February 05, 2007

Feature Photo: "Palace" car on Esplanade

One of a series of Charles Franck photos shot in 1921, showing Palace car 605 running down Esplanade Avenue, checking neutral ground clearances. The New Orleans Railway and Light Company (later NOPSI) usually hired Franck for legal-related photography, so these shots are most likely related to either a lawsuit or (my guess) a request to the City Council for permission to clear low-hanging branches that were interfering with the Esplanade Avenue ROW. Neutral ground operations were obviously preferred to running in the street alongside horse-carriage and automobile traffic, but this type of operation still had its complications, most notably the beautiful trees that grace many of our wide streets.

The note on this photo indicates that 605 is approaching St. Claude Avenue. Notice the very large "people catcher" (there weren't many cows in downtown New Orleans) on the Palace cars. The running board for this car says "West End."

The Palace streetcars were some of the most luxurious cars ever operated in New Orleans. They were much roomier than the Perley Thomas cars, which is why they continued to run on the Canal and West End lines until well into the 1930s.

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January 29, 2007

Feature Photo - 1000s on St. Claude

NOPSI 1003, inbound on St. Claude Avenue at Mandeville St. The 1000 series ran on St. Claude from 1935 until the line's conversion to trackless trolleys in1949. The 1000s were the pinnacle of Perley Thomas' arch-roof design. They were built by both the St. Louis Car Co. and the Perley A. Thomas Company in 1928-1929. The 1000s had four high-performance motors, two more than the 800s and 900s.

The repairs taking place on St. Claude are most likely being done by a WPA-sponsored work crew. You can't help but wonder how many of them occasionally ran into that soda fountain on the corner for a break!

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January 22, 2007

Feature Photo: Monorail, 1950s Style

One of the proposals being floated in post-K New Orleans is the idea of "high speed rail" lines connecting anything from downtown to the airport, possibly going out as far as Baton Rouge. The 2000-series Von Dullen cars would actually do nicely for an express line to the airport, since they can do a good speed and their classic looks fit the city well, but the elevated monorail concept has also come up. But this isn't the first time New Orleans has considered a monorail.

During the post-WWII period, the mayor of New Orleans was deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison. Coming on the heels of the war and the old-style politics of the Maestri administration, Morrison was widely regarded as a progressive and a reformer. Chep's big vision was to make New Orleans essentially what Miami is now--the gateway to Central and South America. He worked hard at "internationalizing" New Orleans, even though most locals, rich, poor, black, and white, weren't all that interested.

Still, Morrison pressed forward with his ideas, particularly in the area of modernizing the city's infrastructure. Morrison made the concept of a single passenger railroad station a reality (there were five of them before the Union Passenger Termainal on Loyola Avenue was built). He invested in a major repair and beautification program for Canal Street in the 1950s. And, sadly, it was Morrison and his people who allowed NOPSI to replace the remaining post-war streetcar lines with buses, finally to the point where even the Canal streetcar line was discontinued.

Not all of Morrison's ideas were accepted, however. When the federal government began the planning for the Interstate Highway System, Morrison was a supporter of the "riverfront expressway" concept, which would have ruined the French Quarter. Morrison was less interested with the past than the future, though. One of the ultra-modern concepts proposed by Morrison was a "monorail" train that would originate at the Union Passenger Terminal and end at Moisant Field in Kenner, Louisiana. The cost was prohibitive, however--elevated piers and track aren't cheap. The artist's conception above was developed in 1959. Monorails have evolved conceptually since the late 50s into the trains we see at DisneyLand/World and many airports across the world.

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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.

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January 09, 2007

Feature Photo: Bobtail on Esplanade

A mule-drawn "bobtail" car, turning off of Decatur for its outbound run up Esplanade Avenue. This is car #136 of the New Orleans City Railroad, operating either on their "French Market," "Esplanade and French Market," or "Levee and French Market" line.

The "bobtail" cars, manufactured by the John Stephenson Car Company of New York, were operated by all of the street railway companies prior to electrification. The NOCRR cars operating along Decatur Street and Esplanade Avenues were painted red and yellow. This is one of the reasons RTA chose red for the revival of the Riverfront line in 1988.Unlike other parts of the country, streetcar operators in New Orleans used mules to pull their cars rather than horses. Mules can work longer shifts in the heat and humidity of New Orleans' summer.

Dating photos with bobtail cars can be problematical, since they started operation in the 1860s and continued to run until electrification in the 1890s. The electric pole in front of the US Mint building narrows it down to the 1890s. The building in the background as the streetcar rounds the corner is the United States Mint located in New Orleans. Now referred to by locals as the "Old US Mint."

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January 01, 2007

Feature Photo: Hope for the New Year

Tradition has it that you always want to start the new year off on a positive note. Since seeing the "red ladies" back on Canal and the Riverfront this year would be a huge positive for the city, here's a shot of Carrollton Cars 458 and 463, along with Von Dullen car 2019 at the French Market from 2004.

Both the 400s and the 2000s sustained water damage from the canal breaches in the aftermath of the storm. In September, the 400s were moved by truck from Randolph to Carrollton, and work has begun on rebuilding them. FEMA has given RTA $21.6 million to repair our streetcars. RTA estimates that it will cost between $800K and $1million apiece to get them back on the street. Even the 400s require extensive repairs because of the wheelchair lifts in the cars.

