There are a number of stories that circulate about why the Riverfront line's streetcars were painted red rather than the more-traditional green of the Perley A. Thomas streetcars. The Riverfront Line's development began in the mid-1980s, and it opened to the public on August 14, 1988. An ad-hoc organization called "Bring Our Streetcars Home" raised funds to re-acquire three Perley Thomas cars that left the city in 1964 for use on the new line. Additionally, RTA acquired three Melbourne W2 streetcars, so Riverfront could offer handicap accessibility.
Since the green color of the 900-series Perley Thomas streetcars on St. Charles Avenue was so well-known, RTA decided to paint the streetcars for Riverfront something different. One story goes that Carrollton Station Manager Elmer Von Dullen wanted to paint them blue, a tribute to the old Napoleon Ave. line, which was called the "Royal Blue Line." Some say that then-Mayor Sidney Barthelemy favored the red, and since he was mayor, he got his way. Whichever is true, the decision to go with red was made.
To justify the red color from a historic perspective, RTA always says that the old French Market line of the New Orleans City Railway Company was painted in red and yellow. This postcard from 1897 appears to bear this out, if the colors are accurate. Postcard manufacturers of this period would hand-tint black and white photos and them mass-print the colored photo.
The postcard depicts three green, single-truck, Ford, Bacon & Davis streetcars on the riverbound center track of Canal Street, the lead car having just crossed St. Charles Ave./Royal St. (The photographer is standing on Canal, in between St. Charles and Camp.) To the right are two red and gold streetcars of the New Orleans City Railway Company, on the outside lakebound track.
The gold dome in the background is the "old" Maison Blanche building, which was torn down in 1898 to make way for the "new" MB building, which is now the Ritz-Carlton hotel. There is a sign on the right-hand side that says "Maryland Club" that we can't place just yet.
