photo credit abv: Diego Rios (Orenda built several models of industrial turbines from 3000 to 10000 shaft hp of which the OTF3 series were based on the Orenda 11/14 series of flight engines. This unit appears to be an electrical generation package.)
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November 2018 My curiosity was peaked recently driving by the Magellan plant on Derry road in Malton; the original Orenda Engine plant had just been sold to an un-named buyer and one of the conditions of the sale was to build Magellan a new plant . The new plant is right beside the original plant on the same property and the only news article I could find explained that it was to make their operation more efficient. I wondered how and why a company would move a factory 50 metres from their original site to become more efficient.
For a period of time, Orenda Engines produced some of the best jet engines in the world and the legacy of that period of development has sustained a division of what was once AV Roe until the 21st century. There does not seem to be a whole lot written about the history of Orenda, some chapters here and there in books on Canadian aerospace, and so I've decided to conduct some of my own research to see what I can unearth about this iconic company.
As a technical sales rep for machine shops throughout the GTA I hear alot of stories from people in the industry who have relatives or know a friend who worked on the Avro Arrow and the infamous Orenda engines that were to power it. One of the most intriguing urban myths (or is it?) I often hear about is how there was an underground complex built underneath the Orenda plant on Derry Road during the Cold War, so of course, I was determined to find out more about this aspect of factory there. The Avro group of factories at one time formed a sprawling industrial complex at the north end of Pearson airport- sadly all that remains today is one of the original factory hangars that has been incorporated into the International Centre as a show hall and some small outbuildings on the old Orenda property. What is clear is that at one time, a tunnel existed between the Avro plant and this building to afford the easy transfer of engines across Airport road without the need for loading them on transport, and presumably as a security measure during time of war. The tunnel was large enough to accept the fairly substantial engines which ran on a railroad track between the two plants.
The Orenda plant on Derry road was the site of the creation of the famous Orenda engines that powered Canada's early jet fighters including the Avro Arrow and CF-100 Canuck. One jet engine design, the J85 became world famous as the powerplant of the F-86 Sabre. Today the plant still continues to manufacture jet engine components and test jet engines as well. Who has bought the original building and what will become of it is anyone's guess at this point but hopefully, the story of the plant will not be forgotten because it forms an historic part of Canada's aerospace history. In addition to the Derry Road location, there was an additional plant north of Parry Sound where engines were tested as well in Nobel, Ontario.
November 2018 My curiosity was peaked recently driving by the Magellan plant on Derry road in Malton; the original Orenda Engine plant had just been sold to an un-named buyer and one of the conditions of the sale was to build Magellan a new plant . The new plant is right beside the original plant on the same property and the only news article I could find explained that it was to make their operation more efficient. I wondered how and why a company would move a factory 50 metres from their original site to become more efficient.
For a period of time, Orenda Engines produced some of the best jet engines in the world and the legacy of that period of development has sustained a division of what was once AV Roe until the 21st century. There does not seem to be a whole lot written about the history of Orenda, some chapters here and there in books on Canadian aerospace, and so I've decided to conduct some of my own research to see what I can unearth about this iconic company.
As a technical sales rep for machine shops throughout the GTA I hear alot of stories from people in the industry who have relatives or know a friend who worked on the Avro Arrow and the infamous Orenda engines that were to power it. One of the most intriguing urban myths (or is it?) I often hear about is how there was an underground complex built underneath the Orenda plant on Derry Road during the Cold War, so of course, I was determined to find out more about this aspect of factory there. The Avro group of factories at one time formed a sprawling industrial complex at the north end of Pearson airport- sadly all that remains today is one of the original factory hangars that has been incorporated into the International Centre as a show hall and some small outbuildings on the old Orenda property. What is clear is that at one time, a tunnel existed between the Avro plant and this building to afford the easy transfer of engines across Airport road without the need for loading them on transport, and presumably as a security measure during time of war. The tunnel was large enough to accept the fairly substantial engines which ran on a railroad track between the two plants.
