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September 26, 2004
The "Other" Canal Line
The “Other” Canal Line
Perley Thomas streetcar number 914, running on the West End Line. The West End Line was arguably the first “express” line on Canal Street, because the line only had six stops between downtown and the Half Way House on City Park Avenue.
This photo, from the 1940s, shows 914 running lakebound on Canal, at Basin Street. The Maison Blanche Building (now the Ritz-Carlton Hotel) is in the background.
Posted by Edward J. Branley at 8:15 PM | TrackBack
September 19, 2004
Canal and the River
Canal and the River
A Von Dullen car is making the turn from the Riverfront trackage running along the Mississippi River to Canal Street, continuing on the outbound leg of its run. The streetcar began this run at the French Market terminal, and will go up to the Cemeteries terminal at Canal Street and City Park Avenue.
This photo, shot from the elevated pedestrian walkway that leads to the Algiers Ferry landing, shows just how much activity exists at the foot of Canal. The large building in the background is Harrah’s Casino. On the left, is an Entergy power sub-station. This location was the site of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad’s passenger station for decades, prior to 1952 when it was torn down.
In the foreground there are three sets of tracks. The first two sets of track are for the Riverfront line. The 400-series streetcars run from Julia Street to French Market here. The third track is the narrower “standard” gague, for trains servicing the riverfront’s wharves on the New Orleans Public Belt line.
In the wake of Hurricane Ivan, it’s important to point out the big concrete walls in the right foreground. These are part of the city’s floodwall system along the river. When flood waters from the river or storm surge from a hurricane threaten downtown, the gates in this floodwall system are closed tight, providing an added layer of protection to the city’s historic treasures.
Posted by Edward J. Branley at 8:11 PM | TrackBack
September 12, 2004
Streetcars in the Train Garden
Streetcars in the Train Garden
A green Perley Thomas car on the “St. Charles” line passes car 2002 on “Canal Street” on the train layout in the New Orleans Botanical Garden in City Park. Known to locals for decades as “The Rose Garden,” The NOBG is now a very important part of City Park’s splendor. The original Rose Garden dates back to 1936, when the Park was the beneficiary of a number of WPA projects (such as the lagoons and various buildings around the lagoons). The current Botanical Garden is a wonderful extension of the Rose Garden that offers a number of attractions. During the holiday season, the NOBG is the focal point of the walking tour portion of the “Celebration in the Oaks” light display in the park.
The Train Garden is a fascinating part of the NOBG. These aren’t just any train models. The layout is G-scale, which is four times larger than the typical HO-scale home train set. The track and cars are from LGB, a German toy train company. LGB makes a wide selection of G-scale engines and cars, among which is a model of a Perley Thomas streetcar. The hobbyists who have created the Train Garden’s layout took one of the standard green streetcars, painted it red, and numbered it “2002” to make it a Von Dullen car. They’ve also changed the running boards on one of the cars to show that car operating on the “West End” line.
The structures in the Train Garden are also quite interesting, because they’re not simply plastic kits. All of the buildings are made of botanical materials. The layout is loosely organized by neighborhoods, such as Uptown, the CBD, the Lakefront, and Gentilly. They even have a steam passenger train lettered for the “Pontchartrain RR. Co.” running as the “Smokey Mary” out to “Milneburg.”
The Train Garden is in the back corner of the NOBG, which is in City Park. Visitors who ride the Carrollton Spur of the Canal Line to the end of the line at Beauregard Circle can get to the NOBG by walking past the New Orleans Museum of Art and its lovely Sculpture Garden behind the Museum, into the center of the park, where they’ll see the entrance to the garden complex. The NOBG is open Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays, from 10am to 4:30pm. Adult admission is $5. (Admission to City Park itself is free).
Posted by Edward J. Branley at 8:06 PM | TrackBack
September 5, 2004
The 1929 Strike, Part 2
The 1929 Strike - Part 2
There have been a number of job actions by labor against management in the history of public transit in New Orleans, but none was as serious or as historically important as the strike of 1929. The strike was the subject of our July 4, 2004, Feature Photo, but since this is Labor Day weekend, here’s another view of that time.
The beginning of any strike is usually a period highly charged with emotion, and the first week of July in 1929 was no exception. The photo above shows a group of NOPSI motormen and their sons posing for a photo as they parade around the neighborhood. The law firms working for NOPSI at the time hired a couple of photographers to document the actions of the strikers, which is why we have a number of interesting pictures showing strike-related damage.
Strikes are stories of human drama. Sometimes they’re true David-and-Goliath stories, other times they’re more about clashes of executive egos on both sides of the bargaining table. In either case, let’s take this Labor Day to acknowledge the hard work and effort over the decades of the men and women of Local 1560 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, as well as their counterparts in management for both NOPSI and RTA. They have all kept the buses and streetcars running as best as they can, and that’s something of which they can be very proud.