Below is an album of pictures of New Orleans streetcars. Most of these are not available elsewhere, as far as I know. They are presented for your viewing pleasure, grouped primarily by streetcar line or location.
Group 1: The 1915 Hurricane
Group 2: Some Early Electric Cars (last updated June 26, 2008: added Pictures 2-13 and 2-14)
Group 2.5: The 1929 Strike (last updated Jan. 18, 2008: added Pictures 2.5-3 and 2.5-4)
Group 3: Spanish Fort (last updated June 24, 2007: added Picture 3-7)
Group 3.5: West End Line (last updated Aug. 27, 2008: added Pictures 3.5-5, 3.5-6, and 3.5-7)
Group 4: Magazine Line (last updated August 30, 2006: added Picture 4-4)
Group 5: Arabella Station (last updated March 11, 2008: added Picture 5-5)
Group 6: Jackson Line (last updated June 21, 2007: added Picture 6-3)
Group 7: Napoleon Line (last updated Sept. 15, 2006: added Picture 7-3)
Group 8: South Claiborne Line (last updated Aug. 15, 2007: added Picture 8-5.5)
Group 8.5: St. Charles - Tulane Belts (last updated June 27, 2008: added Picture 8.5-1.5)
Group 9: St. Claude Line (last updated August 27, 2008: added Picture 9-6.2, revised Picture 9-12)
Group 9.5: Desire Line (last updated Jan. 26, 2008: added Picture 9.5-5.5)
Group 9.7: The Orleans-Kenner Traction Co. (group added May 2, 2008)
Group 10: Streetcars Misnamed Desire, and Other Misnames (last updated Aug. 24, 2008: added Picture 10-5)
Group 10.5: Work Cars (last updated Aug. 15, 2007: added Picture 10.5-2)
Group 11: Badges and Pins (last updated July 25, 2008: added Pictures 11-4.3, 11-4.5, 11-4.7)
Group 12: Tickets, Tokens, and Transfers (last updated May 27, May 30, June 3, June 13, June 24, 2008: added Pictures 12-2 through 12-13, 12-21, and 12-22)
Group 13: Stocks and Bonds (group added October 16, 2007)
Group 14: The Amalgamated Transit Union (group added July 1, 2007)
Links to Other New Orleans Picture Sites (last updated Nov. 9, 2007: Earl Hampton link added)
References, credits, and copyright notice (last updated August 18, 2007: added link to 1945 roster and system track map)
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| Pictures 1-1 through 1-3. | |||
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A hurricane struck New Orleans on September 29, 1915. Here is a streetcar barn, most probably Poland Station, in the aftermath of that hurricane. In the middle picture, the large car just left of center is a “Palace” car, showing a Dauphine route sign. To the right of center is a badly damaged single truck car displaying a Levee & Barracks route sign. These are both lines that would have been housed at Poland, located at the corner of Poland and St. Claude. It was one of the three major car barns (“stations”) in New Orleans, the other two being Canal and Arabella, until it was closed November 25, 1934, presumably as an economy measure. Compare to pictures of Poland before the hurricane, and the rebuilt station afterwards, in Hennick & Charlton, page 218. There is no record that any “Palace” cars were scrapped as a result of this hurricane; in fact, all were renumbered just a few years later. So no matter how badly damaged, they must all have been rebuilt. Whether the damaged single truck cars were rebuilt is anyone's guess, though, since they were being phased out in the later 'teens and early twenties. | ||
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| Picture 2-1. | |
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A little six-window electric streetcar passes around Lee Circle, perhaps sometime between 1895 and 1905, probably on the Coliseum line. |
| Picture 2-2. | |
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New Orleans City RR car 97 in a car barn, probably either Magazine Shops or Arabella Station. This was one of the “1894 Brills,” seen on its original Brill 22-E maximum traction double trucks. This car was part of an order of 50 cars, numbers 66-115, placed with the J. G. Brill Co. in February 1894, for delivery in June and July. Later, this class of car was changed to a single truck, because the maximum traction trucks were prone to derail in New Orleans. Note the Magazine route sign and, above the platform hood, a removable wooden sign saying Station Only. We see quite a range of people: the very serious motorman standing at attention at his controls; the uniformed and non-uniformed company men standing in the doorway and by the side of the car; the sweeper with his broom; and a derbied gentleman with two children sitting inside the car. One can even make out some of the advertising signs inside the car. |
| Picture 2-3. | |
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A view of the Mississippi River levee. The location is not stated, but there seems to be a leftward curve ahead in the river, which would put this picture somewhere near the eastern (downriver) boundary of New Orleans, near Chalmette, looking upriver. Postcards are known marked “Levee at Chalmette” having very similar pictures. The presence of a streetcar at the right side of this picture suggests that we are looking at a car on the N. Peters St. trackage approaching the American Sugar Refinery, on the Levee & Barracks or (later) the Dauphine line. (Eventually, this trackage would be part of the St. Claude line.) — Underwood & Underwood |
| Picture 2-4. | |
