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April 23, 2008

Posted by at 3:10 PM

March 26, 2008

Feature Photo - Claiborne Terminal

The end of the St. Charles Ave. streetcar line, at S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Avenues. This photo is from June, 2002.

Six more weeks to go, and the St. Charles line will be 100% operational. As of now, the line is only running the length of St. Charles, turning around at Riverbend. NORTA has announced that they expect to finish the upgrades and repairs to the line on S. Carrollton Ave. by May.

The intersection of S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Avenues has been the location of the end of the St. Charles line since belt service was discontinued in 1951. It is a double-track terminal with a double-slip switch. Several bus lines terminate either in front of Palmer Park (like the bus on the left side of the photo), or on the neutral ground on S. Claiborne (to the right, just out of the photo). This intersection has long been a transit hub, dating back to 1915, when the Orleans-Kenner Railroad began operations.

The streetcars in the photo are Perley A. Thomas cars 940 and 961, both vintage 1923-24.

Posted by Edward Branley at 5:19 PM | TrackBack

March 19, 2008

Feature Photo: Liberty Place in 1963

Liberty Place, August 25, 1963 (photographer unknown). A single Perley A. Thomas streetcar on the Canal line sits on the three-track layover, having just looped around the monument. This was the final step in the evolution of streetcar operations at the foot of Canal Street prior to the conversion of the Canal line to buses. The Liberty Monument was removed from the foot of Canal St. in the 1980s by the administration of Mayor Sydney Barthelemy, antcipating the development of a downtown casino. The three-track layover was re-constructed when the Riverfront line was expanded in 1997-98. Instead of the loop, however, the current configuartion in this area is a turn from the Canal tracks to Riverfront.

Prior to the erection of the Liberty Monument in 1891, the Canal trackage turned off onto N. Peters, S. Peters, Decatur, and Fulton Sts., with a simple semi-circle loop at the ferry landing. Because of of the construction of the monument and changes because of electrification, the city hired the engineering firm of Ford, Bacon & Davis to re-design the trackage from in front of the Custom House to the ferry landing. FB&D developed and constructed a huge terminal that was eight tracks wide at one point, all coming together to the loop you see in the photo above. As streetcar operations declined in the mid-20th century, the terminal tracks shrunk to the final three.

The Liberty Monument has been a sore subject in New Orleans for decades. The monument commerates the "Battle of Liberty Place," which occurred on September 14, 1874. Frustrated by the reconstruction government in New Orleans, The White League (a white supremacist organization similar to the Ku Klux Klan) attacked the police and supporters of the government in the French Quarter and at the foot of Canal. The Republican governor, William Pitt Kellogg, was forced to leave the city until he could marshal federal troops to return to the Quarter, push out the White League, and restore order. Kellogg was a career Republican politician from Vermont who was appointed by Lincoln to administer the Port of New Orleans after the war. When local (white) politicians took over control of city government in 1881, the locals named the area at the foot of Canal "Liberty Place." the obelisk followed in 1891.

Originally, the monument was a commemoration of the White League's victory, and the names of the members of the League killed during the battle were carved on the obelisk. A parade was held annually on September 14 that ended at Liberty Place. In 1934, two plaques were added to the monument, directly recognizing white supremacy in the city and state. It was these plaques that added insult to injury for black citizens of New Orleans. In 1974, Mayor Moon Landrieu (father of Senator Mary and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, and now an appellate court judge) ordered a brass plaque erected near the monument explaining that the "battle" was actually an insurrection led by white supremacists.

Mayor Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial tried to remove the obelisk outright in 1981, as part of the preparations for the 1984 World's Fair, but was blocked by the majority-white City Council. While the council would not let Morial remove the monument, they did authorize him to cover up the 1934 plaques. Even though the City Council agreed with Sydney Barthelemy in 1988 that the monument should go, allies of white supremacist and KKK leader David Duke sued City Hall in federal court. The racists argued that the city's action violated federal regulations concerning historic landmarks. Both sides worked out a consent decree, and Mayor Marc Morial (Dutch's son) took the Liberty Monument out of storage and returned it to a location near the Riverfront streetcar line, a block away from its original spot.

Posted by Edward Branley at 9:41 AM | TrackBack

March 12, 2008

Feature Photo: Canal and St. Charles, 1880s

Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue, looking lakebound, early 1880s. The church spire in the background on the right is Christ Church Episcopal, at Canal and Dauphine (the current location of the Maison Blanche Building-Ritz Carlton Hotel). The photographer is standing on the northern side of the big monument to Henry Clay in the middle of the intersection.

