Comments on: A view of the old Andrew Merrilees Ltd. railway supply company yard off Old Weston Road in “The Junction” at West Toronto. There were always lots of rail sections on site, and the ever-present Speedswing (parked in one of the garage bays). Some of the property had been temporarily cleared and cut back due to utility work the area, possibly preceding the future grade separation construction. According to an old UCRS newsletter detailing his obituary (UCRS #363, January 1980), Andrew Merrilees was a railway historian and collector, originally from Hamilton, who formed Andrew Merrilees Ltd in 1946 for sale, salvage, purchasing, leasing and reselling of railway equipment and supplies. The company’s West Toronto location at 189 Old Weston Road operated for decades, no doubt doing a lot of local business with CN and CP practically (literally) on their doorstep. They even had their own rail siding for storing equipment at one point. Operations would wind down and the property sold in the Summer of 2016. There was even an old sagging wooden 40′ outside-braced boxcar (likely ex-NYC) that survived at the back of the property for many years, likely finally scrapped when they were cleaning house before/after the sale.

By: MrDan

MrDan — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:29:00 +0000

In many entries in the trackside guide, there’s notes about equipment being owned or sold by “Merrilees (d)”. One of a number of Canadian railway equipment buyers/sellers (other old ones that come to mind were Malcolm Black Equipment (MBX?), and David A. Walmsley (DAWX), who may still be around).

Reporting marks for Merrilees were AAMX, AMLX, and IREX for their US subsidiary, Industrial Railroad Equipment.

By: Todd Steinman

Todd Steinman — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:13:10 +0000

Great photo, and history! I had heard of the Merrilees name sometime ago, but forgotten why or how. Thanks for the ‘clarification’, helped me remember why!