As part of a day that celebrates everything to do with railways, I figured why not celebrate a massive transformation in the Toronto transit system by hosting an event in a revitalized public space beside one of the new Eglinton Crosstown/Line 5 stations.
We'll be meeting in the plaza adjacent to the south east entrance of Fairbank Station, which is an underground station along the 19 kilometre Light Rail transit line, which connects the Borough of York (At Mount Dennis station) with the northern end of the Old City of Toronto, with East York, and finally Scarborough as it terminates at Kennedy to the east.
This station's namesake is for the former Fairbank Village which was sited here. Fairbank was established in 1835, and started as a single family farm, which branched off intoa community of farms, which soon had their own school, post office, then taverns and hotels. By the 1880's this are considered Toronto's suburbs, and the Beltline Railway connected the area to the city of Toronto by 1889, the same year the currently oldest structure in the area was built - the Fairbank Methodist Church (Now Fairbank United Church).
Eventually, with more transit connections like the Oakwood Streetcar and the Eglinton subway station (1954), this are became more developed with businesses moving into Eglinton. The Village became part of York township, which became ther Borough of York in 1966, and since then has developed as a hub of jobs and sericves, owing to its connections as a fairly central neighbourhood in the city.
Sidetracked Day is held every August 10, 2026, and this year marks 19 years since it began. A number of events are being organized all over the world.