Recently in Canal Line Category

I was interviewed for this article, and it came out pretty good!

The desire streetcars returns

Perley A. Thomas streetcar 962, running on the Riverfront segment of the Canal line.

A bit of an update as to what's going on with CanalStreetCar (dot com) and the New Orleans Street Railway Association.

First of all, welcome to everyone who has made their way here because they saw Angus Lind's piece in Da Paper! Thanks for stopping by, please join the CanalStreetCar (dot com) mailing list, which is returning to production this week.

It's been a wild beginning of 2008 for me personally. I've been traveling again, teaching computer classes for Hitachi Data Systems. (Take a look here for a description of the sort of stuff I teach.) Being out of town during the week for the classes has slowed down progress on developing the nonprofit, and the project is further behind than I'd like it to be. Still, I'm committed to getting it moving and we'll press forward.

If you've arrived here by going to nosra.org, you'll see that the regular NOSRA server is currently down. It suffered a hard disk failure and needs to be rebuilt. I plan on doing that in a week and a half when I'm home long enough to do that properly. Some links to photos in the NOSRA wiki won't work properly until that's repaired.

In the meantime, both sites will point here. I'll have more thoughts on where both CanalStreetCar and NOSRA are going on this site in the next few days.

In the wake of the storm, all of the Von Dullen streetcars have been stripped and are getting new paint jobs. This was 2012's turn in the paint shop. Carrollton Station has a full paint shop, which is one of the reasons I'd love to get NORTA a PCC streetcar or two. PCC streetcars could easily be painted to meet the needs of movie production companies that come to town to film.

All of the Von Dullens now look great, and we're waiting for BMC to get the first of the new propulsion units and trucks down here.

After the very-successful ride of the Phunny Phorty Phellows on Monday night, a number of folks in Mid City wondered aloud (and on line) why this couldn't become a regular event, where the PPP start by City Park and end up somewhere Uptown. The short answer has three letters:

ADA

That's the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA has opened many, many doors to disabled folks that would never have been accessible to them without direct legislative help. It's complicated our streetcar lines a bit, though. Here's how it works:

St. Charles - The St. Charles line, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The strict interpretation of this designation is that the line must be preserved in the state it was when it was listed, in 1971. That means the route is from Carondelet and Canal Streets to S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Avenues. The 35 900-series Perley A. Thomas streetcars that were operating in 1971 have been preserved and continue to operate on the line. NORTA (and NOPSI before them) is charged with making sure the line and the streetcars stay in good shape and operating.

ADA mandates that public transit be handicap-accessible, but this conflicts with the basic design of the 900s. They were built in 1923-1924, and wheelchair access wasn't an issue then. NORTA just can't cut holes in the sides of these vintage streetcars, so the line is exempt from the requirements of ADA.

Riverfront - The original Riverfront line opened in 1988, prior to ADA. It used three 900-series streetcars rescued from other places in the country after the Canal line was converted to bus operations in 1964. The line also used two Melbourne W2 cars that have center-opening doors. The stops on Riverfront are raised platforms, so a rider in a wheelchair could go up the ramp and board one of the Melbourne cars. When the line was re-worked in 1997, it was expanded to double-track and converted from standard (railroad) gauge to wide gauge. The changes were so significant that the line came under the ADA microscope. ADA activists were not satisfied with every other streetcar on the line being handicapped-accessible and insisted that all cars be in compliance. That meant the vintage 900s could not be used. NORTA decided to design a new class of arch roof streetcars. The 400-series Riverfront streetcars look very much like their green cousins, but they're equipped with wheelchair lifts.

Canal - The 2000-series Von Dullen cars also have wheelchair lifts on both sides, making them fully ADA-compliant.

