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January 29, 2006
Feature Photo - 932 on Carrollton Avenue
Perley A. Thomas streetcar 932, running outbound on S. Carrollton Avenue towards Claiborne Terminal.
The City of Carrollton was one of the first suburbs of New Orleans. Located in one of the turns of the Mississippi River that make New Orleans the "Crescent City," Carrollton was a separate town in 1834, when a group of businessmen decided to begin passenger rail service from downtown to Carrollton via Nyads Street (now St. Charles Avenue). Eventually, the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Company expanded their operations to what is now Carrollton Avenue, building a car barn on Willow Street.
Today, the neighborhood known as Carrollton is vibrant and bustling. It's part of what radio talkshow host Garland Robinette likes to call the "sliver along the river" that came back fastest a While the 900-series won't be operational back on Carrollton Avenue until the end of this year, RTA is operating bus service to Carrollton via the Freret, Magazine, and St. Charles lines.
This photo is a scene that has repeated itself since the 1920s, when the 900-series started service on St. Charles. 932 is on the outbound leg of the run, which started at Carondelet and Canal, and will end at S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Avenues. In the background, one of the 400-series Riverfront cars is heading inbound. The "red lady" will make the big left turn at St. Charles Avenue and head to Canal Street. Once there, she'll switch to the center-inbound Canal Street track and go up to the Riverfront trackage.
Posted by YatPundit at 8:37 PM | TrackBack
January 22, 2006
Feature Photo: Canal Street in the 1880s
This charming photo shows Canal Street in the midst of an interesting transition. Looking lakebound from the Clay statue, the photographer captures the block of Canal between St. Charles and Carondelet. A street vendor tends his cart at the left (the predecessor of the modern-day "Lucky Dog" wagon?). Three men stand behind the cart, next to a "starter house" in the neutral ground. The starter houses were small booths at the terminus of various streetcar lines, where supervisors could keep their scheduling and management paperwork. The man in the center in shirtsleeves is probably a streetcar supervisor; his jacket would be in the starter house. The man on the right appears to be a streetcar operator (can't call them "motormen" yet, since the "motor" was a mule). Four of the "bobtail" streetcars are visible on the street. The block between St. Charles and Carondelet saw the convergence of a number of streetcar lines, which is why the area between the tracks is paved. It was much easier for riders to walk on the paved walkways than on the cobblestones of the street.
The building with the round corner tower on the left hand side of the photo is the old Feibelmann's Department Store building, on the corner of Carondelet. A block up, at Dauphine Street on the left, the steeple of Christ Church Episcopal is visible.
This was a transitional period for Canal Street, because electrification of the neighborhood had begun, but the wires, poles, and towers that made up the power grid are not yet dominating the street scene. Simple electrical poles are running along the left-hand side of the neutral ground, feeding power to the buildings on the street. One of the gas lamps that illuminated Canal prior to electrification is on the left. In just a few years from this photo, the neutral ground will be full of wires, a large electrical tower will dwarf buildings at the corner of Carondelet, and the mule-drawn bobtails will be replaced by single-truck electric streetcars.
This is what Canal Street looked like when the first Kings of Carnival made their way to Canal Street from the French Quarter. Turning right from Royal onto Canal, the floats of Rex would pass just to the right of the photographer, to excited crowds who very much enjoyed the expansion of Carnival from the single night parade (Comus) to this new, daytime celebration.
Posted by YatPundit at 8:32 PM | TrackBack
January 20, 2006
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS! NOMA Grand
Who: New Orleans Museum of Art
What: Grand Re-Opening Volunteer Meeting. NOMA needs help from the community when it re-opens its doors to the public for the first time since Katrina with a tribute to the Arts: The HEART of New Orleanswill spotlight all aspects of art including the visual, performing, literary and culinary arts. The Mid-City Art Marketwill be participating in the festivities with over 60 local and regional artists.
When: Meeting: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.
Where: New Orleans Museum of Art Auditorium
Why: Nations are destroyed, or flourish, in proportion as their poetry, painting,
and music are destroyed or flourish! William Blake
The re-opening of the Museum, which will be free to the public, will be a success with your assistance. Help us bring back the HEART of New Orleans.