In the middle of the photo you can see three Stephenson single-ended "bobtail" streetcars. These cars were mule-powered (horses can't work for extended periods in the New Orleans summer). When they reached St. Charles Ave., the operators would turn them around on the turntable visible in the foreground. The man in shirtsleeves is most likely a street railway. working out of the little kisos to the left, behind the street vendor. That kiosk is a "starter house," where the employee working there would assist the operator in getting the mule and streetcar turned around for the outbound leg of the trip.

Four-track operations had already begun on Canal by this time.  The two outside tracks were used by the streetcar lines coming to Canal Street from the Central Business District and Uptown (left side) and the French Quarter/Faubourg Marigny (right side). ; The center tracks were used by the Canal and West End lines.

Since the mule-powered streetcars are in the photo, and Christ Church is still located on Canal, this dates this photo to somewhere between 1880-1883.

Posted by Edward Branley at 3:54 PM | TrackBack

February 6, 2008

Feature Photo: Esplanade at Bayou St. John, 1865

PGT Beauregard was alive and well when this photo was shot, which is one of the reasons you don't see his statue on the City Park side of Bayou St. John. The bayou was still a navigable waterway at this time, a "back door" to the city. Fishing boats and others would come in from the Gulf of Mexico, into Lake Borgne, then Lake Pontchartrain, finally coming down Bayou St. John. That's why the bridge at the end of Esplanade Avenue was a drawbridge. Shrimp boats and oyster luggers would go out from the old turning basin near Congo Square, up the bayou to the lake, and return with their catches.

At this time, the New Orleans City RR Co. ran streetcar lines up to either side of the bridge. On the west bank of the Bayou (left in the photo), the Bayou Bridge & City Park line operated from the Half Way House to the bridge. On the eastern side, the Esplanade line ran the length of that beautiful street, turning into barn, looping around the block, along the bayou on Moss St., then re-joining the Esplanade tracks for the inbound run. The NOCRR had just begun streetcar operations four years earlier, in 1861. Even though the Civil War was raging in other parts of the country, New Orleans was an important port, and opportunities abounded for entrepeneurs. Because the city did not oppose the Union occupation after the naval battles were lost by the Confederacy, New Orleans was spared the fate of many other southern cities. Commerce and development continued throughout the war, in spite of the harsh rule of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, USA, whom the locals called "Beast."

This area was referred to as the "back of town" in those days. As the neighborhoods of Mid City and Faubourg St. John spread out this point at City Park, the term "back of town" came to refer more to the neighborhoods around S. Carrollton and Tulane Avenues.

Posted by YatPundit at 11:38 AM | TrackBack

January 30, 2008

Feature Photo - Carnival on Canal, circa 1895

The floats of Rex, turning from Royal Street in the French Quarter onto Canal Street, around 1896. The photo is undated, but the statue on the left narrows down the possible time frame from 1895 to 1901.

The statue is of statesman, US Senator, Speaker of the House, and Secretary of State, Henry Clay of Kentucky. Clay died in 1852, and a civic group began raising funds to erect a statue in his honor in downtown New Orleans. The base of the statue was huge. If you look at the photo, you'll see two mules in the bottom left corner. The base of the statue extended to where those mules are.

When the New Orleans City Railroad Company brought streetcar service to Canal Street in 1861, the Clay statue became a roundabout in the middle of the intersection of Canal and Royal (or Canal and St. Charles Avenue, as the street is called on the "American" side of Canal St.) The tracks around the statue became more and more complex as other operating companies added their tracks to Canal Street. Most of the lines were able to totally bypass Clay, though, since all they were interested in was to get to Canal, discharge passengers, pick up outbound riders, then head away from downtown. This only required being on Canal St. for a block or two.

Electrification changed the dynamics of streetcar tracks. Constructing the overhead wiring to keep the roundabout configuration of the track would have been too complicated, and a bit dangerous. The City Council decided that the elaborate base of the Clay statue should be cut down so electric streetcars could pass on either side. That's what you see in the photo. The motormen were still unhappy with the clearance they had with the statue, so the city moved it from the middle of Canal St. to Lafayette Square, between St. Charles Ave. and Camp St. Lafayette Square is directly across from what is now Gallier Hall, which was City Hall until the 1950s.

But let's get back to the parade! The only day parade at this time was Rex, King of Carnival, so this is a Fat Tuesday photo. The street in the background is Rue Royal. Parades started in the French Quarter, exited the Quarter onto Canal at Royal, then continued lakebound on Canal, usually to Rampart. They turned onto N. Rampart, then worked their way back into the Quarter, where they would end at the French Opera House. Parades continued to roll through the Quarter until the 1960s, when the city decided that crowds were getting just too big, and parades were a threat to fire protection in the area. The parades then moved to Uptown routes, so they entered Canal Street from essentially where those two mules on the left side of the photo are.

