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January 15, 2007
Feature Photo: Canal Station, 1963
800- and 900-series Perley Thomas streetcars on the outside tracks at Canal Station in 1963. These streetcars are parked on the outside storage tracks on the south side of the station (closer to White Street, to the right of the station if you're standing on Canal looking at it.) You can see the tracks in this aerial view of Canal Station.
Canal Station has always been a hotbed of activity, from the time the when the station included mule barns to now, where the A. Philip Randolph SIS facility is RTA's primary bus maintenance facility. Prior to the storm, Randolph was the home base of the red streetcars, the 2000 Von Dullens and the 400 Riverfronts. The 900s operating on the Canal/Riverfront hybrid line since the storm are now housed in the car barn behind the SIS facility.
When streetcars dominated the streets of the city, these six tracks were filled with off-duty cars from end-to-end. Even in 1963, when operations had been scaled down to just the Canal and St. Charles lines, they're still almost half-full. That's how many streetcars are required to handle the volume of riders on the city's main street.
After the Canal line was converted to bus operations in 1964, the outdoor tracks were ripped up and that section of the station was paved over and used as a bus parking lot.
I'm not sure about the source of this photo. I found it for sale on eBay, and unfortunately, lost the auction. If anyone knows more about it, please drop me a line.
Posted by YatPundit at January 15, 2007 06:50 PM
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