I was interviewed for this article, and it came out pretty good!
The desire streetcars returns
Recently in Streetcars Category
Of course I had to buy it with a streetcar on the front!
Some photos from 18-May. I played tourist for a bit after flying in to teach a class that week in Santa Clara.
Cable car at the end of the line, Hyde St. and Embarcadero. This car has been turned around and is taking on passengers for the trip back up the hill.
The car above having grabbed the cable under the street and departed, the next of several cars on the other side of the Embarcadero crosses the street into the terminal. Cable cars are single-ended, so MUNI workers manually rotate the car on a turntable.
Trolleys on the F-Line - PCC 1056, Ex-Philadelphia, painted in Kansas City livery.
#737, ex-Brussels, painted in livery of Zurich, Switzerland.
Milan Tram 1811, in 1928 livery.
PCC 1010, in MUNI blue/gold livery.
PCC 1063, in Baltimore livery.
The world-famous sign.
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.
An interurban electric car operated by the Orleans-Kenner Railroad, at the company's barn at Tulane Ave. and S. Dupre St. in 1928.
The O-K railroad ran from what is now Williams Blvd. and Jefferson Highway in Kenner to Canal and S. Rampart Streets downtown. The railroad followed Jefferson Highway to the parish line. When it crossed into Orleans Parish, the O-K ran down S. Claiborne, then turned left on S. Carrollton to follow the Tulane Belt path to Canal St. The return was via the St. Charles belt. The O-K ran from 1915 to 1929. NOPSI converted the St. Charles and Tulane Belts to wide gauge in 1929, making the track incompatible with the standard-gauge O-K. Buses were substituted for the interurbans, running from S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne.
One of the most significant differences between the interurban rail cars and traditional streetcars is the baggage compartment between the cab and rider seating. This area enabled farmers from Kenner to bring bushels of produce into town easily. Once at Canal and Rampart, it was an easy trip by wagon or truck to the French Market.
The O-K RR was the city's only true interurban line. Unlike other parts of the country, the geography of the Isle d'Orleans is such that it was too expensive to run electric interurbans through the swamp to higher ground. Connecting the tri-parish (Orleans/Jefferson/St. Bernard) to the rest of the world was the job of traditional railroad service.
We had a great discussion about the O-K Railroad at the East Jefferson Regional Library last week. I'll be posting more info about the O-K RR in the NOSRA wiki in the near future.
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!
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.
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.
it's of a PCC streetcar in Kenosa, WI. They cammed up the streetcar so as to show the foot-pedal accelerator in action. There are views of what the operator sees as the car moves down the track, the foot pedal control, and an under-carriage shot of the trucks and the accelerator itself.
Of course, all of the streetcars here in New Orleans use a hand throttle, but this is still a neat-but-geeky video.