Posted by YatPundit at 10:33 AM | TrackBack
January 17, 2006
Mid City Art Market Announcement
This group set up shop at Celebration in the Oaks, and some of their stuff was quite good. Definitely worth a look!
Mid-City Art Market, Art in the Heart of New Orleans
Saturday, January 28 10:00am to 4:00pm
In City Park's Botanical Gardens
Free admissionLocal and regional artists selling painting, pottery, glass, photography,
sculpture, textiles, jewelry, accessoriesMusic by De Soto Street Band
Bringing back the "Heart of New Orleans":
Mid-City Art Market and City Park!
Support the community and buy LOCAL!!!Future market dates:
March 25, April 29, May 29, June 27, July 29, August 26
www.midcityartmarket.org
Posted by YatPundit at 12:28 PM | TrackBack
January 15, 2006
Feature Photo - 900s at the French Market
Four 900-series Perley A. Thomas streetcars at the French Market terminal. Prior to the storm, the French Market was the downriver terminus for the Riverfront and Canal lines. Since the storm severely damaged all but one of the "red ladies," the 400- and 2000-series red-painted streetcars that operated on Riverfront and Canal, the vintage 900-series streetcars have been operating a hybrid line that includes Canal Street in the CBD and the Riverfront line.
The green-painted Perley Thomas streetcars will likely work the hybrid line for as much as two years, while the "red ladies" are being repaired. Their regular home, the St. Charles line, won't be back operational until October of this year. Fortunately for the city, RTA had already started a renovation project on St. Charles to repair and upgrade the overhead wiring and other components of the electrical system. Instead of the original renovation specs, however, the crews jumped in and began an all-out repair effort.
The 900-series are still configured as they were after the major renovation/rebuild they received in the 1980s. Prior to that, the streetcars were a hodgepodge of designs ranging from close to factory original to experiements with PCC windows and other parts. When RTA took over transit operations in the mid-1980s, the crew at Carrollton Station was given money to renovate the entire fleet and restore them to their style from the 1930s-1940s.
Posted by YatPundit at 7:45 PM | TrackBack
January 12, 2006
Thoughts on the BNOB light rail plan...
I did my level best to be objective in presenting the light rail plans of the "Bring New Orleans Back" Commission. I've requested further details on the plan, in the hopes that there's more thought to this than just a few hi-lighter lines on a street map.
That said, some initial comments on the proposed expansions:
Streetcars vs. LRVs: I can't possibly imagine that anyone is considering traditional LRVs for New Orleans, as they showed in the powerpoint presentation. Articulated LRV trains just aren't necessary and would require an entire support infrastructure separate from that of the existing streetcars. It makes more sense to continue the 2000-series Von Dullen cars for this plan.
The Canal-Elysian Fields Line: On paper, this line makes wicked good sense, to start out in Lakeview and end up at UNO. But it's going to take a lot more than drawing a dotted line on a map to get streetcars running on Canal Blvd. There are serious issues with that street, and that's one of the reasons streetcars went down West End rather than Canal Blvd. in the first place. The neutral ground from the cemeteries The railroad underpass near Florida Ave. and the I-610 interchange will force the tracks off the neutral ground and into the street. The neutral ground on Canal Blvd. was referred to as the "sunken gardens," and that hasn't changed. Putting streetcar tracks there will require a lot of fill-in and drainage modification.
A better idea would be to change the expanded route from Canal Blvd. to West End Blvd., bringing back the old West End line. Run the tracks on the west side of West End, in that large expanse of land that used to be the New Basin Canal. The line could either be terminated at Robt. E. Lee and West End, or it could be turned eastbound on Robt. E. Lee and terminate at Canal Blvd. Keep transit service on Canal Blvd. by using trolley buses. They make more sense on that street. Run a trolley bus line (or even a heritage street railway line) on Harrison Avenue, from the Marconi Canal to West End.
Airport Line: Of all these proposed changes, this is the one that should be built first. It's also the primary exception to the notion of using traditional LRVs. This line would go a long way in expanding our convention and cruise-ship business. I'm not too concerned with taxicab drivers being outraged here. In Boston, there are those who ride the Blue Line in from the airport and those who take a cab. It'll be the same here.