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Two New Orleans & Carrollton R.R., Light & Power Co. cars pass on the Carrollton Ave. bridge over the New Basin Canal, about 1901 or 1902. They are running on the St. Charles and Tulane Belt lines: St. Charles operated a clockwise loop, and Tulane a counter-clockwise loop. These cars were part of a group of 70 single truck cars, numbers 160-229, built by the American Car Co. for the New Orleans & Carrollton in 1899. The cars were designed by the engineering firm Ford & Bacon, later Ford, Bacon & Davis (FB&D). This firm designed the electrification and improvements to several New Orleans streetcar companies, beginning in 1894 with the Orleans RR, the Canal & Claiborne RR, and then the New Orleans & Carrollton. (The last two companies merged in 1892.) The work included the specification of an improved electric streetcar, a design which was so successful that it was adopted by the other street railroads in New Orleans, of both track gauges. Eventually 217 of them ran in the city. — New Orleans & Carrollton R.R., Light & Power Co. |
| Picture 2-5. | |
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This picture of a New Orleans City RR transfer station is taken from a “tourist guide” published by that streetcar system in February 1902. The streetcar is one of the “1894 Brill” class, shown on its original maximum traction double trucks. The car number appears to be something-11; the notched windows reveal that it must be number 111, as 211 had arched windows. The car was part of an order of 50 cars, numbers 66-115, placed with the J. G. Brill Co. in February 1894. — New Orleans City RR |
| Picture 2-6. | |
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A somewhat damaged picture of New Orleans City RR car 202, another “1894 Brill” rolling on its original maximum traction trucks, signed for the Magazine line. The small (“pony”) wheels can clearly be seen to be facing the inside, with the large wheels facing toward the outer ends of the car. This car was part of an order of 50 cars, numbers 166-215, placed with the J. G. Brill Co. in April 1894. The crew of the car, conductor and motorman, are at the far left and right, with a policeman the next person on the right, wearing an old fashioned tall helmet. Don't miss the sign advertising sailing at West End, visible at the upper right. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
| Picture 2-7. | |
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Single truck car 241 is seen here at the back door of Arabella Station car barn, about 1917. The photographer is standing in Constance St. At the left rear of this picture, we can see part of a Brill semi-convertible car. Note the large Herr fenders on each end of car 241. It is riding on a Lord Baltimore truck. This car appears to be one of the group of FB&D cars numbered 230-244, built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1900-1901 for the standard gauge New Orleans lines, such as the St. Charles-Tulane belt line. By the time of this picture, the car appears to have been regauged for the wide gauge lines, because Arabella Station was exclusively a wide gauge car barn. The change in gauge probably took place in 1915, when the 400-series double truck cars arrived in New Orleans and displaced FB&D cars from the St. Charles-Tulane belts. |
| Picture 2-8. | |
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Single truck car 293 is on Jeanette Street at Carrollton Station car barn. Carrollton Station was originally standard gauge, as it housed the standard gauge St. Charles and Tulane cars. About 1920, some wide gauge and some double gauge track was laid at Carrollton, because the Southport Shuttle track which ran next to the car barn was wide gauge. (Carrollton Station was converted to wide gauge when the St. Charles and Tulane belts were converted, in 1929, but dual gauge tracks survived there until quite recently.) Car 293 was part of a group of ten wide gauge FB&D cars, numbers 290-299, ordered by New Orleans Railway & Light Co. in 1906 from the American Car Co. of St. Louis. It may be here at Carrollton Barn to serve the Southport Shuttle route; there surely were few wide gauge cars at this car barn. Note the large Herr fenders on each end of the car, unfolded in the front (at the left of this picture) and folded up at the back. The car is riding on a Lord Baltimore truck. |
| Picture 2-9. | |
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Single truck car 76, probably some time in the range 1917-1920. The car is equipped with Herr fenders (the left one is down), and is riding a Lord Baltimore truck. This car was probably one of the group of 30 FB&D cars ordered by the St. Charles St. RR in 1901 from the St. Louis Car Co., numbers 51-80. As a guess, this picture might have been taken about 1918 before this car series was rebuilt and renumbered into the low 300s. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
| Picture 2-10. | |
