January 11, 2006

BNOB Light Rail Plan

I'm looking at the PowerPoint slide show presented by the Urban Planning Committee of the "Bring New Orleans Back" (BNOB) Commission. I'm going to leave political comments on this to my YatPundit blog, focusing here strictly on the transit section of the presentation.

The immediate proposed plan for the city's transit system:

Longer term:

Ambitious to say the least. Here is the map for proposed light rail/commuter rail lines:

This plan would set up the following lines (directions are in New Orleans references).

St. Charles Line. No change in its current route

Canal-Elysian Fields Line. Starting at Canal Blvd. and Robert E. Lee in Lakeview, down Canal Blvd. to the Cemeteries. Down Canal Street to the river. Turn onto existing Riverfront tracks, go to Elysian Fields. Turn up Elysian Fields to UNO.

Airport Line. Starting at the foot of Canal, Up Tulane and out Airline to the Airport.

River Line. Start at Canal and the river. Up existing Riverfront line, past the Convention Center, under the CCC, and up along the river to Jackson. Turn right on Jackson to Rampart. Down Rampart past Canal, Elysian Fields, Franklin, to Poland. Right on Poland to the river, then return to the foot of Canal along the riverfront.

University of New Orleans-Claiborne-Desire Line. Start at Claiborne terminal, Claiborne and Carrollton. Down S. Carrollton to Canal, follow existing Carrollton spur to Beauregard Circle. Link up with Elysian Fields via Wisner/DeSaix/Gentilly. Turn onto Elysian Fields and go up to Lake. From UNO, down Elysian Fields to St. Claude, down St. Claude to Jackson Barracks. Return from Jackson Barracks via St. Claude to Rampart to MLK? to Claiborne. Up Claiborne to S. Carrollton.

Algiers-Gentilly Ridge Line. Starting way down on Gen DeGaulle in Algiers, go up to the CCC. Cross the river on the CCC(?!), exit onto Julia (maybe). Up Julia to Rampart, right on Rampart/St. Claude to Elysian Fields. Up Elysian Fields to Claiborne. Sort of follow I-10/Claiborne to Louisa or so, turning onto Chef Menteur. Cross the Industrial Canal at Chef Menteur and head down to Michoud.

I'm reading these routes off of what appears to be a not-very-hi-res streetmap gaphic with overlaid routes. The overlays are huge, so that they can be visible in a PowerPoint slide. In other words, this isn't the most precise first-look. I welcome comments and corrections when y'all have a look.

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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 12, 2005

930 Test Today...

To address a couple of comments on today's test:

Question on how 930 got to Canal Street. I didn't see it, but WWL-TV's news report showed 930 being pulled by a white pickup truck onto Canal. I'm assuming that they pulled it all the way from the barn. That means they cleared the neutral ground enough to get down to the CBD. This makes more sense than trucking the streetcar. I remember Elmer saying that it cost $6K to truck 2013 from Carrollton Station to Randolph when they were doing the final check-out of the Canal barn in 2004.

Use of Car 29, the last Ford, Bacon & Davis single-truck streetcar. Car #29 is used as a sand car, maintenance car, and as a rail grinder. Given that Elmer and company spent the better part of last year re-building #29 after it suffered severe damage from an electrical controller fire, my guess is that they didn't want to risk something going wrong today. They have a lot more spare parts for the 900s should there have been a problem getting 930 down there.

Of course, I'd love to see #29 on Canal again. Hopefully soon.

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930 on Canal - Video

This is my first attempt at video with this little digital camera, so be gentle:

930 heading inbound towards the foot of canal

930 heading outbound from the foot of canal

Continuation of outbound run

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Canal Street Line Test

RTA brought Perley Thomas streetcar #930 from Carrollton Station to Canal and St. Charles this morning to test the Canal trackage and wiring. I watched as they ran 930 from St. Charles to the foot of Canal, switched to the outbound track, then ran down to the crossover at Liberty. I had to get on with my day from there, but it appears that the test was a success, at least to that point.