The Orenda plant on Derry road was the site of the creation of the famous Orenda engines that powered Canada's early jet fighters including the Avro Arrow and CF-100 Canuck. One jet engine design, the J85 became world famous as the powerplant of the F-86 Sabre. Today the plant still continues to manufacture jet engine components and test jet engines as well. Who has bought the original building and what will become of it is anyone's guess at this point but hopefully, the story of the plant will not be forgotten because it forms an historic part of Canada's aerospace history. In addition to the Derry Road location, there was an additional plant north of Parry Sound where engines were tested as well in Nobel, Ontario.
So where to start? I figured asking historians at the Canada War Museum would be logical- if Canada's largest aircraft manufacturer of the war years had an underground component built during this time, one might assume that years of research about the company would have uncovered some details about how the factory was built. Similar factories built during the same period in the region usually incorporated some type of bomb shelter-the Bell Aircraft plant at Niagara was built with a massive underground facility designed to protect thousands of workers (see images below) should it ever come under attack. Unfortunately, after some introductory correspondence, it seems that not much history of the Orenda plant is held by Canada's war museum:
Hello Mr. Das,
Thank you for your note about the Orenda Engines plant and its tunnels. I am not familiar with the plant or have any knowledge of it. However, since you are looking for archival material, I am forwarding your email to my colleagues in the archival collections and they may have something related.
Eric Fernberg
Collections Specialist, Arms and Technology
Canadian War Museum
Spécialiste des collections, Armes et Technologie
Musée canadien de la guerre
1, place Vimy Place, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0M8
Tel: 819 776-8653
[email protected]
Hello Mr. Das,
Thank you for your note about the Orenda Engines plant and its tunnels. I am not familiar with the plant or have any knowledge of it. However, since you are looking for archival material, I am forwarding your email to my colleagues in the archival collections and they may have something related.
Eric Fernberg
Collections Specialist, Arms and Technology
Canadian War Museum
Spécialiste des collections, Armes et Technologie
Musée canadien de la guerre
1, place Vimy Place, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0M8
Tel: 819 776-8653
[email protected]
My history teacher always told me that primary sources of information were always the best to describe historic places and events so reaching out to present and former employees has been a priority. One of my customers runs a machine shop in the west end of Toronto and worked at Orenda as recent as 2002- he was the person who caught my interest in the underground complex stories since I know him and he is credible. He recounted that as night supervisor he had a set of keys to the whole plant, one of which was painted bright red. One night, he decided to find out what the key was to and soon found a door at the back of the plant close to where the old jet test engine building was and discovered it led to a tunnel which incidentally had a lot of historic odds and ends lying about that dated back to the 1950's. I next was fortunate to get in contact with an employee who confirmed the tunnel story and verified that it once allowed employees to traverse all the way to AV Roe on the north end of Pearson Airport-a distance of at least a kilometre away! Of course, construction of the Convention Centre in 1971 by a group of DeHavilland investors would have entailed the destruction of at least part of the tunnel and I have heard stories about some of these being filled in during it's construction.
Finding pictures or records of the construction of the building I figured would be the next logical step in finding out about what lies beneath, so to kick of my search I turned to Christina Parsons, a librarian at the Military History Research Centre at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa for some pointers. Christina writes:
"In response to your inquiry, the Canadian War Museum does not hold any material related to the construction of these plants. There may be several sources where this information may be located. The original plant was constructed by National Steel Car Limited, but expanded when it was taken over by Victory Aircraft Limited, a Crown Corporation, under the Department of Munitions and Supply. In 1945, the facilities were leased to A.V. Roe Canada Limited and purchased outright four years later. A further expansion of the plant’s facilities occurred during the period it was owned by Avro Canada.
A historical background on the development of the aircraft manufacturing facilities is contained in James Dow’s The Arrow. A good summary of the wartime facilities in contained in the History of the Department of Munitions and Supply. These pages have been scanned and are attached.