The storm disrupted regular streetcar operations. Because of the severe damage to the ADA-compliant streetcars in the NORTA fleet, there's just no way to offer proper service until the 400s and 2000s are rebuilt. ADA isn't the only thing in suspended animation at the moment. Since the wiring and track on St. Charles were damaged by the storm, the 900s couldn't return to service on the historic line immediately. NORTA received approval to run the 900s on the Canal line, where the infrastructure was essentially intact in spite of the flooding in Mid City. So, for the last two years, the streetcars have been operating in an environment of regulartory anarchy.

NORTA anticipates that the the Von Dullens will be back on Canal this summer. When that happens, the regulatory limbo that currently exists goes away and the pre-storm rules have to return. That means green streetcars on St. Charles, red ones everywhere else. Last Monday's PPP ride can't happen under the pre-storm rules. Under those rules, the 900s that the PPP boarded at Beauregard Circle can't operate on "revenue runs" off the St. Charles line. They're not ADA-compliant, and the Canal line must maintain that compliance.

The 400-series Riverfront cars have wheelchair lifts, so they can operate on revenue runs on Canal. When they get to Carondelet and St. Charles, however, they run into a problem. The 400s didn't operate on the St. Charles line in 1971, so they're not on the NRHP list. If NORTA operates a 400 on St. Charles for money, the line would lose its ADA exemption. That would create a situation similar to what happened on Riverfront, and the 35 vintage 900s would no longer be able to operate on the line.

So, even though there now are track and electrical connections between the three streetcar lines, that connection between Canal and St. Charles exists solely for the purpose of streetcar maintenance. Once the Von Dullens return home to Canal Street, the 900s will go back to their barn on Willow St. The red cars will be able to switch onto St. Charles to return back to the shop at Carrollton Station, but they can't do it for a buck

I have a modest proposal for the people of Mid City: If the Phunny Phorty Phellows decide to return to their traditional Uptown ride next year on Twelfth Night, charter a 400-series car and have one of your own! My guess is that the PPP will consider imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery. They're folks who like streetcars and like Mid City. Even if the party run was just from Beauregard Circle to the Canal barn, it would return some of the "neighborhood" feel of Carnival back to the area. The days of true "neighborhood" parades are long gone, as NOPD and City Hall have jammed almost every krewe into Uptown routes. Endymion still gets a pass on this, but Endymion is so huge that it has a life of its own. A Twelfth Night streetcar run on Carrollton and Canal would be something fun for everyone in Mid City, and we at CanalStreetCar (dot com) would gladly work with y'all to make it happen.

Von Dullen 2001, the CKD/Tatra test car, and 963, all on Canal Street at Christmastime.

The prototype Von Dullen car, 2001, on the street in December, 2000. NORTA was evaluating PCC-style trucks from CKD/Tatra, and the Czech company sent over a streetcar to test. Earl Hampton caught 2001 and the CKD car on Canal Street and got this photo right as 963 is beginning an outbound run on the St. Charles line.

Merry Christmas!

Perley A. Thomas streetcar 922, departing Beauregard Terminal.

New Orleans streetcars in operation today are "double-ended" cars. When they reach the end of the line and are ready to go back, the front becomes the back and vice-versa. At the end of the line, like Beauregard Circle near City Park in this photo, the operator will pull the streetcar into the terminal, stop it, and then change the trolley pole from which the streetcar gets power. The one in what was the rear of the car coming into the terminal is pulled down so it doesn't make contact with the electrical wire overhead. The pole at what was the front of the streetcar is released, so it makes contact with the wire. The poles are wired to the motors on the streetcar such that the motor will turn one way or the other depending on which pole is active. When the switch is made, the streetcar is powered back on, and the operator will leave at the scheduled departure time.

Beauregard Circle is where City Park Avenue, Wisner Blvd., and Esplanade Avenue come together. The circle also feeds into City Park, to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The streetcar terminal at this location was constructed in 2002-2003. In the early part of the 20th century, streetcars ran on the short stretch of City Park Avenue seen above, when the Canal and Esplanade lines ran as belt service.