The 2000-series Von Dullen cars are more complicated. While they have the arched roof of the 900s and 400s, the internals of the 2000s have more in common with modern Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) like you see in San Diego or Baltimore. The flooding really messed up their electronics as well as the propulsion and trucks. RTA is working with Brookville to work out a plan of attack for their repair. It'll take longer for the 2000s to return to Canal, but hopefully the 400s will be operational this year.

Happy New Year!

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February 19, 2006

Feature Photo: Lit Up for Carnival!

From around 1910, this photo by Teunisson is of the New Orleans Railway and Light Company headquarters building on Baronne in the CBD. NO Rwy & Lt. Co. was the immediate predecessor to NOPSI. It was the city's attempt to bring the management of all the street railways in New Orleans together. Prior to the formation of this company, various entrepeneurs started street railway service to different parts of town. By the 20th Century, the city's transit system had become more complex. The problems were made worse because some of the operating companies were poorly financed, others experienced technical difficulties, with equipment and rail gauge. When the street railway lines were electrified, purchasing electric power made the financial situation for several operating companies worse.

The city government stepped in and began efforts to unify the transit system. Since streetcars were the biggest consumer of electricity at the time, it made sense for the electric company to also run the streetcars. By 1922, the consolidation was complete and New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated, began operations.

This building on the corner of Baronne and Common Streets, served as NOPSI headquarters for years.

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February 14, 2006

Feature Photo - Von Dullens at Randolph

From 2004, a bit of a fast-forward from last week's Feature Photo. The streetcar service and storage areas at Canal Station were converted entirely to bus operations in 1964. By the 1990s, the facility needed a total upgrade, so the original station buildings were torn down and the Randolph SIS constructed on the site. When RTA brought streetcars back to Canal, a new barn had to be built.

The new barn is behind the 1990s-vintage Randolph SIS facility. Streetcars enter on the side of the SIS building near N. Gayoso St. The tracks are on RTA property rather than actually on Gayoso, and there's a wall separating the facility from Warren Easton High School. The entrance is double-track, one going in, one coming out. The incoming track curves to the rear of the barn, and the streetcars exit from the front.

This shot is of the rear of the barn, with four 2000-series Von Dullen streetcars lined up on storage tracks. The 2000s are still in storage there, awaiting funds to begin the repair/rebuild process.

NOTE: The Feature Photo is late this week because I was up at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, F&AM.

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February 05, 2006

Feature Photo: Canal Station, 1964

Streetcars in line at Canal Station in 1964.

This is a Wilbur T. Golson photo found on the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum's website. The PTM acquired Perley A. Thomas streetcar #832 in 1964, when the 800-series and many of the 900-series streetcars were scrapped. The photo is of Canal Station, looking from the corner of N. White and Bienville Streets. 832 is second from the right. This is the "back" of Canal Station, with the "front" facing Canal Street.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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January 08, 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.

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December 18, 2005

Feature Photo: Service Returns

Perley A. Thomas streetcar #930 at Canal and Liberty last week, in the first test run of a streetcar since the storm. Decorated for the holiday season, 930 was pulled by a pickup truck from Carrollton Station on the St. Charles tracks to Canal Street. There the streetcar was powered up and initially ran to the three-track terminal at the foot of Canal. Satisfied that the overhead was working properly, RTA allowed the streetcar to continue up Canal Street to Liberty Street, where it switched back to the inbound track.

The testing went so well that RTA approved limited operations of six Perley Thomas streetcars on a hybrid line consisting of the Riverfront trackage and a portion of the Canal line. Regular streetcar service returned to New Orleans this morning (18-December) at 7am, when 930 left the French Market terminal for Canal Street.

The 900s will run on the hybrid line at least through March of 2006 for free.

One of New Orleans' most important icons is back. Things are improving.

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December 05, 2005

Feature Photo - Southport Shuttle, 1929.

With Skoda Electric proposing to help the city's transit system and economy if RTA will consider using trolley buses, let's go back to the beginning of electric bus operations in New Orleans. One of the first "trackless trolleys" to run in New Orleans passes Mater Delorosa church on S. Carrollton Avenue in December of 1929. The line was the "Southport Shuttle," which ran from Oak Street, then turned onto S. Carrollton Avenue. Electric bus service was expanded in the 1940s, as New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI) phased out streetcar lines. The electric buses were a bit of a compromise, using the trolley wires from the streetcars, but with brand-new buses instead of the older streetcars.

The original electric buses were housed at Carrollton Station. When the bus system expanded, they were also stationed at Arabella Station on Magazine Street (this station is now the site of Uptown's Whole Foods Grocery store).

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November 27, 2005

Feature Photo - CKD/Tatra Car in New Orleans

In the late-1990s, the plan to return streetcars to Canal Street was kicking into gear. The team at Carrollton Station was tasked with fabricating a series of LRVs in the style of the 900-series Perley A. Thomas cars. One of the possibilities they considered was to use the trucks and propulsion system of the PCC-style cars from CKD/Tatra of the Czech Republic. This photo is of the demo car that CKD sent over for Elmer Von Dullen's crew to evaluate, parked in the Carrollton barn. The car made a number of runs out of Carrollton Station, down St. Charles to Canal Street.

