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November 21, 2005

Feature Photo: Perley Thomas Streetcars on Canal Street

Perley A. Thomas streetcars 910 and 928, waiting to depart on the outbound leg of their current run on the Canal Street line, one afternoon in the early 1950s. These two cars have circled around Liberty Place and are now queued up in the 100 block of Canal. The billboard clock dominating the background reads 4:35. It's peak time for streetcar operation, as you can see three additional streetcars waiting behind these two. Canal Street had four-track operation. Streetcar 910 is on the outside, outbound track, which was normally used by the various lines that terminated their runs on Canal. Lines such as Desire, St. Charles and Magazine would run inbound to Canal Street via a one-way street. They would discharge passengers, turn onto Canal, run for a block or two on Canal, then turn back onto a side street to pick up passengers and begin their outbound run. 910 will merge onto the same track as 928 for the trip to the Cemeteries.

Four of the Union Metal Company light poles that line Canal Street in the CBD are visible behind the streetcars. These poles and their distinctive three lamps are still on Canal Street today, having survived a number of hurricanes since their installation in 1931. The long covered walkway in the right background of the photo is the pedestrian walkway that leads to the ferry landing. The railroad tracks of the New Orleans Public Belt RR Co. are right under that walkway, and it wasn't safe for pedestrians hurrying to catch the ferry across the river to be running across them.

The numbers on the right-hand side of the route sign indicate the order in which the streetcars left the barn that day. Streetcar 910 was the sixteenth that day, and 928 was the fifteenth. The streetcars used two-man operation at this time, employing both a motorman and a conductor. Passengers boarded at the rear and paid their fare to the conductor, exiting at the front. Since the conductor handled the money and could make change, exact change was not required. The fare at this time to ride a NOPSI bus or streetcar was seven cents.

The buildings on the left-hand side of the photo have all been torn down over the years, and now they are the location of One Canal Place, which is an office building, hotel, and shopping mall. Note the "JAX" sign in the left foreground, marking the entrance to a local watering hole and advertising Jax Beer. Jax Beer was made around the corner, at their brewery on Decatur Street. That building was empty for most of the 1970s, and was subsequently converted into a shopping area along the lines of Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco.

(Clicking the image takes you to a much higher-res version of the photo.)

Posted by YatPundit at November 21, 2005 9:56 AM

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