930 waiting for the media event to be choreographed:

From the uptown side of the street:

more photos follow...

Operator's station:

trucks:

at the foot of Canal, switched to the outbound track:

Passing me by at the foot of Canal:

Approaching Dauphine on the outbound run:

At Liberty, preparing to switch back to the inbound track:

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December 07, 2005

DeVille's Congressional Testimony

RTA General Manager William DeVille testified before a House subcommittee for (among other things) Transit on 27-October-2005. His update on RTA's situation is a good one. The full text of his testimony is here.

This section caught my eye:

On a good note, there was little damage to the famous St. Charles Streetcar line other than to the overhead catenary system. Further good news is that FTA had already approved an extensive rehabilitation project for the St. Charles overhead electrical system and a contractor was preparing to get started when the storm hit. We are reevaluating the construction costs of the project and we are pushing to get the program underway as soon as possible while the system is closed. Construction on this project now should be far easier and may cost less than originally planned because there is no active service to work around. However, there is additional work required as the storm did more damage than the original work scope envisioned.

If a contractor was ready to get started on catenary work on St. Charles Avenue anyway, hopefully that will speed up a return of the 900s to the streets.

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November 30, 2005

Jefferson Parish Transit Plans on Hold; Councilman still wants rate increase

This article in Da Paper is two weeks old, but the news is still current:

Transit plans to be delayed More time wanted to evaluate ridership

Still unsure of Hurricane Katrina's impact on Jefferson Parish's public transit riders, the Parish Council is expected to delay votes today on increasing fares, slashing routes and possibly hiring a new manager to oversee bus routes and point-to-point van service parishwide.

The proposals had been postponed several times before the Aug. 29 storm as the council awaited estimates of how much money each option might save the cash-strapped transit department, which faces a potential $1.5 million operating loss this year because of escalating gasoline and insurance prices.

It's good to see that one Parish Councilman is thinking outside the box:

Furthermore, the proposals, due in June, do not reflect changes in public transportation needs prompted by Katrina, possibly rendering them useless, Councilman Louis Congemi said.

Congemi said he might encourage the council to request new proposals, asking firms to consider such anomalies as an influx of riders from St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes whose jobs have relocated to Jefferson from Orleans Parish or other hurricane-ravaged areas.

"Those additional riders might help you compensate for increased costs, because that was one of the problems that we faced in Jefferson is ridership," Congemi said. "If you increase the number of people that utilize the system, that may help the system. At this point in time, we don't know that."

While another is not:

Despite the uncertainty, Councilman Chris Roberts said he would encourage his colleagues to vote today on the fare increases, first proposed in February. They include a jump in the Base Fare from $1.10 to $1.50, exceeding the cost of a regular New Orleans Regional Transit Authority Basic Bus Line ticket by a quarter. Four other Jefferson bus ticket types would be raised under the rate proposal

I'm with Congemi. This is a time to re-evaluate. Maybe it's time to really put the "Regional" into RTA.

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August 25, 2005

Bad week for bus drivers...

first the heart attack,now this:

RTA bus smashes light pole; 11 riders report injuries

Eleven people on the bus, including the supervisor, complained of injuries, but none was believed to be serious, RTA spokeswoman Rosalind Blanco Cook said. The student operator didn't report any injuries, she said.

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August 23, 2005

Bus Accident on Chef near Downman

RTA bus driver dies behind the wheel

The bus had just crossed the high-rise bridge when Taylor lost consciousness, police said.

Talk about a serious near-miss. Had this happened on the high-rise itself, the consequences could have been much worse. I saw this happen with a taxi once, abut 15 years ago, on Poydras Street. A full bus? *shudder*

Our condolences go out to Mr. Taylor's family, friends, and co-workers, and a tip of the hat to Mr. Hudson for his efforts to control the bus.

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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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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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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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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 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 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 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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June 27, 2004

Canal Street Operations

Canal Street Operations

The Canal Street line has never been the be-all and end-all of streetcar operations on the main street of New Orleans. Even during the heyday of the four-track operations on Canal, the Canal line shared the two main tracks with the West End line. The transit system of the city is all about getting to the “Canal Street Zone,” that section of Canal from Rampart to the river.