While it was only a few demo runs, the CKD car marked the first time a (sort-of) PCC streetcar ever ran on Canal Street. RTA acquired several PCC cars in the mid-1990s, when they were planning the 400-series Riverfront streetcars. They didn't go in that direction, however, choosing to use CKD trucks for the first update the Perley Thomas streetcars since the 1000-series was built. One of the PCCs was taken out for a couple of runs from the Carrollton barn to Lee Circle and back, but that was the extend of their use in New Orleans. The acquisition of the 800, 900, and 1000-series streetcars was

Even in their heyday, NOPSI never considered using PCC streetcars. The primary reason was the company's financial committment to the Perley Thomas cars. They were viewed as a 50-year investment when purchased, and by the 1950s, the company was pushing to discontinue the use of streetcars altogether. Additionally, most PCCs are single-ended, which meant that a number of modifications to the existing track system would have to be made to allow them to turn around. While researching the book I found a diagram of some of those changes that NOPSI included in a presentation to the City Council to convince them that the best course was discontinuing streetcar operations.

One of the things that that's happening in the aftermath of the storm is the thought streetcar fans are giving to possibilities for streetcars in New Orleans. Rest assured that there are folks from RTA that read this newsletter and our website, as well as monitor the various trolley/streetcar mailing lists out there. Keep the ideas and discussion coming!

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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.)

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November 13, 2005

Feature Photo: 2000-Series Construction

From 2003: Von Dullen car 2015, on Jeanette Street, behind Carrollton Station. The streetcar has painted and detailed, and now is being moved into the main car barn, where the interior and electrical system will be installed.

This scene will no doubt be repeated before the Von Dullen cars are returned to service on the Canal Line. With the car barn on Canal Street taking up to 2' of water, the trucks and motors were flooded, and the paint jobs on all the 2000-series and 400-series streetcars were damaged. It's unclear yet whether or not the motors were permanently damaged; they're built to get wet, of course, from rain and standing water on the tracks, but being totally immersed for days is not what the designers had in mind.

If the streetcars can return to Carrollton Station under their own power, they still have obstacles to hurdle--literally. The damage to catenary and electrical poles on St. Charles and Carrollton Avenues is extensive. That may mean the "red ladies" will have to be trucked back to Carrollton Station for repairs and a fresh coat of paint.

Photo shot with a Nikon EM and a 35-75mm lens.

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November 07, 2005

Feature Photo, 6-Nov-2005: "Palace" Cars at the Barn

"Palace" car 012, parked on one of the outside storage tracks at Canal Station. Made by the American Car Company of St. Louis, the luxurious "Palace" cars ran on the Canal and West End lines, as well as the Canal Belt and Esplanade Belt lines. 012's route sign indicates that it's running on the Canal Belt, dating this picture at somewhere between 1915 and 1925.

The "Palace" cars were roomier than the 800/900-series Perley Thomas streetcars that replaced them. The broad monitor deck on the roof also provided excellent airflow throughout the streetcar. The "Palace" cars were acquired by the New Orleans City RR Co., and were merged into the NOPSI fleet when that company was created in 1922. They continued in service until 1935.

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October 31, 2005

Feature Photo: 30-October-2005

The St. Charles Avenue Bus:

Buses have been pressed into service at various times during the history of the St. Charles Streetcar line, usually when there has been a wreck on the line, or when major repairs disrupt streetcar service. Hurricane Katrina damaged enough of the catenary wires and poles on St. Charles that the 900-series Perley Thomas streetcars have to stay in the barn for now. The old green streetcars weathered the storm just fine, but the massive damage to the city done by the storms means that restoring streetcar service is not a very high priority for either RTA or city government.

So, we've got bus service on the St. Charles Line for the forseeable future. This is a shot of the only bus running on the line last week, at the end of the line at S. Carrollton and Claiborne Avenues.

Here's the bus making the turn through Lee Circle, on an outbound run to Palmer Park.

Another shot of the St. Charles bus at Palmer Park.

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August 21, 2005

Crossing St. Charles

Crossing St. Charles...

Von Dullen streetcar 2020 has just cleared the intersection at Canal Street at St. Charles Avenue. The streetcar is on the “inbound” track, heading for the river. The early morning sun is sneaking past the World Trade Center and the two large hotels a couple of blocks up to partially illuminate 2020. The bulk of commuters who work in the CBD have not begun to fill Canal Street just yet.

For years, Canal Street has not been the hub of commuter traffic coming into downtown for the business work day. Poydras Street has taken over that dubious distinction. Many of the large office buildings in the CBD are located on Poydras, and that street has its own exit off of I-10, so it’s natural for car traffic to flow there. Canal Street is making a commuter comeback, however, because of the streetcars. The increase in the number of hotels in the CBD and Warehouse district has put a pinch on many parking lots and garages. Prices for parking have gone up dramatically, because hotels know they can get away with charging guests double or triple what a commuter is willing to pay. To fight the high prices, many commuters have gone to parking further down on Canal Street, or even Canal Blvd., and taking the streetcar into town. With a monthly RTA pass, the cost of riding the streetcar is minimal compared to downtown parking rates. And you don’t have to drive in the CBD.

Behind 2020 as it makes its way to the river is the Pickwick Club. The Pickwick Club is a private luncheon club that is closely affiliated with the Mystic Krewe of Comus, the carnival organization that held the first Carnival parade in New Orleans. Many Carnival parades would pause here to toast the members of the Pickwick Club, and the club would allow the queens and courts of other krewes to view their parades from their balcony.