During the period when the plant’s facilities were owned and operated by the National Steel Car and later by Avro Canada, it is thought that any blue prints might have been registered with the Town of Malton. As Malton was later absorbed by the City of Mississauga, it is suggested that you contact the Mississauga Central Library Archives for any information. During the period when it was Victory Aircraft, a Crown Corporation in the Department of Munitions and Supply, any records would be located in Records Group (RG) 28 for the Department of Munitions and Supply at Library and Archives Canada."
Avro Canada
Victory Aircraft Ltd [Crown Corp] ceased operations 30 Nov 1945, assets were initially leased and then to A.V. Roe Canada Ltd [Avro Canada]
National Steel Car Ltd [expropriated by government 4 Nov 1942] aircraft production began in 1939 [Malton, ON]
Although Malton received contract 18 Sep 1941 to build Lancaster; ability of company to handle production of Lancaster bomber – already manufacturing Lysander, sub contractor for Hurricane, Anson, Hampden
Malton = now City of Mississauga, ON [Archives]
Victory Aircraft Ltd [LAC – Dept. of Munitions and Supply]
Hawker Siddeley Group [1962 assumed assets of former Avro Canada].
References:
Dow, James. The Arrow, Toronto: James Lorimer& Company, Publishers, 1979 [see pp. 11-34].
Kennedy, John de Navarre. History of the Department of Munitions and Supply – Canada in the Second World War, Ottawa: King’s Printer, 1950 [D768.15 K35 CWM c.3 v.1][pp. 468-473 have been scanned as an attachment].
Molson, K.M. and H.A Taylor. Canadian Aircraft since 1909, Stittsville, ON: Canada’s Wings Inc, 1982 [Information on Avro Canada and Avro Aircraft Limited, pp. 15-18].
Ozorak, Paul. Abandoned Military Installations of Canada - Volume 1: Ontario, 1991 [UA 600 O967 1991 v.1 CWM].
"In response to your inquiry, the Canadian War Museum does not hold any material related to the construction of these plants. There may be several sources where this information may be located. The original plant was constructed by National Steel Car Limited, but expanded when it was taken over by Victory Aircraft Limited, a Crown Corporation, under the Department of Munitions and Supply. In 1945, the facilities were leased to A.V. Roe Canada Limited and purchased outright four years later. A further expansion of the plant’s facilities occurred during the period it was owned by Avro Canada.
A historical background on the development of the aircraft manufacturing facilities is contained in James Dow’s The Arrow. A good summary of the wartime facilities in contained in the History of the Department of Munitions and Supply. These pages have been scanned and are attached.
During the period when the plant’s facilities were owned and operated by the National Steel Car and later by Avro Canada, it is thought that any blue prints might have been registered with the Town of Malton. As Malton was later absorbed by the City of Mississauga, it is suggested that you contact the Mississauga Central Library Archives for any information. During the period when it was Victory Aircraft, a Crown Corporation in the Department of Munitions and Supply, any records would be located in Records Group (RG) 28 for the Department of Munitions and Supply at Library and Archives Canada."
Avro Canada
Victory Aircraft Ltd [Crown Corp] ceased operations 30 Nov 1945, assets were initially leased and then to A.V. Roe Canada Ltd [Avro Canada]
National Steel Car Ltd [expropriated by government 4 Nov 1942] aircraft production began in 1939 [Malton, ON]
Although Malton received contract 18 Sep 1941 to build Lancaster; ability of company to handle production of Lancaster bomber – already manufacturing Lysander, sub contractor for Hurricane, Anson, Hampden
Malton = now City of Mississauga, ON [Archives]
Victory Aircraft Ltd [LAC – Dept. of Munitions and Supply]
Hawker Siddeley Group [1962 assumed assets of former Avro Canada].
References:
Dow, James. The Arrow, Toronto: James Lorimer& Company, Publishers, 1979 [see pp. 11-34].
Kennedy, John de Navarre. History of the Department of Munitions and Supply – Canada in the Second World War, Ottawa: King’s Printer, 1950 [D768.15 K35 CWM c.3 v.1][pp. 468-473 have been scanned as an attachment].
