A century-old railway repair shed saved from demolition to house a brewery
The John Street Roundhouse
Built starting in 1929 to service Canadian Pacific Railway locomotives, the John Street Roundhouse survived decades of disuse near the CN Tower before being restored as a railway museum and brewery site.
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The John Street Roundhouse was built starting in 1929 by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a locomotive servicing facility near Union Station, its curved shed and central turntable designed to rotate steam locomotives into individual repair bays, a standard industrial layout for railway roundhouses of the era. It remained an active CPR maintenance facility for decades, servicing the steam and later diesel locomotives that ran through downtown Toronto's rail corridor.
Saved as the city grew around it
As rail operations consolidated and the surrounding railway lands were eyed for redevelopment, including the construction of the CN Tower and SkyDome nearby, the Roundhouse faced potential demolition before heritage advocates secured its preservation. It reopened in the 1990s and 2000s as home to the Toronto Railway Museum, displaying historic locomotives and rail equipment, and part of the building was leased to Steam Whistle Brewing, giving the century-old industrial structure an active second life it likely wouldn't have had as a museum piece alone.
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