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December 26, 2004

Snow on Canal Street, 1963

Snow on Canal Street, 1963

It only seems fitting that we should have white stuff on the ground this winter. The last time the Canal Line operated in wintertime was in the winter of 1963-64, and that was a white one as well. Even when it snows in New Orleans, it never amounts to much, but the little bit that falls usually spells trouble for anyone trying to drive in the city.

Tuesday, December 31, 1963, was a nasty, gloomy day that was capped off with freezing rain and snow. The Streets department of city government doesn’t have the infrastructure set up to deal with ice and snow on the roads. There’s no point to it, considering it usually only happens once every ten or so years. So, when the white stuff comes down, things get complicated.

This photo was shot at the corner of Camp and Canal Streets. Four snow-dusted Perley Thomas streetcars are heading riverbound, waiting for their turn to loop around Liberty Place and head back to the Cemeteries. Two streetcars are on the outbound track on the other side of Magazine Street. A trolley bus on the Magazine Line is turning onto Canal from Camp for its one block appearance on Canal before turning back up Magazine Street and the outbound run. Just to the right of the trolley bus is the snow-covered sign of Waterburys Drugstore. The location is now part of the Sheraton Canal Street Hotel. The flower boxes that were constructed where the two outside streetcar tracks during the 1957-58 renovation of Canal Street are visible in the neutral ground. The Custom House looms in the background as it does in many photos of Canal Street.

The traffic heading towards the river is stacking up because the city closed the bridge that afternoon. That meant anyone trying to get to the West Bank had to take the ferry. It was a rough evening for commuters, but any inconvenience was balanced out by waking up to real snow and winter fun on New Year’s Day the next morning!

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December 12, 2004

Mr. Bingle

Mr. Bingle

”Jingle Jangle Jingle,
Here Comes Mister Bingle.
With another message from Kris Kringle

As you shop this Christmas season,
Maison Blanche makes Christmas pleasin’.
Gifts galore for you and me,
Each of them from...MB.”

Anyone who grew up in New Orleans in the late 50s through the 1960s should remember that little song. Mr. Bingle would make regular appearances on morning kids’ programs like Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo to encourage kids to get their parents to bring them downtown to see Santa and shop at Maison Blanche. (Mister Bingle = MB = Maison Blanche).

Who is Mister Bingle? He’s a little guy, a snowman with holly angel-wings, blue eyes, a big red nose, candy-striped gloves, and an ice cream cone for a hat. To kids he was a puppet who appeared each Christmas season on TV commercials, and was in the big displays at the main MB store on Canal and Dauphine in the CBD.

As we show you here a couple of weeks ago, the Maison Blanche department store was a fixture on Canal Street for a century. The building that now houses the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is familiar to most New Orleanians over 30 as the store where you could see Mr. Bingle in the front window at Christmas time. MB was a classic department store, with big picture windows on the ground floor. The toy department was up on the fifth floor of the store. Mr. Bingle was up there as well, in a walk-through display that led right up to where Santa sat. In the late 1980s, the window displays on the ground floor were a bit outdated, and MB brought out the giant Mr. Bingle you see in the photo each Christmas.

Maison Blanche has vanished from the retail landscape, having been bought out by Dillard’s in the late 1990s. Mister Bingle lives on, however, as a spokesman for Dillard’s. It’s just not the same, though, even though Dillard’s used to hang up the big Mr. Bingle on the side of their store at Lakeside Mall. Gone are the days when MB and D. H. Holmes were the Macy’s and Gimbel’s of New Orleans. Still, the memory of that little guy lives on. There’s even a novel, Saving Mr. Bingle, by Sean Doles, where he’s one of the main characters.

So, while you’re running through Target, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart, sitting in front of your PC ordering from the almost-unlimited retail choices on the Internet, take a look back to when you rode the streetcar downtown to see Mister Bingle in the window...

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December 05, 2004

Carrollton Station

Carrollton Station

Carrollton Station is the oldest RTA facility in the city. Built in 1893 by the New Orleans & Carrollton R.R. Co., it has serviced streetcars, trolley buses, and diesel buses. Today, Carrollton Station is the main service and construction facility for all three of RTA’s streetcar lines. The barn is located between Willow and Jeanette Streets, from Dublin to Dante Streets.

This Earl Hampton photo shows three Von Dullen cars at various stages of assembly in 2003. The cars were built from scratch at Carrollton Station, in the shop building closer to Dante Street. After being painted, the cars were then moved to the maintenance tracks in the main barn, which is where they are in this photo. Car 2008 has its trolley poles installed, but the monitor deck and A/C unit are not yet in place on the roof.

Now that the Von Dullen cars are in service, their home is the A. Philip Randolph SIS facility on Canal Street. Carrollton Station now looks more like it did in the 1970s, when all it serviced was the St. Charles Line. All of the “red ladies” of the Canal and Riverfront lines call Canal Street their permanent home. The 2000- and 400-series cars do come back to Carrollton Station for overhauls and major repairs, though.

