St. Charles Line: December 2005 Archives

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.

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).