UNO-Claiborne-Desire Line: Also a very logical project. Streetcar service on Claiborne revives the old "St. Charles Belt" concept, even if it involves a line change. This is a huge boost to servicing schools as well, since this line passes UNO, Xavier, and Dillard. The "Desire" segment down St. Claude is problematical because of the dispute with Norfolk Southern over the grade crossing at Press, but maybe all the post-k rebuilding will be the mucle RTA needs to move the railroad.
Algiers-Gentilly Ridge Line: What a neat idea, well at least on paper. The line would link one of the city's best post-storm neighborhoods, Algiers, with NASA-Michoud, one of the city's biggest employers. The notion of modifying the Crescent City Connection bridges to accomodate light rail is fascinating, expensive, and problematical, but not impossible. A logical tie-in here would be to link Old Algiers to this line via a heritage line that would attract tourists.
River Line: This was an idea that made good sense pre-k, and continues to be a good idea. Riverfront has been a huge success for RTA, tying the Convention Center to the Quarter. Expanding the line to Jackson would take some of the pressure off of the Magazine bus line.
Overall, the proposals are very interesting. The juxtaposition of a well-thought-out line linking Algiers and Michoud with the lack of thought put into the Canal-UNO line lead me to wonder just how much input from transit professionals took place here. In any case, the concept is fantastic and I look forward to doing what I can to help make it all a reality.
Posted by YatPundit at 10:21 AM | TrackBack
January 11, 2006
BNOB Light Rail Plan
I'm looking at the PowerPoint slide show presented by the Urban Planning Committee of the "Bring New Orleans Back" (BNOB) Commission. I'm going to leave political comments on this to my YatPundit blog, focusing here strictly on the transit section of the presentation.
The immediate proposed plan for the city's transit system:
Longer term:
Ambitious to say the least. Here is the map for proposed light rail/commuter rail lines:
This plan would set up the following lines (directions are in New Orleans references).
St. Charles Line. No change in its current route
Canal-Elysian Fields Line. Starting at Canal Blvd. and Robert E. Lee in Lakeview, down Canal Blvd. to the Cemeteries. Down Canal Street to the river. Turn onto existing Riverfront tracks, go to Elysian Fields. Turn up Elysian Fields to UNO.
Airport Line. Starting at the foot of Canal, Up Tulane and out Airline to the Airport.
River Line. Start at Canal and the river. Up existing Riverfront line, past the Convention Center, under the CCC, and up along the river to Jackson. Turn right on Jackson to Rampart. Down Rampart past Canal, Elysian Fields, Franklin, to Poland. Right on Poland to the river, then return to the foot of Canal along the riverfront.
University of New Orleans-Claiborne-Desire Line. Start at Claiborne terminal, Claiborne and Carrollton. Down S. Carrollton to Canal, follow existing Carrollton spur to Beauregard Circle. Link up with Elysian Fields via Wisner/DeSaix/Gentilly. Turn onto Elysian Fields and go up to Lake. From UNO, down Elysian Fields to St. Claude, down St. Claude to Jackson Barracks. Return from Jackson Barracks via St. Claude to Rampart to MLK? to Claiborne. Up Claiborne to S. Carrollton.
Algiers-Gentilly Ridge Line. Starting way down on Gen DeGaulle in Algiers, go up to the CCC. Cross the river on the CCC(?!), exit onto Julia (maybe). Up Julia to Rampart, right on Rampart/St. Claude to Elysian Fields. Up Elysian Fields to Claiborne. Sort of follow I-10/Claiborne to Louisa or so, turning onto Chef Menteur. Cross the Industrial Canal at Chef Menteur and head down to Michoud.
I'm reading these routes off of what appears to be a not-very-hi-res streetmap gaphic with overlaid routes. The overlays are huge, so that they can be visible in a PowerPoint slide. In other words, this isn't the most precise first-look. I welcome comments and corrections when y'all have a look.
Posted by YatPundit at 7:29 PM | TrackBack
January 8, 2006
Feature Photo: Canal and Royal, c. 1895
Carnival Time at the turn of the 19th century. A parade is coming up Royal Street and turning lakebound on Canal Street. This was a common route for parades at the time. (Parades no longer go through the Quarter because the crowds are too large and pose a fire hazard to the old buildings.)
Electrifying Canal Street has brought a few changes to downtown. The wires all over make for busy photographs, to be sure. The higher poles are carrying power to the buildings, and the lower wires are for the streetcars.
