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Two engines owned by the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad pulling a mixed-consist freight train along the New Orleans Riverfront.

Even before the storm, many folks began to forget just how significant the Port of New Orleans is to the United States. While other ports along the Gulf Coast have taken away business from New Orleans, the city's port is still the one at the mouth of the biggest river in the nation. As such, it's the largest port for rubber and coffee imports, and a major port for grain exports.

The NOPB Railroad connects rail traffic from the major carriers with port facilities. Hopper cars carrying grain use NOPB to access elevators on the river, and the railroad connects a number of cargo wharves and a large container/intermodal facility with the rest of the nation.

NOPB is owned by the City of New Orleans. It was established in 1904, operating over 25 miles of main track (including the Huey P. Long bridge across the Mississippi) and 75 miles of yard track.

These two engines are approaching the "Moonwalk," which is the walkway in front of the river across Decatur St. from Jackson Square. It's a tricky area to navigate for both streetcars and trains, because tourists are crossing over from Washington Artillery Park and the French Market parking lot to the Moonwalk. Still, the trains must roll, servicing the wharves on either side of the French Quarter.

Because of its location, New Orleans is still quite the train city, in spite of the general decline of passenger rail in the last 50 years. Three Amtrak trains terminate at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal: The Crescent, the City of New Orleans, and the Sunset Limited. Additionally, several railroads have significant facilities and operations in the metro area, on both sides of the river. The city government in the early 20th Century was aware that the interests of competing railroads might not coincide with those of the city, hence the creation of the Public Belt.

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The Panama Limited ran the same route as its more famous cousin, the City of New Orleans, but with two main differences. The "Limited" in the train's name meant that it made fewer stops, covering the distance between Chicago's Central Station and New Orleans' Union Station in 23 hours. The

Panama Limited

was an all-Pullman train, meaning that it consisted of just baggage, slepper, dining, and club cars--no coaches. It was a first-class affair. The dining cars on the Panama Limited were staffed by New Orleans chefs, and were essentially moving French Quarter restaurants.

This photo, from the late 1940s, shows two Illinois Central "F" diesel units (the front engine is an "A" unit, and behind it is a "B" unit) pulling the Panama Limited over the train bridge that roughly parallels modern-day I-55 over the eastern edge of Lake Pontchartrain, crossing Pass Manchac.

Amtrak continued the Panama Limited for three years after taking over IC passenger operations in 1971. The train was consolidated into the City of New Orleans in 1974.

The Florida Avenue bridge over the Industrial Canal, 1942. The bridge served two purposes at this time, to allow the Southern Railway tracks to cross the canal, and to link the neighborhoods of Gentilly (west of the canal) and Seabrook (east of the canal).

The construction of the high-rise Seabrook Bridge next to the Florida Avenue bridge in the 1950s made the latter a train-only bridge. Now, the train bridge stays up, allowing marine traffic to move unobstructed most of the day. The drawbridge lowers when a train approaches.

Making way for modernization -- The Illinois Central Railroad's "Union Station" is being torn down to make way for the new Union Passenger Terminal in 1951. The UPT was the brainchild of then-mayor deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison. Prior to the UPT, the railroads operated five separate passenger stations in the city. Morrison's vision was to unify passenger service, and the Loyola Avenue location of the IC's station made the best sense for the project.

Compare this photo with last week's, which is an aerial view of the trackage leading into Union Station from a couple years before it was demolished.

The Union Passenger Terminal still services Amtrak trains and Greyhound bus service.

Photo courtesy New Orleans Public Library

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Aerial view of the Illinois Central roundhouse near Earhart Boulevard in Central City, 1949. The roundhouse is an engine facility for passenger trains servicing the IC's Union Station. The station was demolished in 1952 when the new Union Passenger Terminal was constructed in front of it on Loyola Avenue.

Since steam engines were no longer used for passenger trains coming into New Orleans by the 1950s, the roundhouse was torn down and replaced by a diesel engine facility. The railroad also expanded its coach yard and Pullman service facility. These facilities were taken over by Amtrak in 1972, and remain in use by Amtrak to the present.

To the left of the roundhouse facility is Earhart Blvd. The building at center-left is Booker T. Washington High School, and just above the school is the B. W. Cooper housing project.

The Pullman car, "City of New Orleans," owned by the New Orleans Public Belt, at Esplanade Avenue and the River. The NOPB operates charters of this car for groups. A group can hire the car, and NOPB will pull it out to the Huey P. Long, cross the river, then back.

Photos courtesy of Mr. P. R. Abbey, with our thanks!

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Every railroad has to occasionally do maintenance on their right-of-way, and the miniature railroad at City Park is no exception. We caught this train running along with a work crew who were clearing and testing the track in anticipation of the holiday season.

We're coming up quickly on Thanksgiving, which means we're rapidly coming up on "Celebration in the Oaks," the park's annual festival of lights, sound, and holiday cheer. Celebration in the Oaks begins on Thanksgiving night and runs through New Year's Eve.

One of the regular happenings of Celebration in the Oaks are the various "school nights," where the choir or band from various schools in the area will come and perform. Of course, all the parents, siblings, relatives, etc., come out to see the kids, so it's a fun time for all. The park opens up the kids' rides on these evenings, and the trains run as well. The trains are strung with lights for the evening runs, which is pretty, but nothing can compare to the beautiful bright colors of the miniature railroad on a pretty fall afternoon.

The Sunset Limited, almost finished its trip from Los Angeles, crosses the Mississippi River at the Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson. Photo is from the 1940s. Southern Pacific operated the Sunset Limited until the line's incorporation into Amtrak in 1971.

Travelers who wanted to go further east from New Orleans could get to Atlanta and the Northeast on the Crescent Limited, or to Jacksonville, FL, on the Gulf Wind, both operated by the Louisville and Nashville RR. Amtrak's Sunset Limited absorbed the old Gulf Wind route in 1993, when the Sunset Limited was extended to Miami. The route was subsequently shortened, and now the train runs from Los Angeles to Orlando and the Mouse.

There's nothing like the sensation of driving across the Huey P. Long when a train is on the bridge. It's a very odd feeling, and very unnerving to those uncomfortable on high bridges in general.

Magazine ad for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad from the 1930s.

Long before there was Delta to take us to Atlanta in an hour or Cincinatti in an hour and a half, there was the L&N Railroad. "Two of the world's finest trains," the Pan-American and the Crescent Limited. The Pan-American ran from 1921 to 1971, linking New Orleans with Cincinatti. The Crescent ran from New Orleans to Montgomery on the L&N, then to Atlanta on the West Point Route, Atlanta to DC on Southern RR, then from DC to NYC via the Penn Central RR.

In addition to the Crescent, New Orleanians could get to Atlanta via The Southerner, operated by Southern RR. The Crescent Limited originated at the L&N passenger terminal, located at Canal and the River (roughly where One Canal Place is now located). The Southerner operated out of the Southern RR passenger Terminal on Canal and Basin Streets.

In 1970, the two trains to Atlanta were merged, and the train was re-named the Southern Crescent. The train became the Amtrak Crescent in 1972, when Southern turned their passenger operations over to the national railroad.

a Louisville and Nashville train rolls along the riverfront, ca. 1900. These photos were shot at Gravier and Front Street, as the train passed by the old Anheuser-Busch plant at that corner. The locomotive pulling this train is known as a "4-4-0." The L&N station was located at the foot of Canal Street, right across from the Algiers ferry landing.