Riding the streetcar to Beauregard Terminal is one of the best ways to get from downtown to City Park to see the lights of "Celebration in the Oaks," or in the spring, to get over to the Fair Grounds racetrack for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

St. Charles: The weather has been pretty good, so things are moving along in terms of the power upgrade. Riverbend by Christmas is still a real possibility. The electric wire has been re-run up Carrollton to Jeanette (the back of the barn). Approximately half of the 900s are in service daily, on all three lines. Transfers at Napoleon from streetcar to bus and vice versa appear to be going smoothly.

The 900s are being housed at the SIS at Randolph. Two of them are at Carrollton, though, undergoing repair work for streetcar-versus-auto collisions. Both cars sustained a bit of damage, but it's one of those "you should have seen the other guy" situations.

Canal: The Von Dullen cars are being worked through the paint shop at Carrollton. All the 2000-series cars except for 2023 are at Carrolton, being cleaned, stripped, and repainted. There have been a number of issues with getting the Von Dullens back on the street. For some critical parts, there was a one-year lead time to ramp up fabrication. NORTA had spares, but not enough to rebuild the entire fleet. Additionally, problems with the 2000's propulsion system are being addressed in the rebuild. NORTA is looking at Tatra propulsion now for the 2000s, with the units being built by Brookville.. These delays have pushed back the return of the 2000s until some time next summer.

Von Dullen 2023 is up at Brookville. NORTA sent it there immediately after the storm. There's been some talk that all the work on the Von Dullens would be done at Brookville, and it appears to have come up once again this weekend at the APTA meeting in Tampa. While Brookville will certainly be involved in the work, it's not likely they'll do all of the re-bulid. If they were going to send the cars north, it's not likely they would have re-painted them until after they came back. So, why is 2023 at Brookville? Because they're experts on those trucks and propulsion. It's just like when you get in a auto accident and you take your car to a body shop. The surface damage might not look so bad, but a little digging can reveal much more serious problems. It was a very prudent move on part of NORTA to get 2023 (as well as one of the 400-series cars) up to Brookville so they could start looking them over.

This is the earliest map I've found that shows the trackage at the head of Canal Street:

This is from the Robinson Atlas, plate 28, courtesy of the New Orleans Notarial Archives. The track is indicated as turning left from Canal Street, onto City Park Avenue, then right at the New Basin Canal, to head out to West End. This atlas is from 1881, so the Canal line was operating with mule-drawn "bobtail" cars and West End with steam locomotives.

Funny how you notice one thing while researching something else. This map lists the "Half Way House" as being on the other side of the New Basin Canal (basically where the Semolina's restaurant was before the storm). What is now the abandoned Orkin building and usually referred to as the Half Way House is listed as a "Road House." Interesting, and will merit more research.

When I posted all of the Cemeteries Terminal stuff earlier this week, I also put a pointer to it up on half a dozen streetcar/trolley mailing lists that are out there on Teh Internets. While many streetcar enthusiasts are historians or amateurs (or both, in my case) a lot of the people involved in street railway preservation are transit professionals. So, who better to get some feedback from than folks who do/did this stuff for a living?

My instincts were right and well rewarded. Bob Diamond of the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association read over the stuff on the website, as well as the alternative proposal, and has these thoughts:

***Bob's Analysis***

I see one of the primary design challenges arises from Canal being "dog legged" where it crosses City Park Av. I have some rough draft traffic control solutions for you. If you want to see more, let me know, and we can lay out a sketch for you showing phases.

One solution that comes to mind, is a grouping of traffic signals (located at both of the dog leg intersections or "S Curve Ends") which would be preemptively controlled by the movements of the streetcars. The streetcars would have to be given traffic control priority over automobile traffic at these two intersections.

Here's what we have in mind:

When a streetcar is at a certain precalculated distance or time from the "S Curve", a simple sensor circuit in the track (completed by the axle of the streetcar) would trigger the "yellow" and then "red" phases of the traffic lights at both ends of the S Curve.