Molson, K.M. and H.A Taylor. Canadian Aircraft since 1909, Stittsville, ON: Canada’s Wings Inc, 1982 [Information on Avro Canada and Avro Aircraft Limited, pp. 15-18].
Ozorak, Paul. Abandoned Military Installations of Canada - Volume 1: Ontario, 1991 [UA 600 O967 1991 v.1 CWM].
April 2019 Additional verification that a series of tunnels does in fact exist underneath the Orenda facility comes from a co-worker who has numerous contacts at Orenda. Recently, when visiting the plant he mentioned to one of the management team that I had enquired about the tunnels and was told that, yes, in fact there were numerous tunnels including one which ran underneath the convention centre and another large tunnel that runs all the way to Pearson airport. Hopefully when the sale of the plant is completed, the new owners are not the kind of people who you'd want having underground access to Pearson from a remote location, a few kilometres away!.
The history of the company dates back to the 1930's when it was known as Victory Aircraft. I've reached out to Library and Archives Canada to see if there were any records of the construction of the various factory buildings and their reply is presented below. Anyone wishing to assist with discovering more about the construction of the underground components are welcome to review the resources indicated as I do not live close to Ottawa and have not had the time to review all of the documents and materials listed.
Thank you for your question to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) regarding records of plant construction of Victory Aircraft Ltd. I apologize for the delay of this response. LAC receives a great number of questions, which causes delays.
I searched LAC’s holdings with our Enhanced Archives Search available online, using keywords “RG28” (for the Department of Munitions and Supply) and “Victory Aircraft”. Please find the list of results online: RG28 AND Victory Aircraft. Of the results, I found that these records could be more interesting to your research:
· Postwar Committee on Manufacture of Aircraft - Victory Aircraft Ltd. 1943-1944, RG28-A, Volume 156, File 3-P-12-11
This file covers the years after the Crown Company was installed in the Malton plant. It could possibly provide information on the plant’s expansion.
und these records that also could possibly be of interest:
Department of Defence Production fonds (RG49)
· Legal Branch - Acquisition of property by the Crown for A.V. Roe Aircraft Ltd. at Malton Ontario. [1942-1968], Volume 634 File Part 1, File 202-6-R1
· Legal Branch - Acquisition of property by the Crown for A.V. Roe Aircraft Ltd. at Malton Ontario. [1942-1968], Volume 634 File Part 2, File 202-6-R1
National Film Board fonds (R1196-11-1-E)
A series of photographs from the National Film Board Still Photography Division shows the Malton plant, all dating from July 1943, some mentioning construction. Please find the list of photographs, that are available online: Photographs from NFB in 1943
Those photographs could be related to the film Target Berlin, which was shot in the Malton plant at the time. This film is also available in our holdings, please find the reference below:
· Target Berlin, Ginette Williams fonds, ISN 383104, Consultation copy V1 2011-07-0006
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/film-video-sound-database/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=383104
Unfortunately, I was not able to locate other specific records on the plant construction when it was owned by the government.
To request files for consultation onsite at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa please first register for a user card and then request files at least 5 days prior to your visit. Please find the links to the online forms below:
User card registration:
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services-public/Pages/Registration-Intro.aspx
Documents retrieval form:
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/assistance-request-form/Pages/assistance-request-form.aspx?requesttype=2
Please note that some records provided here are code 32: Restricted by law. If a document is listed as being "Restricted by Law," it means that it is subject to review by our Access to Information, Privacy, and Personnel Records team (ATIP) before being opened to researchers. Reproduction requests and on-site consultation requests of restricted materials are automatically reviewed informally by ATIP. Once that review is complete, our ATIP team will let you know whether or not the records can be opened, or if a formal review is necessary. This review can cause delays in access to and reproduction of records. For more information, please consult the following link:
Access to Information, Privacy, and Personnel Records: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/transparency/atippr/Pages/access-information-privacy-records.aspx
Copies of material in our holdings may also be purchased through our Reproduction Services with a fee per page. For more information, please consult our site for links to our price lists, service standards and examples of archival references, as well as our online order form.
