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November 12, 2005

The Prototype Car, 2001

2001 on Canal Street, Summer, 2003

The design of the new streetcars is loosely based on the classic Perley Thomas cars running on the St. Charles line.  The prototype car, 2001, was scratch-built at Carrollton Station in 1998 and 1999.  RTA wanted to maintain the look of the arch-roof, 900-series cars, but had two complications:  The cars had to be ADA-compliant and the Canal cars also had to be air-conditioned.  Unlike the Riverfront line, Canal is a primary commuter line, and one of the arguments for getting rid of the streetcars in the early 1960s was their lack of air-conditioning. 

The air-conditioning unit is on the roof.  The bulge it makes is very unattractive, so the Carrollton team decided to make the room look like the old Brill semi-convertibles that were a mainstay of New Orleans street railways prior to the arch-roof cars. On the original Brill cars, the roof was raised, and the upper sets of windows provided better air flow through the car.

Original propulsion for the prototype car consisted of PCC-derivative trucks from CKD-Tatra in the Czech Republic The photo above is the streetcar that CKD-Tatra loaned to RTA so they could field-test the trucks. These trucks have been in use now for some time on the Riverfront cars.

After the line became operational in 2004, the prototype car was taken out of service and re-fitted with the BMC trucks and control equipment of the production cars, so now all 24 cars are essentially identical.

Another view of 2001, on St. Charles Avenue, heading to Canal Street from Carrollton Station.

Posted by YatPundit at November 12, 2005 10:30 PM

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