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November 28, 2004

Maison Blanche, 1890s

Maison Blanche, 1890s

The first building to occupy the corner of Canal and Dauphine Streets was the original Christ Church Episcopal church. The church’s chapter sold the property to Isidore Newman in the mid 1890s and built the lovely cathedral that still stands at St. Charles Avenue and Sixth Street. Newman demolished the original church building and constructed his first Maison Blanche department store on the site. This is that first store building. This building remained on the corner from 1898 until 1910, when it was demolished to make way for the second Maison Blanche building, which now houses the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The streetcars in this photo are an interesting mix. On the left-hand side is one of the unpowered trailers used on the West End excursion line. Single-truck Brill cars are operating on the inside tracks, and a Ford, Bacon & Davis single-truck car is on the right-hand outside track. You can tell the difference in the single-truck cars by the size of the upper deck--the Brills have a much smaller upper decks than the FB&D car. The FB&D car is the same type as RTA streetcar #29, the subject of last week’s feature photo.

Notice all the horse-drawn carriages and wagons pulled up in front of the store. Angle parking on Canal Street lasted long after automobiles replaced the horses, into the 1930s.

Credit for this photo goes to H. George Friedman’s wonderful Canal Streetcar history site.

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November 21, 2004

Car 29 Restored

Car 29 Restored

Streetcar #29, the last 1898 Ford, Bacon & Davis single-truck streetcar in existence, fell victim to a controller fire several months ago. The damage was extensive enough that the craftsmen at Carrollton Station decided to do almost a total re-build of the car. This photo, taken two weeks ago, shows #29 just out of the paint shop and almost ready to resume her role as the “sand car” on the RTA trackage.

There were originally about 350 FB&D streetcars working the rails in New Orleans. The single-truck design enabled the FB&Ds to maneuver on the secondary lines where the larger, double-truck carw would have encountered difficulties. So commonplace were the FB&Ds that they can be found in many of the photos of Canal Street in Ed’s book. While the “Palace” and Perley Thomas cars worked the main Canal Line, the FB&Ds can be seen popping onto Canal Street on the outside tracks for a block or two, before returning on their outbound runs to the outskirts of town.

All but one FB&D streetcar were scrapped by the 1930s. Streetcar #29 was kept on by NOPSI as a rail grinder car, then later was equiped to deposit sand on the rails to improve traction on wet days. Number 29 also gets a lot of work at Carnival time, running slowly in front of the 900-series streetcars, checking the St. Charles Avenue trackage after parades.

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November 14, 2004

Good Morning!

Good Morning!

Three Von Dullen cars in the three-track terminal at the foot of Canal Street at about 7:30am on a weekday morning. The car on the left is approaching on the outbound track. The center car is stopped, and the operator will soon change the trolley poles to head outbound. The Canal Line’s schedule is modified during peak hours to keep more streetcars running on Canal Street itself, rather than making the turn onto the Riverfront Line to go to the French Market. There just aren’t that many tourists at 7:30am, so the focus is getting people to and from work. The car on the right will most likely continue through the turn onto the Riverfront Line tracks.

Behind the right-hand car, you can barely see a RTA supervisor, keeping an eye on the flow along the line. Unlike many cities where streetcar lines are historical or novelty operations, the streetcars on the Canal Line have fully assumed their responsibility as the hub line for New Orleans’ public transit system.

The World Trade Center rises in the background, with Harrah’s on the right.

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October 24, 2004

The Rivergate

The Rivergate

Up until the late 1960s, the foot of Canal Street was a mishmash of light industrial buildings, wharves, streetcar and railroad tracks, and open space. Under the mayoral administration of Victor Schiro, plans were developed to clear several blocks just off of Canal and the river for a convention center. Carrying on the themes started by his predecessor, “Chep” Morrison, Schiro put a lot of effort into showing the world that New Orleans was good for business and conventions as well as being “the city that care forgot.”

The design of The Rivergate reflects its proximity to the Mississippi, with the wavy roof and sides. The building was considered quite the architectural gem at the time. In 1969, the Krewe of Bacchus was formed, and the krewe used The Rivergate to hold their post-parade supper dance. The facility was large enough that the floats were brought into the building, to the delight of the party-goers.

By the 1980s, the city’s reputation as a major convention destination had long been established. The combination of The Rivergate on one end of downtown and the Superdome on the other gave us a lot of clout in attracting the big meetings. Still, Da Dome has its quirks and complications (not the least of which is that its primary function is indeed as a sports stadium). There were a number of conventions that passed up New Orleans because The Rivergate was too small. This was one of the main motivations the city had for holding a World’s Fair in 1984. The main exhibition hall of the Fair was constructed to be a replacement convention facility. It’s become all that and more, as the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is now the city’s premier convention hall.

With the construction of the Morial Convention Center, The Rivergate’s usage dropped off dramatically. When the state decided to legalize casino gambling, several plans for a casino for New Orleans included renovating The Rivergate and use it as a gambling hall. The plan submitted by Harrah’s and developer Christopher Hemmeter called for tearing down The Rivergate. That plan was accepted, and the building was torn down to make way for what now is Harrah’s Casino.

This photo is looking riverbound, showing The Rivergate and what was then called the International Trade Mart (now the World Trade Center). The streetcar tracks were ripped up from Canal Street (on the left) in 1964, and the Liberty Monument was in storage by this time. Spanish Plaza and the Riverwalk don’t exist yet; Spanish Plaza was constructed in 1974 and the Riverwalk was part of the 1984 World’s Fair. In the background, the SS President riverboat is barely visible at the top of the photo.