All automobile traffic at both ends of the S Curve would be completely stopped by red traffic signal phases. Then, a "Streetcar Only" green phase pathway would be lit, permitting only streetcars to travel through the two S Curve intersections.

If you wanted to get just a little complex, the red phases at "north and south" ends of the S Curve could be delayed a few seconds apart, permitting the standing automobile traffic contained within the S Curve to "drain out" before the streetcar enters the S Curve.

For example, relative to auto traffic travelling "north" (as per the map on your website) on City Park Av, the red phase stopping auto traffic at the south end of the S Curve would occur first. The green phase at the north end of the S Curve would continue a few seconds longer, allowing time for autos in the north bound lanes of City Park Av inside the S Curve to drain out.

Similarly, traffic travelling south along City Park Av would be red phased first at the north end of the S Curve, the green phase for south bound autos at the south end of the S Curve would continue a few seconds longer, permitting autos in the S Curve travelling south to drain out,

For that matter, the traffic light phasing triggered by the streetcars could be further simplified:

1. At the southern end of the S Curve intersection, for autos travelling on City Park Av
Northbound lanes- Red Phase (prevents northbound auto traffic from entering S Curve )
Southbound lanes- Green Phase (permits "drainage" of southbound autos from S Curve)

For Canal "Dog Leg" (South End of S Curve)
Eastbound lanes- "Streetcar Only" Left turn City Park into Canal
Westbound lanes- "Streetcar Only" Right Turn from Canal into City Park Av

2. At the northern end of the S Curve intersection, for autos travelling on City Park Av
Northbound lanes- Green phase (permits "drainage" of northbound autos from S Curve)
Southbound lanes- Red Phase (prevents southbound auto traffic from entering S Curve)

For Canal "Dog Leg" (north end of S Curve)
Eastbound lanes- "Streetcar Only" right turn from Canal Terminal into City Park Av
Westbound lanes- "Streetcar Only" left turn from City Park Av into Canal Terminal

***

It's no surprise that I got a response of this depth. I've no doubt that RTA has considered a lot of these factors (RTA aren't amateurs when it comes to streetcars, either), but maybe there's something new for them in here as well. While the depth of the analysis didn't surprise me, I was surprised that Bob thought the Canal Blvd. extension could be safe. I wrote back a reply, with the simple question, "so, this can be done safely?" Here's his response:

***reply***
Hi Ed,

Yes, in my opinion, it certainly CAN be done safely.

I also recommend, at least in the beginning (until commuting motorists on City Park Av get used to it), well publicized, high- profile, traffic enforcement at these 2 key intersections.

This could include both N.O.P.D. traffic control officers observing these intersections for the first couple of weeks of operation, and then by video cameras installed at both intersections.

The way the "red light cameras" work here in NYC, they automatically record the license plate of any motorist blowing through red lights.

About three days later, they get a $115 ticket in the mail. The "red light cameras" work very well, we've had them for about 15 years or so.

Around here though, the City's concept is to keep the cameras hidden, so they can use them as a way to raise money. In N.O. however, I suggest the presence of these particular cameras be well publicized as a "deterrent".

I would even put up signs at the two intersections: "Motorists- Obey Traffic Lights- You Are Being Video Recorded".

***

We can debate the pros and cons of traffic cameras, of course, but the reality is that they've come to the area. They're up in Jefferson Parish now, most notably at the intersection of Clearview and Vets.

Thanks again to Bob and BHRA for this great analysis. Go throw something in their tip jar, please!

The badly-drawn red lines are the extension of the line proposed by RTA to tie the streetcar with the existing bus terminal. The area on either side of Canal Blvd. is more visible here, so you can see that the neighborhood association's argument about the terminal being a disruption is pretty hollow. The turn, however, is still the issue--it's a very cramped area, and mixing streetcars and autos here is a bad idea.