Pile driving, earth moving, and concrete pouring were only the beginning. Track, lighting, signal equipment, and other working elements of the subway had to be installed. Cosmetic finishing was also required to provide the convenient, comfortable, modern commute the TTC promised its riders.

Pouring terazzo floor in station March 17, 1952 Photographer: Canada Pictures Limited City of Toronto Archives Series 381, File 170, Item 9229-2	Setting strips at expansion joint March 5, 1952 Photographer: Canada Pictures Limited City of Toronto Archives Series 381, File 166, Item 9180-3

Installing glass face brick in station April 18, 1952 Photographer: Canada Pictures Limited City of Toronto Archives Series 381, File 182, Item 9333-3 Tiles used in the stations were made of opaque glass bonded to a concrete backing. The large wall tiles, such as the ones shown here, were in light shades of yellow, green, and grey. On the platforms, narrow bands of darker tiles (black, red, green, or blue) were placed at the junction of wall and ceiling. Each station had a different tile/band colour combination, so that passengers could easily recognize stations.

Painting, Queen station March 24, 1953 Photographer: Canada Pictures Limited City of Toronto Archives Series 381, File 238, Item 10527-2 The TTC used one of the earliest — built tunnels to test over 100 paints for their endurance of temperature and humidity extremes, abrasion, mildew, and general dirt. Ninety percent failed the sixteen-month test. The chosen paint was a chlorinated rubber — based paint that was tinted to match each station's wall tiles.

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