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October 17, 2004

Not Your Grandfather's Streetcar

Not Your Grandfather’s Streetcar

On the old Perley Thomas 800- and 900- series cars, the operator controls the car with two handles, a throttle and a brake. The 2000-series Von Dullen streetcars are quite different, with a control panel that is similar in style to most modern light rail vehicles. The throttle that moves the car forward is just to the left of the main control panel.

Power for the 2000-series cars still comes from the 600-VDC power lines that have powered streetcars in New Orleans for over a century. So, in spite of all the modern features and controls on our new streetcars, they still move up and down Canal Street just like their predecessors. This is, of course, why they also easily merge onto the St. Charles Line to get back to the Carrollton barn. You’ll also notice that the new streetcars also have a key-lock, to keep someone from just jumping in and taking one down the street.

This control panel is inside car 2014, shot at the Canal Street stop on the Riverfront Line, just before turning for its outbound run up Canal.

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September 26, 2004

The "Other" Canal Line

The “Other” Canal Line

Perley Thomas streetcar number 914, running on the West End Line. The West End Line was arguably the first “express” line on Canal Street, because the line only had six stops between downtown and the Half Way House on City Park Avenue.

This photo, from the 1940s, shows 914 running lakebound on Canal, at Basin Street. The Maison Blanche Building (now the Ritz-Carlton Hotel) is in the background.

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September 19, 2004

Canal and the River

Canal and the River

A Von Dullen car is making the turn from the Riverfront trackage running along the Mississippi River to Canal Street, continuing on the outbound leg of its run. The streetcar began this run at the French Market terminal, and will go up to the Cemeteries terminal at Canal Street and City Park Avenue.

This photo, shot from the elevated pedestrian walkway that leads to the Algiers Ferry landing, shows just how much activity exists at the foot of Canal. The large building in the background is Harrah’s Casino. On the left, is an Entergy power sub-station. This location was the site of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad’s passenger station for decades, prior to 1952 when it was torn down.

In the foreground there are three sets of tracks. The first two sets of track are for the Riverfront line. The 400-series streetcars run from Julia Street to French Market here. The third track is the narrower “standard” gague, for trains servicing the riverfront’s wharves on the New Orleans Public Belt line.

In the wake of Hurricane Ivan, it’s important to point out the big concrete walls in the right foreground. These are part of the city’s floodwall system along the river. When flood waters from the river or storm surge from a hurricane threaten downtown, the gates in this floodwall system are closed tight, providing an added layer of protection to the city’s historic treasures.

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September 12, 2004

Streetcars in the Train Garden

Streetcars in the Train Garden

A green Perley Thomas car on the “St. Charles” line passes car 2002 on “Canal Street” on the train layout in the New Orleans Botanical Garden in City Park. Known to locals for decades as “The Rose Garden,” The NOBG is now a very important part of City Park’s splendor. The original Rose Garden dates back to 1936, when the Park was the beneficiary of a number of WPA projects (such as the lagoons and various buildings around the lagoons). The current Botanical Garden is a wonderful extension of the Rose Garden that offers a number of attractions. During the holiday season, the NOBG is the focal point of the walking tour portion of the “Celebration in the Oaks” light display in the park.

The Train Garden is a fascinating part of the NOBG. These aren’t just any train models. The layout is G-scale, which is four times larger than the typical HO-scale home train set. The track and cars are from LGB, a German toy train company. LGB makes a wide selection of G-scale engines and cars, among which is a model of a Perley Thomas streetcar. The hobbyists who have created the Train Garden’s layout took one of the standard green streetcars, painted it red, and numbered it “2002” to make it a Von Dullen car. They’ve also changed the running boards on one of the cars to show that car operating on the “West End” line.

The structures in the Train Garden are also quite interesting, because they’re not simply plastic kits. All of the buildings are made of botanical materials. The layout is loosely organized by neighborhoods, such as Uptown, the CBD, the Lakefront, and Gentilly. They even have a steam passenger train lettered for the “Pontchartrain RR. Co.” running as the “Smokey Mary” out to “Milneburg.”

The Train Garden is in the back corner of the NOBG, which is in City Park. Visitors who ride the Carrollton Spur of the Canal Line to the end of the line at Beauregard Circle can get to the NOBG by walking past the New Orleans Museum of Art and its lovely Sculpture Garden behind the Museum, into the center of the park, where they’ll see the entrance to the garden complex. The NOBG is open Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays, from 10am to 4:30pm. Adult admission is $5. (Admission to City Park itself is free).

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September 05, 2004

The 1929 Strike, Part 2

The 1929 Strike - Part 2

There have been a number of job actions by labor against management in the history of public transit in New Orleans, but none was as serious or as historically important as the strike of 1929. The strike was the subject of our July 4, 2004, Feature Photo, but since this is Labor Day weekend, here’s another view of that time.

The beginning of any strike is usually a period highly charged with emotion, and the first week of July in 1929 was no exception. The photo above shows a group of NOPSI motormen and their sons posing for a photo as they parade around the neighborhood. The law firms working for NOPSI at the time hired a couple of photographers to document the actions of the strikers, which is why we have a number of interesting pictures showing strike-related damage.

Strikes are stories of human drama. Sometimes they’re true David-and-Goliath stories, other times they’re more about clashes of executive egos on both sides of the bargaining table. In either case, let’s take this Labor Day to acknowledge the hard work and effort over the decades of the men and women of Local 1560 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, as well as their counterparts in management for both NOPSI and RTA. They have all kept the buses and streetcars running as best as they can, and that’s something of which they can be very proud.

