January 12, 2007

Just a bit of nostalgia...

CDM delivery/work truck from 1931. Photo from the New Orleans Public Library.

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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 07, 2005

The Original "Red Ladies"

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.

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Old postcards...

Over time, I've acquired a number of JPG files that are scans of old postcards. Some of them are from eBay auctions, others from various locations. Most of them are of too low a resolution for us to use as the week's "feature photo," but it seems such a shame not to share them. To that end, we're starting today with sharing these files, starting with a postcard of Canal Street from 1897.

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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

PCC Cars in New Orleans

George mentioning that PCCs have never run in New Orleans reminds I've been meaning to post this diagram here for ages. This is from a 1960s dog-and-pony show presented by NOPSI to city government, trying to convince the powers-that-be of the time that discontinuing streetcar operations in New Orleans was the best route for the city. It was organized in a spiral-bound booklet as a page of text, then a photo or diagram, then another page of text, etc. I suspect that, had this been presented today rather than in 1960, it would have been a PowerPoint presentation.

In the presentation, this diagram followed some text which talked about how, by 1960, PCCs were aging and would not be a good replacement for the Perley Thomas cars. NOPSI also argued that, since most PCCs are single-ended, they'd have to make the following track modifications to accomodate single-sided cars.

Here's the diagram:

Now cropped by section. Top left, an indound-to-outbound turnaround from Canal onto Crozat, returning via Iberville and Treme.

Wye switch on N. Roman St.:

Another wye on David St., one block off Carrollton:

Cemeteries Terminal:

PCCs would turn right onto City Park Avenue outbound, right on Bienville St., right again onto N. Anthony, then left to merge back to the inbound track on Canal. The cars would have to go all the way to Bienville because Iberville does not go through to City Park Ave. Odd Fellows Rest and St. Patrick #2 cemeteries front City Park Ave.

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August 19, 2005

History of Canal Station

Hoping to duplicate the success of the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Company (NO&C), the New Orleans City Railroad Company (NOCRR) purchased Square 365 for the purpose of constructing a transportation facility. Square 365 is bounded by N. Dupre, Iberville, N. White, and Canal. With a construction budget of $5,142, the company constructed a two-building car barn on the square in 1861. The original Canal Street line opened on June 1, 1861, running from the barn to the river. Since the line proved to be popular, service was soon extended lakebound past the barn to the cemeteries. The cars used at this time were “bobtail” cars from the John C. Stephenson Car Company of New York. The cars were mule-powered.

In 1876, the city gave NOCRR permission to operate a steam-powered street railway line from Canal and Carondelet Streets downtown to Lake Pontchartrain. This became the West End line, and the steam motive equipment for the line was stored and serviced at Canal Station until the line was electrified in 1898.

Canal Station in 1990, showing the post-1964 modifications to the Canal Street side.

With the discontinuance of the Canal streetcar line in 1964, NOPSI converted Canal Station to an all-bus facility. The company turned over the transit system to the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) in 1983. RTA demolished Canal Station in 1992, to make way for the A. Philip Randolph SIS facility. In 2003, a streetcar barn returned to Canal Street, in the back section of the Randolph facility.
Canal Station was extended back to Bienville Street in 1883, with the acquisition of Square 366. The station’s tracks were extended across Iberville Street and a new barn was constructed for the steam equipment.

The barn housing the steam equipment, as well as the blacksmith and saddlery shops were destroyed in a fire on January 20, 1887. Losses were put at approximately $100,000, but service on the Canal line was not interrupted. The facility was re-built, with the original 1861 buildings being incorporated into two larger buildings.

Canal Station was electrified in the spring of 1894, and the Canal line began operating Brill semi-convertible electric cars in August of 1894. The station was turned over to New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI), in 1924, as part of the overall consolidation of the city’s transit system.

Canal Station was the scene of numerous protests during the transit strike of 1929, with the station and its streetcars receiving minor damage from strikers. Even though NOPSI expanded the use of diesel-powered buses in the 1930s, Canal Station remained exclusively a streetcar facility. In 1940, NOPSI acquired the two adjoining lakebound squares and expanded Canal Station, adding facilities for buses. Building Number 2 was converted to a bus garage, and the expansion area became unsheltered bus storage.

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Streetcars of New Orleans: The Morris Cars

Named after E. J. Morris, who was Master Mechanic of the shops at Canal Station, these cars were built by the New Orleans Railways Company in 1902 and 1903. 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 NOCRR merged into the NO Rys. Co. in 1902.)

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.