Notice how all the men are up front, crowding in to get a better view of the floats. The women who came out to the parade appear to be hanging in the back, a sign of the times.

The streetcar in the right foreground is a Brill single-truck model. The first electric streetcars had a single "truck" or set of wheels. As service expanded, the operating companies purchased larger, double-truck streetcars, and the single-truck cars were used on lighter-traffic lines and as service vehicles.

The small octaganol building in the right foreground is called a "starter's house." When using mule-powered streetcars, the operating companies put up these small buildings at the end of their lines and stationed an employee there to assist the streetcar operator with getting the car turned around on a turntable and started on their outbound trip. Since that starter's house is still there, that dates the photo even narrower, to 1895-1896.

UPDATE: Two weeks ago, we did a Feature Photo that showed a 400-series Perley A. Thomas streetcar on St. Charles Avenue during a Carnival parade. I wondered in the commentary why the floats were passing on both sides of the streetcar. An astute reader (I won't mention names since I didn't get permission) gave me the answer. In the 1920s-1930s, the "dens" (warehouses where the floats were constructed and stored) for many of the krewes were down by the river, at Jackson and Tchoupitoulas. They would parade up Jackson, then turn Uptown on St. Charles, go to Napoleon, where they'd turn around to head to Canal St. So, that photo was shot between Jackson and Napoleon.

Posted by YatPundit at 9:04 AM | TrackBack

January 23, 2008

Feature Photo: 904 Passing the Pickwick Club

Perley A. Thomas streetcar 904 passing the Pickwick Club, at the corner of Canal St. and St. Charles Avenue.

The Pickwick Club is an all-male, all-white lunch/social club. The club was originally affiliated with the Mistick Krewe of Comus, the oldest Carnival organization in the city. Comus has been around since 1857, when their two-float parade was the first of its kind in New Orleans. While the official connection between the club and Comus was broken in the 1880s, the membership of both organizations is reputed to be closely linked. Nobody knows for sure, however, because neither the Krewe nor the club make their membership public.

That lack of openness was the subject of a 1991 ordinance passed by the New Orleans City Council. That body decreed that, to get a permit to use public facilities like streets, an organization had to show it did not employ discriminatory practices in determining its membership. Rather than make its membership list public, Comus, along with two other Carnival organizations (Momus and Proteus) withdrew from the parade lineup. Proteus returned several years later, but Comus and Momus have steadfastly refused to comply, even though Comus won a lawsuit against the city, validating their right to freedom of assembly.

The Pickwick Club building is often confused with the Boston Club, which is actually down the street. While the Pickwick Club is closely aligned with Comus, the Boston Club is aligned with the School of Design, the organization which names Rex, King of Carnival, and parades on Mardi Gras morning. The Boston Club (which gets its name from the card game, not the city) is actually down the street. Prior to the 1991 blow-up, the Pickwick Club erected reviewing stands in front of the club on Canal St. Rex would roll down St. Charles and turn left onto Canal St., in front of the club. The king's float would stop there, and Rex would toast his queen, who watched the festivities of the day from that vantage point. Since the passage of the 1991 ordinance, however, the School of Design switched venues for their court, and now the toasts take place at the Intercontinental Hotel, at St. Charles and Poydras.

Posted by YatPundit at 6:14 AM | TrackBack

January 9, 2008

Feature Photo - King Cakes and Streetcars!

Every year, Haydel's Bakery on Jefferson Highway includes a special figurine with their king cakes. This is their rendition of a Perley A. Thomas streetcar, decked out for the ride of the Phunny Phorty Phellows. The original PPP would ride through the streets on Twelfth Night, announcing the start of the Carnival season. The tradition was brought back in the 1980s by a re-formed PPP. Instead of riding on horses, the modern PPP charter a couple of streetcars, ride, and party. NORTA rules don't allow alcohol on party cars anymore, but the PPP riders get their liquid fun in after the ride.

This year's ride of the PPP was the first since the storm, and the route was very unique. Starting at Beauregard Circle in Mid City, the PPP rode the Canal line down N. Carrollton, turned on Canal, going down to St. Charles. They switched to the St. Charles line, riding up to Napoleon, where the streetcars changed direction and returned back to Pierre Gustave Toutant's statue. Odds are, this won't ever happen again. By next Twelfth Night, the Von Dullens should be back in service on Canal and the 900s will return to operating exclusively on St. Charles. When that happens, a huge invisible barrier that is historic preservation will go up at Canal between Carondelet and St. Charles as the 900s return to operating exclusively uptown.