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August 29, 2004

Beauregard Terminal

Beauregard Terminal

The Carrollton Spur comes to an end at Beauregard Circle. This is the intersection of Wisner Blvd. with City Park and Esplanade Avenues. It’s named for P.G.T. Beauregard, who was a Confederate general as well as a leading citizen of Louisiana after the Civil War. Just to the left of car 2016 in this photo is the traffic circle, with a statue of Beauregard mounted on a horse.

The building looming in the background of the photo is the Parc Esplanade apartments, which are actually on the other side of Bayou St. John from the streetcar terminal. This area is no stranger to streetcars; the Canal and Esplanade Belt lines ran past here, and there used to be a car barn on the other side of the bayou, across from where the apartment building now stands.

The Beauregard Terminal is an important stop on the Canal Line, because it enables folks attending the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds racetrack to ride from downtown to this point, walk up Esplanade a few blocks, and turn into the Mystery Street entrance of the track for Da Fest. Sure, you could have taken the Esplanade bus from downtown, but the streetcars make the ride so much more fun. In addition to going to Da Fest, riders can go to City Park with all its attractions on a daily basis, as well as walking up to St. Louis Cemetery Number Three and Degas House on Esplanade, or over to Pitot House on Moss Street, along the bayou.

Unlike the Cemeteries Terminal, Beauregard Terminal is a two-track terminal. It’s different from the end of the St. Charles Line at Claiborne Avenue, however, because the two tracks from Carrollton Avenue merge to one for half a block, then split out into the two terminal tracks. The reason for this is that there is a large oak tree just out of view to the right of the photo. Rather than rip up a beautiful old tree, RTA re-designed the run up to the terminal. The two-tracks-to-one configuration can create some slowdowns when there are a lot of cars working the spur (such as at JazzFest time), but this isn’t an issue on a daily basis.

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August 22, 2004

The "Bobtail" Cars

The “Bobtail” Cars

The very first streetcars to operate on the Canal Line were built by the John Stephenson Car Company of New York. The cars were designed for one-man operation. The rounded front end was for the driver; passengers boarded from the rear on a set of “bobtail” steps.

We don’t have any builders’ specifications on these cars, but they appear to be similar in length to a 7-window, single-truck electric car. That puts their length at approximately 28’. They most likely seated 26-28 passengers.

The Stephenson cars were usually horse-powered, but mules were the primary power for the cars in New Orleans. Mules are tougher workers in New Orleans’ summer heat and humidity.

The photo above is of an Orleans RR Company car, running on the Bayou St. John Line. While it’s not a car on the Canal line, it’s one of the best photos available showing detail of the Stephenson car. The car is sitting on top of a turntable. Since these were single-ended cars, the operator would pull the mule and spin the car around on the turntable for the return trip.

Stephenson cars running on the Canal Line were painted red and white, to distinguish them from the cars on other lines. Since these first streetcars on Canal were red, running red streetcars on the modern Canal Line isn’t a stretch historically.

The Stephenson cars ran on Canal from the line’s opening in 1861 until its electrification in 1894. They were brought out of retirement during the snowfall of December, 1865, because the animal-powered cars could navigate the snow and slush better than the new electric cars.

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August 15, 2004

Busy Afternoon!

Busy Afternoon!

I was early to pick up my son from Brother Martin High School out in Gentilly last Thursday, so I passed by the Cemeteries terminal to see what was going on. I caught three Von Dullen cars maneuvering at end of Canal Street. On the left, car 2011 has just pulled out of the single-track terminal. Notice the low, yellow barriers on either side of car 2012. Those barriers separate the neutral ground from the street. This illustrates clearly how the beginning of the inbound track is actually in the left-hand traffic lane of Canal Street. The city wisely installed a traffic signal (visible just above car 2011 on the left) so the car operators can stop auto traffic turning onto Canal from City Park Avenue, allowing the riverbound cars to proceed out of the terminal track onto the inbound track.

As 2011 pulls away, car 2020 is waiting to take its place on the terminal track. The operator has already unloaded passengers during the wait for the terminal to clear. He’ll pull the car onto the single track, switch the trolley poles, board passengers, and pull out to return downtown. Then the third car, 2012 (on the right in the foreground) will follow the same process.

It’s unusual for three streetcars to be bunched at the terminal like this. Car 2011 was definitely behind schedule, because there was a RTA supervisor at the terminal, telling the operator not to dawdle and to move out. The time was around 4pm, so the supervisor naturally wants things to run smooth during rush hour.

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August 08, 2004

The Morris Cars

The Morris Cars

This week, we’re kicking off a new section of CanalStreetCar (dot com), “The Streetcars of the Canal Line.” We’re starting with the Morris Cars because they were the first streetcars built here in New Orleans. The craftsmen and mechanics who worked for the New Orleans City Railroad company at Canal Station had experience with building trailer cars (essentially non-powered streetcars), and the Morris Cars were the next logical step for them. The cars are named after E. J. Morris, who was Master Mechanic of the shops at Canal Station. The cars are listed as being built by the New Orleans Railways Company, because The NOCRR merged into the NO Rys. Co. in 1902. The design of the Morris cars was based on the Barney & Smith cars in use by the New Orleans City R.R. on the West End line.