Reproduction services: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/reproduction-requests/Pages/reproduction-requests.aspx
I hope this information proves useful to your research. Thank you for your interest in Library and Archives Canada.
Regards,
Sarah Bellefleur Bondu
Reference archivist, Public Services Branch
Library and Archives Canada / Government of Canada
[email protected] / Tel: 613-995-9492
Thank you for your question to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) regarding records of plant construction of Victory Aircraft Ltd. I apologize for the delay of this response. LAC receives a great number of questions, which causes delays.
I searched LAC’s holdings with our Enhanced Archives Search available online, using keywords “RG28” (for the Department of Munitions and Supply) and “Victory Aircraft”. Please find the list of results online: RG28 AND Victory Aircraft. Of the results, I found that these records could be more interesting to your research:
· Postwar Committee on Manufacture of Aircraft - Victory Aircraft Ltd. 1943-1944, RG28-A, Volume 156, File 3-P-12-11
This file covers the years after the Crown Company was installed in the Malton plant. It could possibly provide information on the plant’s expansion.
und these records that also could possibly be of interest:
Department of Defence Production fonds (RG49)
· Legal Branch - Acquisition of property by the Crown for A.V. Roe Aircraft Ltd. at Malton Ontario. [1942-1968], Volume 634 File Part 1, File 202-6-R1
· Legal Branch - Acquisition of property by the Crown for A.V. Roe Aircraft Ltd. at Malton Ontario. [1942-1968], Volume 634 File Part 2, File 202-6-R1
National Film Board fonds (R1196-11-1-E)
A series of photographs from the National Film Board Still Photography Division shows the Malton plant, all dating from July 1943, some mentioning construction. Please find the list of photographs, that are available online: Photographs from NFB in 1943
Those photographs could be related to the film Target Berlin, which was shot in the Malton plant at the time. This film is also available in our holdings, please find the reference below:
· Target Berlin, Ginette Williams fonds, ISN 383104, Consultation copy V1 2011-07-0006
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/film-video-sound-database/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=383104
Unfortunately, I was not able to locate other specific records on the plant construction when it was owned by the government.
To request files for consultation onsite at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa please first register for a user card and then request files at least 5 days prior to your visit. Please find the links to the online forms below:
User card registration:
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services-public/Pages/Registration-Intro.aspx
Documents retrieval form:
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/assistance-request-form/Pages/assistance-request-form.aspx?requesttype=2
Please note that some records provided here are code 32: Restricted by law. If a document is listed as being "Restricted by Law," it means that it is subject to review by our Access to Information, Privacy, and Personnel Records team (ATIP) before being opened to researchers. Reproduction requests and on-site consultation requests of restricted materials are automatically reviewed informally by ATIP. Once that review is complete, our ATIP team will let you know whether or not the records can be opened, or if a formal review is necessary. This review can cause delays in access to and reproduction of records. For more information, please consult the following link:
Access to Information, Privacy, and Personnel Records: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/transparency/atippr/Pages/access-information-privacy-records.aspx
Copies of material in our holdings may also be purchased through our Reproduction Services with a fee per page. For more information, please consult our site for links to our price lists, service standards and examples of archival references, as well as our online order form.
Reproduction services: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/reproduction-requests/Pages/reproduction-requests.aspx
I hope this information proves useful to your research. Thank you for your interest in Library and Archives Canada.