Don't get the impression that the PPP are a bunch of elitists who ride around on streetcars. They're a nice group of folks who take New Orleans seriously. Besides, anybody can charter a party car, for birthdays and other outings.

Of course, Twelfth Night isn't only about streetcars. It's King's Day, the Feast of the Epiphany. That means King Cakes. Every New Orleanian has their own favorite bakery and king cake. Haydel's is one of the biggest names in the ing cake business. The original "baby" in the king cake was porcelain, but the bakeries switched to plastic in the 1960s. About twenty years ago, Haydel's included a porcelain "Baby Charlotte" doll in their cakes, commerating the old way it was done. That doll was so popular that it's blossomed into a whole line of porcelain Mardi Gras characters that have included Rex's float, Pete Fountain, the St. Augustine band, and a carnival-decorated FEMA trailer. This year's figure is a coffee-and-beignets waiter like you'd see at CDM or MC, in white jacket and black bow tie.

Posted by YatPundit at 8:37 AM | TrackBack

December 24, 2007

Feature Photo: Christmas Twofer!

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!

Posted by YatPundit at 12:39 PM | TrackBack

December 17, 2007

Heading back into town...

clicky image for a larger version

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 7:48 AM | TrackBack

December 10, 2007

Feature Photo: Ford, Bacon, & Davis Streetcars on Carrollton

Two Ford, Bacon & Davis streetcars pass each other on S. Carrollton Avenue at Willow Street in 1901. This car is still configured as it was delivered: open vestibule, Lord Baltimore truck. Car #197 is one of the 70 FB&D cars built by the American Car Company.

The New Orleans & Carrollton Railroad Company (NO&CRR) built two new facilities upon electrification in 1893. One was a power station at Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas (later to be come the NOPSI Training Facility), and the barn and shops of Carrollton station, at Dublin and Willow Streets. Carrollton Station was one block into the neighborhood from the location of this photo.

At this time, a small stand had been constructed at Carrollton and Willow. Car 197 is blocking the view of the stand in this photo, but you can see it in a sequence of photos on the NOSRA website.

Posted by YatPundit at 10:21 AM | TrackBack

December 3, 2007

Feature Photo: Work at the Carrollton Shop

Von Dullen car 2021, fresh out of the paint shop, sits next to Perley A. Thomas car 903, which is up on the rack in the shop.

There are two components to Carrollton Station. The larger building is the streetcar barn, where the 900s operating on the St. Charles line have been stored and serviced for decades. The barn is open on either side--streetcars enter the barn from the rear, on Jeanette Street, and exit onto Willow Street. Next to the barn are two buildings that are accessible only from Jeanette St., and these are the shop areas. The purpose of the shops for years was to fabricate parts for the 1923-vintage green streetcars. The shops were heavily renovated in the 1990s, as their role changed from just parts and repair to being a full-blown streetcar fabrication facility. Both the 400-series Riverfront and 2000-series Von Dullens were built at Carrollton.

This photo shows the routine work done on the Perley Thomas cars as well as the progress being made on getting the 2000s back out on the street. All the red Von Dullen cars are being stripped, then re-painted, then wrapped in plastic until the re-design and re-build of their propulsion systems is complete.

Posted by YatPundit at 8:50 AM | TrackBack

November 26, 2007

Feature Photo: Sunny Canal Street Afternoon

Perley A. Thomas streetcar 932 (left), outbound towards the cemeteries, is about to pass 952 (right), which is inbound to the French Market terminal at Esplanade and the river, on a sunny afternoon at Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue.

Operations on Canal are a bit different with the 900s running rather than the Von Dullens. Here, inside the the "Canal Zone," which extends from the river to Claiborne Ave., riders board as they do on the 2000s, on the street side. Outside the Canal Zone, however, riders used the inside doors of the Von Dullens. Those doors aren't automatic on the 900s, so riders have to walk around to the street side to board. On N. Carrollton Avenue, the streetcars run in the inside auto lane, because the neutral ground is narrow. Having riders exit on the street side would be incredibly dangerous, since this would put them out in the middle of traffic. To avoid this, the operator stops the car at the stop and manually opens the inside rear door, and riders disembark onto the neutral ground.

On the Riverfront segment of the line, the raised platforms at each stop work great for the Von Dullens and the 400-series cars, but the 900s don't line up properly. To embark and disembark passengers along the river, the operator must pull up a couple of yards in front of the stations so passengers can board from the ground level.

Handicap access is, of course, not possible on the 900s, but will return to the Canal and Riverfront lines when the red ladies are re-built.

