs with their destination signs), Montreal has adopted a "dominant street or neighbourhood" naming policy. While this works well in principle, in actual fact this can backfire. The 168, for example, hasn't served Cité du Havre proper in decades. The 460 doesn't go on the Métropolitaine but rather parallel to it. The 215 is more deserving of the title Brunswick than the 208 is!

With new buses with excellent capabilities with regard to their destination sign, the STM can surely be more flexible and proactive.

Of course, most of these buses are actually named for the streets that the métro stations are named after, but there's an interesting debate on what names bus routes should take.

Maybe it's just because I'm so used to the Montreal system, but I tend to like it for the most part. It runs into trouble when routes don't take any particular street for very long. Naming buses for their destination assumes that people are going to that destination. While métro stations and terminuses are certainly big draws for transit users, they're not the destination for all.

Besides, with maps at most bus stops now, and the increasing use of smartphones to get information on the go, the importance of the name of a bus route has diminished.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 69

Fagstein — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:00:52 +0000

What is this a crudely-drawn image of?

UPDATE: Clément Côté gets the answer right below: It's the route of the 128 Saint-Laurent bus, one of the STM's more convoluted routes.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 68

Fagstein — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:00:11 +0000

What is the significance of the shaded area of this map?

UPDATE: COOL FAT MICHAEL FROM THE JERSEY SHORE ‘87 and Jim both got the right answer: these are the borders of the village, town, city and ward of Sainte-Cunégonde, sandwiched between St. Henri (whose eastern border was Atwater) and Montreal.

Not only was this independent city tiny (in 1840 it had 10 inhabitants), it was also short-lived. It was developed after it was bought by Alexandre Delisle and William Workman around 1850. At first, it relied heavily on bordering St. Henri for basic services like schools and a church, but the village's inhabitants, upset with the distance they'd have to travel and the taxes they'd have to pay, wanted some of their own.

Ste. Cunégonde was founded as a parish in 1875, taking its name from Cunégonde de Luxembourg. It was incorporated in 1887 and became its own city in 1890.

But around the turn of the century, Ste. Cunégonde faced the same fate as many other towns around Montreal at the time: merger. In 1905 it became a ward of the city of Montreal. By the midpoint of the 20th century, the boundaries ceased to have any meaning.

Today, the only remnants of the town are the buildings (including the old Sainte-Cunégonde church, now the Korean Catholic Mission on St. Jacques), and the street and park named after it.

For more on the village, you can read this book, published in 1893 by E.Z. Massicotte.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 67

Fagstein — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:00:12 +0000

This map notes some of the locations of something that used to be all over the city but no longer exists.

What is it?

UPDATE: A bunch of you guessed correctly: These are Steinberg's store locations on the island.

For those new to the city or too young to remember, Steinberg's (later without the apostrophe-S) was Quebec's first and largest supermarket throughout most of the 20th century. Based in Montreal, it expanded throughout the city and then throughout the province and into eastern Ontario as well. But financial pressures led to its decline in the 1980s and by 1992 they had all disappeared.

Their memory is kept alive on Flickr's Ghosts of Steinberg account, which collects photos of former Steinberg locations. It's explained by Chris DeWolf on Spacing Montreal in 2008.

You can check out my map (locations taken from Ghosts of Steinberg and a few other locations) on Google Maps here.

Montreal Geography Trivia No. 66

Fagstein — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:00:50 +0000

This week's trivia question comes from Clément Côté, who submitted this photo:

Where is this?

UPDATE: Enough of you are on the right track that I'll give it to you: It's part of the locks at Côte St. Paul. Côté provided a couple more pictures for context:

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