Regards,
Sarah Bellefleur Bondu
Reference archivist, Public Services Branch
Library and Archives Canada / Government of Canada
[email protected] / Tel: 613-995-9492
(May 2019 The picture above (top left) is what is now Hall 1 of the International convention centre in Mississauga, next door to Magellan Aerospace but back in the 1950's this hall was where the Iroquois engines were assembled and the glass windows along the top right catwalk were Avro office spaces. This hall sits smack dab between the Magellan (Orenda) plant and the site of the former main assembly building for Avro across the road.If a tunnel existed, it is logical that it would have run between the three sites allowing for the discrete transport of engine components unseen by prying eyes- in fact, measures undertaken at the original Orenda factory included double walls to the outside so that spys could not observe when night shifts were operating. I enquired about the tunnels with one of the management staff (a long time employee) and they confirmed that they had seen the tunnels but were not supposed to talk about it, so I can only presume that it is still being used, probably by the Canadian Border Services which has their office adjoining to this hall. It seems a little strange that CBSA would locate their offices so far from the airport unless they had an easy access-like a tunnel- to the main airport a few kilometres away.. In the 1950's, the tunnels would presumably have been used to transport engines unseen from prying eyes underground to the main assembly building. June2023 I spoke with a senior buyer from an aerospace company who has attended the site and confirms the tunnels are still there and used by CBSA staff.
The photo above shows where I discovered a recent excavation of some thirty feet deep adjacent to the new factory (whitish grey roof) and behind the old (now torn down) plant, in what was previously a paved storage area. At the bottom of the pit, I could clearly discern a large concrete structure at the edge of the new asphalt driveway which was most certainly there before the new plant was built. My belief (and one current Magellan employee confirms this) is that this is an underground "basement" from the old factory. It looks to me like it has been incorporated into the new building, so it must access a larger underground structure. The plot thickens!
Hi Edward
I could not find aerial photos of this specific area with a quick search of our holdings. We do hold the National Air Photo Library but searching in there would take a good amount of time. Nonetheless, I searched the internet for other sources where you could find aerial photos and found that the Map and Data Library of the University of Toronto Libraries made available online a series of 1954 Air Photos of Southern Ontario: https://mdl.library.utoronto.ca/collections/air-photos/1954-air-photos-southern-ontario/index
Please find the file for the photo covering Malton through this link: http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/Ontario/APS_1954/zipped/436.793.zip
You might also be interested in other resources listed by the University of Toronto Libraries on their website: https://mdl.library.utoronto.ca/collections/air-photos
I hope this will be helpful for your research.
Best regards,
Sarah Bellefleur Bondu
I could not find aerial photos of this specific area with a quick search of our holdings. We do hold the National Air Photo Library but searching in there would take a good amount of time. Nonetheless, I searched the internet for other sources where you could find aerial photos and found that the Map and Data Library of the University of Toronto Libraries made available online a series of 1954 Air Photos of Southern Ontario: https://mdl.library.utoronto.ca/collections/air-photos/1954-air-photos-southern-ontario/index
Please find the file for the photo covering Malton through this link: http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/Ontario/APS_1954/zipped/436.793.zip
You might also be interested in other resources listed by the University of Toronto Libraries on their website: https://mdl.library.utoronto.ca/collections/air-photos
I hope this will be helpful for your research.
Best regards,
Sarah Bellefleur Bondu
Robin Sipes is best known for his recovery of a lost Iroquois engine and he confirms that he was invited to visit an old part of the Orenda plant to recover engine parts prior to the demolition of the plant. Robin writes, " You are correct. Summer 2019, we were invited to tour through this “basement” to take inventory of the Orenda engine parts stored there within. We took what we wanted, ensuring adequate supply of critical spares to keep the worlds remaining Sabre-5 and Sabre-6 Orenda engines airworthy for many years. There was a mind-boggling amount of material stored in this below-ground storage space, and be assured, it was safely removed before demolition.
One of the young technicians we dispatched to assist with the material removal said, “it was the spookiest place he had ever been in”. Right out of a movie; dark, poorly lit, steam lines hissing and who knows what scuttling around in the dark corners. Sadly, no Iroquois parts were found.
One of the young technicians we dispatched to assist with the material removal said, “it was the spookiest place he had ever been in”. Right out of a movie; dark, poorly lit, steam lines hissing and who knows what scuttling around in the dark corners. Sadly, no Iroquois parts were found.