Posted by Edward Branley at 9:16 AM | TrackBack

November 19, 2007

Feature Photo: Trolley Bus on St. Claude Line

Yes, I know it's not a streetcar, but at least it's electric! This 1949 photo shows New Orleans City Councilman Walter Duffroc posing as a trolley bus goes by on the St. Claude line. The St. Claude streetcar was converted to bus service in 1948. In 1949, the buses were replaced by trolley coaches. The streetcars replaced were the Perley A. Thomas 1000-series, the last evolution of Mr. Thomas' arched-roof cars.

We had a request from a reader about streetcar operations below the Industrial Canal. I didn't have any photos of streetcars crossing the Industrial Canal, but then I remembered this trolley bus photo. Trolley buses ran in the city from 1929 to 1967.

Posted by Edward Branley at 8:53 AM | TrackBack

November 5, 2007

Feature Photo - 932 in the sunshine

Perley A. Thomas streetcar 932, outbound on N. Carrollton, heading to Beauregard Circle. We've had some gorgeous afternoons this Autumn, perfect days for hopping on a streetcar and going out to City Park.

Note that the rollsign on 932 is empty. The rollsigns for the operating 900-series streetcars are as they were when they were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. That means they only have "St. Charles" and "Special," since all the other streetcar lines had been discontinued at that time.

The arch-roof architecture of the 900s dates to 1915, when the 400-series cars designed for Southern Car Company by Mr. Thomas hit the streets of New Orleans. This distinctive design continues to this day, with not only the 900-series but also the 400-series Riverfront and 2000-series Von Dullens.

Posted by YatPundit at 9:18 AM | TrackBack

October 28, 2007

Feature Photo - Canal Station Sign, 1963

The sign out front of Canal Station in 1963, just nine months before the Canal streetcar line was "converted" to bus service. The photographer was standing in front of the Canal Station streetcar barn building. Behind the sign is a bus parking lot on the site of the old Kemster Athletic Field. NOPSI acquired the ballpark from NORD in the 1940s. It was cleared and paved over for bus storage. The building in the background is Warren Easton High School, across N. Gayoso from the bus lot.

Note the GM "Old Looks" buses in their maroon and cream NOPSI livery behind the sign. Some of these buses remained in service as late as 1979, operating on lines such as Cartier, which existed primarily as service for students of John F. Kennedy Senior High on Wisner Blvd.

For more details on Canal Station, the A. Philip Randolph SIS facility that replaced it, and the new Canal Barn, check out our new Canal Station section.

Photo courtesy H. George Friedman, Jr. and his fantastic site, "Canal Street: A Street Railway Spectacular."

Posted by YatPundit at 10:31 PM | TrackBack

October 15, 2007

Feature Photo: Von Dullens at the Cemeteries

Von Dullen streetcars 2011 and 2020, along with a bus on the West End line at the Cemeteries Terminal. 2011 is on the single-track stub at the end of the line. When 2011 is ready to depart, the operator will flip the traffic signal to stop autos turning onto Canal from City Park Avenue. 2011 will then switch onto the inbound track and 2020 will be able to pull into the stub track.

Riders coming in from Lakeview on the West End bus line must cross into the Canal Street neutral ground to continue downtown on the streetcar. Keep in mind that Canal street is three lanes wide here, and there is a lot of traffic coming in both directions. There are no "don't walk" signs to safeguard riders who are transferring.

The family walking towards 2020 at the right of this photo is one of the main reasons most of the objections to the various proposals for an new streetcar terminal in this area ring hollow. There is no way those kids should be walking that close to automobile drivers who are preparing to make the left turn onto City Park Avenue to reach points west.

The red Von Dullen streetcars shown in this photo are currently undergoing repairs to replace parts damaged by flooding in the storm. They'll still be a year or two coming back to Canal Street. In the meantime, the 900-series streetcars continue to get riders from downtown to the Cemeteries.

Posted by YatPundit at 9:05 AM | TrackBack

October 8, 2007

Feature Photo: 866 on Tulane

clicky image for larger version

Peley A. Thomas streetcar 866, on Tulane at S. Carrollton Avenue. The direction and roll sign indicate that 866 is running on the Tulane Belt line. The railroad grade crossing gates and the switch tower in the neutral ground are for the tracks leading into the Illinois Central's Union Station at Loyola Avenue. There was a small station at Carrollton Avenue so Uptown passengers could board or leave trains without having to go all the way downtown. (Union Station was torn down in the 1950s to make way for the Union Passenger Terminal complex.) NOPSI 866 ran on various lines in the city, including Canal and St. Charles, until the Canal line's discontinuance in 1964, when it was scrapped.