The monument to Henry Clay, which occupied the entire Canal Street neutral ground between St. Charles Ave. and Royal Street has been cut back dramatically. The massive round base of the monument was an obstruction to streetcars. The old mule-drawn cars could easily maneuver around the statue, but the electric streetcars need to follow their wires, so the monument had to be altered. Even with the cutback of the base, the statue was still a problem for streetcars, because they barely had room to pass. In 1901, the city decided to remove the statue from Canal Street and relocate Mr. Clay to Lafayette Park, where he remains today.
Posted by YatPundit at 9:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 3, 2006
PPP
Just got a reply from Errol Laborde, and the Phunny Phorty Phellows will roll on Friday night, but their streetcars will take the hybrid Canal/Riverfront route rather than their traditional run from Carrollton Station to Lee Circle and back. They leave Canal and Crozat at 7pm.
Posted by YatPundit at 11:20 AM | TrackBack
January 1, 2006
Website Changes for 2006
Happy New Year! I was at K-Mart in Metairie yesterday, and when I got back to the car, an elderly gentleman was waiting in between his car and mine for his family to come out of the store. I told him good morning, and he replied by saying "Happy New Year." I thanked him, wished him the same, and said "It can only get better than the one we're leaving." He replied "God willing, I'm sure you're right."
We're determined to make 2006 a better year for this newsletter as well, by expanding our coverage and presentation from Canal Street to all streetcars in the city, past and present. The name of the website and newsletter will stay the same, but we're going green as well as red now.
In addition to expanding the website's coverage, we're starting to add more photos to the website during the week. Since CanalStreetCar (dot com) was converted to using the Movable Type publishing platform, it's easier to add new articles. Over the last couple of years, we've collected a number of image files of streetcars that were either too small for print publication or for presentation as weekly features. We're going to start adding these to the website, so check there for some interesting streetcar stuff.
Trains! Since this newsletter and our website deal with the city's street railways, we decided to re-activate the website that started it all for us, Virtually New Orleans, to present images and stories that go beyond the scope of the streetcars (this site) or the cemeteries. (www.citiesofthedead.net). The site is www.vno.us. The regular weekly feature on VNO is "Train Thursday," where we're presenting images of New Orleans-related train stuff. The first two articles in this series were on the Crescent Limited and Panama Limited passenger trains.
Yats! My younger son, Kevin, has become quite the fan of Benny Grunch. He insisted we buy him Benny's new CD (which features the new song "A Tale of Two Cities,") and he's driving us all crazy singing "O Little Town of Destrehan." Well, last week, while recovering from Christmas dinner, I put together two posts for the first two "days of Christmas." They were so well-received on various forums that I've kept it up. Today is the 7th Yat of Christmas, which is the "17th Street Canal" in Benny's song. If you want to see the first seven and follow along until Twelfth Night, check out YatCuisine, my food blog for the "12 Yats of Christmas."
Posted by YatPundit at 11:03 PM | TrackBack
Feature Photo: 426 on St. Charles, Late 1910s
One of the "original" Perley A. Thomas streetcars, 426 was one of fifty streetcars purchased by the New Orleans Railway and Light Company for operations on the St. Charles and Tulane Belts, as well as the Jackson line. These streetcars were acquired from the Southern Car Company in St. Louis, MO. The NORy&L company liked the design of the original 400-series because it was "semi-convertible." This meant the cars could be converted from being fully closed to partially open-air by raising the thirteen windows on either side. The design was so well-received by the New Orleans transit authorities that Perley Thomas was able to leave Southern Car and start his own company, from which he sold the 800- and 900-series streetcars to NOPSI.
Like the 800s and 900s, the 400-series was designed for two-man operation, with a motorman in the front and a conductor in the rear. Passengers boarded in the rear, paid their fare to the conductor, then exited from the front.
This photo, shot by John Teunisson on St. Charles Avenue, shows 426 moving away from the photographer, on the uptown track. Note the "people catcher" that is raised on the end closest to the photographer, not in use because that end is the "back" of the streetcar at the moment.
The 400-series streetcars remained in service on the St. Charles and Tulane Belts until 1947, when they were replaced by the 800- and 900-series Perley A. Thomas streetcars.