The Morris cars were 52 feet long and just over 8 feet wide. They seated 64 riders. Originally they were built with open platforms on either end. They were numbered 046 to 057, following in sequence behind the original “Palace” cars.

This photo of car 055 shows it running on the Canal Belt line. The open platform indicates that the photo was shot before the Morris Cars were re-fitted with closed platforms in 1904. The Morris Cars were renumbered 513 to 524 in 1917. Cars 519-524 had their motors removed in 1918 and pulled by powered cars as trailers on the Canal-Cemeteries line. The motorized cars were removed from service and scrapped from 1921-24, with 518 being kept on until 1931. The trailers were scrapped from 1930-32.

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August 02, 2004

Heading Back Downtown

Heading Back Downtown

This shot of Car 2002 crossing Bernadotte street heading back downtown provides a good contrast between layout of the Canal Street neutral ground on the old line as shown in last week’s feature photo. Unlike the large, wooden telephone poles that used to support the overhead catenary wire which powers the streetcars, the new streetcars get their juice from steel poles set in the neutral ground. This combined with the new landscaping running from Prieur St. to the cemeteries has reinvigorated the look of Canal outside the CBD.

This photo also gives a good view of the design of the Von Dullen cars. It’s clear when viewing the cars from the end that the monitor deck on top the roof is strictly ornamental; on standard semi-convertible cars, the monitor deck actually had working windows. The 2000-series upper deck simply hides the air conditioning unit from view. The arch roof design has been continued in the new cars, as is seen here.

The route signs on this run are set as follows: In the center is the name of the line on which the car is running, “CANAL.” On the left side of the photo (the operator’s right), is the destination of the car. This says “CEMETERIES.” Since the car just left the Cemeteries Terminal and is heading riverbound, the operator should have changed the sign to say “FRENCH MARKET.” The sign in the right-hand side of the photo (the operator’s left) is the number of the run. Since it says “12,” that means car 2002 was the twelfth car to leave the barn that morning.

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July 25, 2004

Canal and Galvez, 1964

Canal and Galvez, 1964

The leaves have returned to the trees on Canal and the spring flowers are blooming. Other changes are taking place on Canal Street as well. The inside auto lanes on either side of the neutral ground have been widened in anticipation of bus service on the Canal Street line. The new concrete on the outbound side of the street is visible at right. There’s a bus just visible heading riverbound, most likely just leaving Canal Station to head uptown to the start of its route.

Two Perley Thomas cars have just passed each other. The one in the foreground is heading towards the river and the one in the background is heading towards the cemeteries. NOPSI still used two-man operation at this time; single-man operation did not start until the 1970s.

When NOPSI made the case to the city to discontinue the Canal line in the early 1960s, one of the reasons put forward was that the wooden electrical poles could be removed from the Canal Street neutral ground. Unlike the new line’s metal poles, the old Canal line relied on wooden electrical poles that towered high above the streetcars. The notion of getting rid of those unsightly poles was yet another nail in the Canal line’s coffin. (Photo courtesy of Earl Hampton).

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July 18, 2004

Canal and Carrollton

Canal and Carrollton

Von Dullen Car 2011, turning from N. Carrollton Avenue onto the riverbound Canal track, for a run into downtown. Unlike the original Canal line, the modern line includes a spur that branches off at N. Carrollton Ave. and runs down Carrollton to City Park, where it ends in a two-track terminal.

This is the first time in New Orleans history that streetcars have run on N. Carrollton Avenue. The neutral ground on Carrollton isn’t big enough to handle two-track operation, so the cars run in the inside traffic lanes along the spur. The spur services riders from the neighborhood and brings visitors staying downtown out to City Park and the New Orleans Museum of Art. It’s also not that far of a walk to St. Louis Cemetery Number Three on Esplanade Avenue or Pitot House on Moss Street. A rider with a VisiTour 1-day or 3-day pass can also re-create the days of the Canal Belt line by transferring to the Esplanade bus and riding back downtown along the tree-lined avenue that is the downriver boundary of the French Quarter.

For those who don’t want to immediately return to the CBD, N. Carrollton Avenue offers a host of restaurants, cafes, shops, and tourist sites. We’ll be featuring a number of these both here on the website and in the CanalStreetCar (dot com) Weekly newsletter.

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July 11, 2004

The Canal Barn

The Canal Barn

The 2000-series streetcars that run on the Canal line are stored at the huge A. Philip Randolph SIS (Storage, Inspection, and Service) facility, located at Canal and N. Gayoso Streets. The first streetcar facility on this site was constructed in 1861 by the New Orleans City Railroad Company, to store their Canal streetcars and house the mules that pulled them. That’s one of the reasons these facilities are called “barns,” because they actually were animal barns prior to electrification.

The buildings of the original Canal Station faced directly on Canal Street. Since the bus garage and office buildings now occupy those spots, some of the bus parking in the rear of the facility was allocated for the car barn. The barn is accessible by two tracks from Canal. Like Carrollton Station uptown, streetcars enter the Canal barn from the rear and exit in the front.

The Canal barn is designed to store the Von Dullen cars and perform light maintenance; major work on the streetcars will be done at Carrollton Station, since that’s where the shops and fabrication teams are located.

This photo was shot from the Canal Street entrance to t