The stadium in the background is Pelican Stadium, home of the New Orleans Pelicans from 1915 to 1957, when it was demolished. The Pelicans played two seasons at Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park, before the team shut down in 1959. The "Pelicans" name was used again briefly in the 1970s, when the city had a AAA team playing in Da Dome, but that venture failed. The current AAA team for the city is the New Orleans Zephyrs. They kept that name when the team moved from Denver. Because the wooden roller coaster at Pontchartrain Beach was named the "Zephyr," the name stuck.

Pelican Stadium was also home to the "New Orleans Black Pelicans" of the Negro League. For more information on baseball in New Orleans, check out www.neworleansbaseball.com, by S. Derby Gisclair, who has written two books for Arcadia on the subject. (Arcadia was my publisher for the Canal streetcar book.)

This part of New Orleans was still referred to as "back of town" by many, as Mid-City was still a developing neighborhood. Now, Mid-City is a neighborhood in recovery, still working through the aftermath of the storm.

Posted by Edward Branley at 8:52 AM | TrackBack

October 1, 2007

Feature Photo - NOSRA Logo

Street railway preservation gets a permanent and organized voice in New Orleans starting this month, in the form of the New Orleans Street Railway Association (NOSRA). The mission of NOSRA is similar to that of Market Street Railway in San Francisco, specifically to support NORTA as a nonprofit organization in developing/promoting streetcar education and preservation. The basic framework for the organization was worked out prior to the storm, but that event was a bit of a speed bump in the process. Things are now back on track for us on a personal level, so it's time to get this project going.

NOSRA is about working with NORTA, we can't make this any plainer. An analysis of other streetcar-related efforts shows that most of those efforts were really just ad-hoc, single-purpose groups. Once the particular purpose had passed, there wasn't anything to sustain the organization. Another problem is that some folks, while well-intentioned, don't realize that they have to do business with an existing governmental entity (NORTA) to make any streetcar effort work. This means building and nurturing relationships with TMSEL/NORTA, the ATU, as well as city and state government.

We're dead serious about this. On a personal level, I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I'm suspending my computer consulting and training practice and working as NOSRA's president/director full-time. Obviously I can't do this alone, so we've appointed a board of directors, and are in the process of forming an advisory committee. The "virtual" advisors have already signed in and started work, in our Forums on the website, www.nosra.org. Check out our formal mission statement, and our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.

In keeping with our mission of supporting NORTA, we're keeping our goals realistic. First, get NOSRA functioning in an office on or near one of our streetcar lines. Second, begin the process of applying for grants to develop educational materials for K-12 social studies classes on streetcars, public transit, and the history of street railways. Third, begin fund raising to come up with the money that NORTA will need to restore streetcars 453 (the Brill semi-convertible), and 460 (Perly A. Thomas ex-NOPSI 919).

There's often talk about establishing a "streetcar museum" in the city. This is one of NOSRA's long-term goals, but we're keeping this project realistic and workable. It took Market Street Railway thirty years to get to the point where they were in a financial position to do both restoration work and open a museum facility. It's going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the existing streetcars, much less build a museum. We'll get there in the long run, but the best way to get any nonprofit moving is to set reasonable expectations and goals in the beginning. But don't worry, we like to dream, too.

Since we're a startup nonprofit, we're broke, of course. Any assistance you can offer is appreciated. Specifically, we're asking streetcar fans to donate $10 to NOSRA to get things started. We'll set up our membership structure and start soliciting individual and corporate memberships when our corporation papers get back from Baton Rouge and we set up our financial system.

It's going to be an exciting fall for streetcar fans in New Orleans. We encourage everyone with an interest in streetcar education and preservation to contact us and work with NOSRA to make the organization a success.

Posted by YatPundit at 10:46 AM | TrackBack

September 24, 2007

Feature Photo - 832 on Canal Street

From 1963, Perley A. Thomas streetcar 832, running outbound on the Canal Line to the Cemeteries Terminal. 832 is approaching Galvez Street. The Canal Street neutral ground transitions from concrete to grass just past Claiborne Avenue.

The 800-series streetcars were essentially the same design as the 900s, with one major exception. The doors on the 800s were manual, and the 900s were automatic. The manual doors weren't a problem for operations, though, because the city required NOPSI to operate streetcars with 2-man teams, a motorman in the front and a conductor in the back. NOPSI howled about two-man operation for decades, arguing that the system doubled their labor costs and that streetcars could just as easily be operated by one person.