Specifications:

* Builder: New Orleans Railways Company
* Date: 1902-03
* Trucks: Taylor Hi Speed “A”
* Wheels: 33”
* Motors: four GE 800 (25hp)
* Length: 52’ 0”
* Width: 8’ 5”
* Body Length: 40’ 8”
* Number of seats: 64
* Type of seats: cross
* Cost per car: $5,440.87

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"Bobtail" Streetcars

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 Stephenson cars operated by the New Orleans City RR Company on the Canal Line were painted red and white, while the Orleans RR Company cars (like the one in the above photo) were painted green for the Bayou St. John Line and Red for the French Market Line.

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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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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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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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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 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 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 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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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 04, 2004

The 1929 Strike

The 1929 Strike

Motormen and conductors walked off the job on July 1, 1929, unable to come to terms with NOPSI on a number of non-salary issues. By July 3, 1929, traffic was starting to seriously stack up on Canal Street. The strike was peaceful for the first couple of days, with NOPSI re-routing some buses in an attempt to provide some level of service. In this photo, the bus in the bottom left hand corner has “ESPLANADE BELT” written in white in the windows, because it’s standard running board (which says “CITY PARK”) didn’t have the signs for the streetcar lines. On July 5th, NOPSI tried to resume streetcar service with managers and supervisors serving as motermen and conductors. Violence erupted, resulting in Palace car 696 being turned over and burned on Canal Street. There were incidents of vandalism reported at several spots along the Canal line, and many NOPSI facilities, including Canal Station, were damaged by strikers.

The strike was a drawn-out affair, with the motormen and conductors coming to an agreement-in-principle in August, and a full settlement in October. The strike had a major impact on transit ridership, which dropped by 40 million riders in 1929, when compared to 1928.

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June 20, 2004

Liberty Place

Liberty Place

Since we did an “Along the Line” segment on the Liberty Monument in CanalStreetCar.com weekly two weeks ago, we’ve received a number of requests for a photo of the Liberty Monument. Rather than simply saying “go buy the book,” (which still is a good idea, mind you), here’s a photo of the Liberty Place.

The engineering firm of Ford, Bacon and Davis re-designed the terminal trackage at the foot of Canal in 1908. Since the turnaround track is in this photo, it dates from 1910-1915. There are three streetcars near the monument. On the left is a single-truck Ford, Bacon Davis car, entering the loop. Just behind it, on the outside riverbound track, is a Brill single-truck car. You can tell the difference between these two cars from the size of the celestory or upper monitor deck on each. The Ford, Bacon, Davis cars have a wide monitor deck and the Brills a much smaller one. On the right-hand side of the monument is another FBD car that has completed the turnaround and is heading lakebound on the outside track. Since the Canal line was running double-truck cars at this time, these cars are running on either the Coliseum or Dauphine lines.

There are several Canal line cars in the background of the photo, on the trackage in front of the Custom House.

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May 23, 2004

Never Argue with a Streetcar!

Never Argue with a Streetcar!

There have been accidents between streetcars and automobile for as long as streetcars and automobiles have shared the roads. In an accident quite similar to the one at Canal and LaSalle last Tuesday, an automobile made an illegal left turn , cutting off a streetcar, in July of 1914. The photo above shows the aftermath of that accident: a totaled automobile. Given the date, the streetcar involved here was most likely a “Palace” car. This accident occurred at the intersection of Canal and Gayoso streets, right where the modern, 2000-series Von Dullen cars enter and exit their new car barn Warren Easton High School is visible in the background. This photo, courtesy of the New Orleans Public Library was featured in Chapter 2 of the book, New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line.

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February 02, 2004

Feature Photo: Mardi Gras Mambo...1890s Style

Mardi Gras Mambo...1890s Style...

Let’s kick off the Feature Photo here on CanalStreetCar.com with an old shot. I wish I had this one for the book. This is Canal and Camp Streets from the late 1880s or early 1890s. Three bobtail mule cars are visible in the foreground. There’s a starter’s house on the right, in between the two cars on that side. The car on the left, No. 18, has “MAGAZINE ST.” painted on the side. There were two companies that ran streetcars on Magazine Street. The New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Co. (the St. Charles Avenue people), and the Jefferson City Railroad Co. The JCRR operation ran from 1864 to 1881, so this car would belong to the NO&CRR if the photo dating is accurate. The NO&CRR opened their Magazine line in 1861 and it ran until 1948, when NOPSI replaced the streetcars with trolley coaches.

The parade going by is most likely Rex, since the other parades prior to the 1900s were night spectacles.

I purchased a print of this photo off of eBay, so I can’t speak to its origins. In fact, because of that I probably wouldn’t have included it in the book even if I would have had it before deadline. If anyone has more info on the photo itself, please let me know.

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