Now that there are three operational streetcar lines in New Orleans, Canal Street has returned to its role as hub and connector. Here we see original Perley Thomas car 953, having just made the turn from Carondelet Street onto Canal. 953 is traveling the one-block length of the outside riverbound track, and will turn onto St. Charles Avenue for the outbound leg of her run on that line. Behind 953, Riverfront car 458 is making the same turn from Carondelet. Unlike 953, however, 458 will switch to the inside riverbound track just before the outside track turns back to St. Charles. Once on the inside track, 458 will then make her way to the foot of Canal, where she’ll turn onto the Riverfront track and run down to the French Market Terminal.

At this point, on the St. Charles line, 458’s operator isn’t allowed to pick up or discharge passengers. Because the St. Charles line is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the only cars that can operate “revenue runs” on St. Charles are the original green Perley Thomas cars. When a Riverfront or Von Dullen car has to go up to Carrollton Station for maintenance, they have to make the run up St. Charles empty.

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June 13, 2004

Switching Back

Switching Back

There are times when streetcars are unable to complete their full run on the line. The reasons for this are numerous: An accident further along the line, a special event like a Carnival parade, or possibly a construction project.

Unlike buses, streetcars can’t just go around an obstruction on the line. They have to stop and wait until the obstruction is cleared. To make sure that obstructions don’t create chaos, a number of crossovers are built into the tracks. On May 29th, the Canal line was blocked from Baronne to Carondelet for the grand opening ceremonies. The riverbound Von Dullen cars had to stop at Liberty Street, unload their passengers. The operators then moved the cars down Canal past the crossing and change the car’s direction by switching the trolley pole on top that contacts the overhead wire. Once the car is operating lakebound the operator then “switches back” through the crossing to the lakebound track.

When riding the St. Charles line, it’s easy to tell where the crossing tracks are, because there is a distinct sound when the streetcar moves over the crossing. If you stand at St. Charles and Josephine streets, for example, you’ll hear it. The Canal line, with its concrete roadbead under the grass and topsoil, is a different story. The streetcars simply glide through the crossings.

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May 30, 2004

Grand Opening Celebration

Grand Opening Celebration

Ed Branley, webmaster of CanalStreetCar.com and author of New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line, along with his son, Kevin, stand in front of Von Dullen Car 2004, at the Grand Opening ceremonies for the Canal line, May 29th, 2004. Car 2004 was officially dedicated “The Patrick F. Taylor Streetcar,” in recognition of oilman Pat Taylor’s enormous contributions to the construction of the Canal line. Taylor Energy donated the pipe used to make the poles that run the length of Canal outside the CBD to support the electrical wiring. Thanks to Earl Hampton for taking this shot!

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May 16, 2004

The French Market Terminal

The French Market Terminal

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May 02, 2004

The First Revenue Run 18-April-2004

The First Revenue Run, 18-April-2004

The first revenue run on a streetcar on the Canal Street line in almost 40 years took place at 3:10am on Sunday, April 18, 2004. Over 150 people were on hand for the inaugural run, some of them having waited since 1am to ride the first car.

Read Ed’s description of the first run event.

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February 15, 2004

Runnin' Down St. Charles

The prototype car, 2001, making the trip from Carrollton Station on Willow down to Canal Street. The St. Charles Avenue neutral ground is prime real estate during Carnival, when families stake out spots for parade viewing. Parades that start Uptown usually do so on Napoleon Avenue, turning onto St. Charles from there. They go down St. Charles through Lee Circle, then continue to Canal. St. Charles Avenue from Lee Circle to Canal is usually one-way going outbound, but the parades ignore this. When they reach Canal, some parades turn lakebound, some riverbound, depending on whether the parade ends at the Municipal Auditorium or the Convention Center.

The Von Dullen cars on the Canal line have their own barn at the Randolph SIS facility in Mid-City, but Carrollton Station will still be “streetcar headquarters.”

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