Some little details in the photo: Notice the crowbar-like tool that's mounted on the front of the streetcar, right over its number. This is the tool the motorman used to throw the manual switches at crossovers along the line and at the terminal. The route sign indicates he's operating on the Canal line (at the time, the only line running on Canal Street, of course), and that particular streetcar was the 40th run to leave the barn that day.

When streetcar service was discontinued on the Canal line in 1964, the 800-series streetcars were scrapped. A few were saved by trolley museums in other parts of the country.

(Photo courtesy of Earl Hampton)

Posted by YatPundit at 12:42 AM | TrackBack

September 10, 2007

Feature Photo: The "Moving Beam" streetcar

The "Moving Beam" Car

In the 1870s and 1880s (before the electrification of street railway lines), streetcar operating companies were constantly working on methods to run the cars without using animal power. Steam power wasn't usually acceptable, because steam locomotives were too noisy for street railway operations. Anybody with an idea for a propulsion system could get an interview with a streetcar company.

One of the ideas that made its way to New Orleans was the "moving beam" streetcar, seen here being tested near Canal Station. The operator on the left-hand side of the photo would crank up the weel at the end of the car, which would move counterweights and turn gears, which would in turn move the overhead beams. The beams would then turn the large wheel at the back of the streetcar. That big wheel had blocks which came in contact with the ground. As the blocks pushed off on the ground, the car moved forward.

There were a number of problems with this propulsion method. It relied on the operator to occasionally crank it up, which could make for a long work day. The propelling wheel (which looks to me like a land-locked paddlewheel) did not adjust or compensate for irregularities in the street or gorund (such as potholes), so the ride could be bumpy.

The New Orleans City Railway Comnpany never took the "moving beam" car out of the testing phase, so the mule-powered "bobtail" cars continued to be the mainstay of Canal Street operations until electrification.

Posted by YatPundit at 8:15 AM | TrackBack

September 3, 2007

Feature Photo: Perley A. Thomas on N. Carrollton

clicky photo for larger version

Perley A. Thomas streetcar 969 heading inbound on N. Carrollton Avenue.

Prior to the return of the Canal line in 2004, streetcars had never run on N. Carrollton Avenue. The Canal Belt line ran along City Park Avenue to Wisner, then across Bayou St. John to Esplanade Avenue, and the Esplanade Belt line ran in the opposite direction. The City Park line made its way through the neighborhood to City Park Avenue, N. Carrollton Avenue itself never had streetcar trackage.

The idea of the Carrollton Spur was to entice visitors who stay downtown to venture into Mid-City. Attractions such as City Park, the New Orleans Museum of Art, as well as a number of neat restaurants and interesting pubs await those who want a break from Da Quarters.

Since the storm put the Von Dullen cars out of commission, the 900s have been pressed into service once again outside of Uptown. Seeing the Green Ladies in Mid-City is a treat for the streetcar fan, since almost every photo of these streetcars in the neighborhood from the 1940s and 1950s is in black-and-white.

Posted by Edward Branley at 11:31 AM | TrackBack

February 27, 2007

Feature Photo: Canal Street, 1905

A splendid Alexander Allison photo of Canal Street, looking lakebound from Camp Street. The large building in the background is the original Maison Blanche building, constructed in 1898 and torn down in 1910, to make way for the existing MB building (now the Ritz Carlton Hotel).

There's a lot of streetcar activity here! The larger, double-truck streetcar in the foreground is a "Palace" car on the Canal line. The smaller, single-truck streetcars are a mix of Brills and Ford, Bacon & Davis, running on the various feeder lines coming to Canal Street. There were four tracks running down Canal from Rampart to the terminal trackage in front of the Custom House. Canal trackage was scaled back to two tracks in 1958, ripped up entirely in 1964, and returned to two tracks with the return of the Canal line. The terminal trackage running from the Custom House to the foot of Canal consists of the two tracks that turn onto the Riverfront line, plus a third, center track, for reversing the direction of streetcars during peak hours.

Posted by YatPundit at 12:03 AM | TrackBack

February 19, 2007

Feature Photo - Hail Rex!

Hail Rex!

The King of Carnival on Canal Street. This postcard is postmarked 1912, but the original is a Detroit Publishing Co. photograph, so this Mardi Gras could be anywhere from 1900-1910.

What's particularly interesting about this photo is that the parade is going the opposite direction from photos of other years around the turn of the century. Usually Rex paraded down Royal Street, through the French Quarter, turned right (lakebound) onto Canal, then back into the Quarter at Rampart. This photo has the parade going riverbound. We've seen earlier photos of Rex turning riverbound from Royal in the days before electrification, but not one after 1895 or so.

From 1872 until the 1920s, Rex rode a float that matched the parade's theme. The classic "Rex float" recognized the world over wasn't used until after World War I. This particular king's float is styled as a chariot. Note the mules pulling the float, a far cry from the huge tractors that pull floats like the "S. S. Endymion" or the "Bacchu-gator" in today's super-krewes.

The streetcars in the Canal Street neutral ground appear to be mostly (if not all) single-truck models. The wide monitor deck of the Ford, Bacon & Davis model dominates the scene, but there are a few Brill single-truck models parked as well, waiting for the parade. The two most prominent buildings in the scene are on the updown (CBD) side of the street, the Godchaux building at the corner of Canal and Carondelet (center) and the Chess, Checkers and Whist Club building, one block back at Canal and Baronne. By the time of the Perley Thomas streetcars, the crowds coming downtown for Rex had grown to the point where NOPSI began to back the streetcars down past Rampart Street, so the people could use the entire neutral ground.

The folks in the crowd appear to be excited that the parade has finally arrived. The weather looks good, and it's not too cold, judging by the lack of outerwear. Everyone wore a suit or nice dress when going "downtown," even on Carnival Day, and there certainly was no showing of much of anything going on.

Happy Mardi Gras, everyone!

Posted by YatPundit at 1:37 PM | TrackBack

February 12, 2007

Feature Photo

Ever see tandem Ford, Bacon & Davis streetcars in operation? You would have had you gone out to the Krewe of Rhea parade yesterday in Metairie. Rhea is one of several parades in the area that use floats modelled on streetcars. Rex (The School of Design) started the tradition, rolling out "His Majesty's Streetcar" back in the 1970s. The Knights of Babylon also use a streetcar, but theirs is a faithful copy of a mule-drawn "bobtail" car that is actually pulled by a mule.

Additionally, there are a number of jazz bands that have converted trailers into "streetcars," usually giving them the look of a Perley A. Thomas streetcar. The float designer for Rhea, Barry Barth, Inc., decided to use the FB&D as a model, and that makes sense. It looks like they took a light truck or mini-bus chassis and built the F&BD around it. The FB&D was one of the most widely-used single-truck streetcars. Its smaller size made it a good choice for navigating the streets of the French Quarter.

Hope everyone is enjoying Carnival!

Posted by YatPundit at 7:23 AM | TrackBack

February 5, 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.

Posted by YatPundit at 7:57 PM | TrackBack

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!

Posted by YatPundit at 9:02 PM | TrackBack

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 12:23 PM | TrackBack

January 15, 2007

Feature Photo: Canal Station, 1963

800- and 900-series Perley Thomas streetcars on the outside tracks at Canal Station in 1963. These streetcars are parked on the outside storage tracks on the south side of the station (closer to White Street, to the right of the station if you're standing on Canal looking at it.) You can see the tracks in this aerial view of Canal Station.

Canal Station has always been a hotbed of activity, from the time the when the station included mule barns to now, where the A. Philip Randolph SIS facility is RTA's primary bus maintenance facility. Prior to the storm, Randolph was the home base of the red streetcars, the 2000 Von Dullens and the 400 Riverfronts. The 900s operating on the Canal/Riverfront hybrid line since the storm are now housed in the car barn behind the SIS facility.

When streetcars dominated the streets of the city, these six tracks were filled with off-duty cars from end-to-end. Even in 1963, when operations had been scaled down to just the Canal and St. Charles lines, they're still almost half-full. That's how many streetcars are required to handle the volume of riders on the city's main street.

After the Canal line was converted to bus operations in 1964, the outdoor tracks were ripped up and that section of the station was paved over and used as a bus parking lot.

I'm not sure about the source of this photo. I found it for sale on eBay, and unfortunately, lost the auction. If anyone knows more about it, please drop me a line.

Posted by YatPundit at 6:50 PM | TrackBack

January 9, 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."

Posted by YatPundit at 11:47 AM | TrackBack

January 1, 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!

Posted by YatPundit at 11:54 AM | TrackBack

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 10:33 PM | TrackBack

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 8:35 AM | TrackBack

February 5, 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.

Posted by YatPundit at 8:40 PM | TrackBack

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 8:37 PM | TrackBack

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 8:32 PM | TrackBack

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 7:45 PM | TrackBack

January 8, 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.

Posted by YatPundit at 9:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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.

Posted by YatPundit at 4:25 PM | TrackBack

December 5, 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).

Posted by YatPundit at 12:08 PM | TrackBack

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!

Posted by YatPundit at 9:14 PM | TrackBack

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.)

Posted by YatPundit at 9:56 AM | TrackBack

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 sti