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Single truck car 394 is passing an early bus, probably some time in the late teens. It, too, is equipped with a Lord Baltimore truck. This car was one of the last group of single truck cars ordered by a New Orleans company. They were built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1910 as numbers 355-404, although cars 400-404 were eventually renumbered as 350-354. They ran almost exclusively on the Prytania line, and were therefore usually referred to as “Prytania” cars, until they were succeeded by double truck cars of the 800 class in 1923. Car 394 was probably scrapped at that time, although a few others of the class were retained for owl car service into the 1930s. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
| Picture 2-11. | |
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“Prytania” car 363 is serving the St. Bernard line, a leg of the Broad line. This group of cars mainly served the Prytania line (hence the name “Prytania” cars), but were sometimes seen on other lines. 800-class cars took over Prytania in 1923, after which some of the cars in this group were scrapped. Hennick does not list 363 as one of the group of “Prytania” cars which was retained after 1923, so this picture is probably earlier than 1923. The St. Bernard line was not returned to service after the 1929 strike (see Group 2.5). As a leg of the Broad line, St. Bernard cars ran up N. Broad to St. Peter, in to Dauphine, up to Canal, one block on Canal to Burgundy, down to Dumaine, and back out to N. Broad, then down to St. Bernard. Tracks on Broad and St. Bernard were in the neutral ground. This picture could have been taken anywhere along St. Peter, Dauphine, Burgundy, or Dumaine Streets, probably within the Vieux Carré. |
| Picture 2-12. | |
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Car 314 is seen here c. 1897 or 1898 in front of a car barn, probably Magazine Barn, which later became a principal shop for the streetcar system. The car is lettered for the Crescent City Rail Road Co., and in very small letters, for the New Orleans Traction Co., which in 1892 had taken over the CCRR and the New Orleans City & Lake RR (formerly the New Orleans City RR). The CCRR name is repeated in the side glass of the clerestory. The front clerestory glass probably displayed the route name, but it is not visible in this picture. The windows are arched in the style of those built by the Brill Co. The people in the photo are unidentified. The man at the controls, and his companion on the front platform, both dressed in suits, are probably high officers of the company. Two of the men visible in the car windows are wearing uniforms, and are perhaps the motorman and conductor assigned to the car. The other men could be dispatchers, foremen, shopmen, etc. The identity of the children is anyone's guess. Note the gutter construction, which runs underneath the exposed rail. |
| Pictures 2-13 and 2-14. | |
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A view looking downtown (downriver) on N. Rampart St., somewhere between Canal and Esplanade, from a souvenir booklet dated 1906. The second picture is a closeup detail showing the streetcar, number 103. This car was one of the 66-115 group ordered by New Orleans Traction Co. in February 1894 from the J. G. Brill Co. It would have been working the Esplanade Belt or the Dauphine Line. — J. Murray Jordan/F. M. Kirby |
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In 1929, New Orleans endured an exceptionally violent strike of the carmen of New Orleans Public Service Inc. It lasted from July 1 to mid-August, when car service was gradually restored, but it was not settled until a final contract was agreed to in October. Five car lines were abolished in the aftermath of the strike: Coliseum, Dryades, Tchoupitoulas, St. Bernard, and Southport, the last replaced by an experimental trolley coach line.
| Pictures 2.5-1 and 2.5-2. | |
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The car storage yard at Canal Station, showing damage to many of the stored streetcars. The upper picture features “Palace” cars 677 signed for Canal Belt and 631 signed for Esplanade Belt, plus at the right, an unidentified single truck car, partial number 62. The second picture shows single truck “Prytania” car 360 signed for St. Bernard, and FB&D car 172 signed for Broad, with two “Palace” cars beyond them. Note the broken windows in every car. The pile of debris at the right in the lower picture may, or may not, be a result of the strike. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
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| Picture 2.5-3. | |
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In July, the company attempted to resume service using imported strike breakers. This picture shows the most peaceful part of the day! Federal marshalls and local police formed a convoy around this streetcar as it tried to proceed down the Canal Street outer track. — San Francisco Examiner, collection of Anthony Posey |
| Pictures 2.5-4 and 2.5-5. | |
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In August, there was a riot at City Hall, across St. Charles Street from Lafayette Square, during and following a city council meeting. During the riot, three people were shot, and the police used tear gas to disperse the mob. A police guard was placed on the steps of City Hall. But in the lower picture, these guards look pretty casual about the whole business. (Chances are, most of the guards sympathized with the strikers.) — San Francisco Examiner, collections of Anthony Posey (upper picture) and the author (lower picture) |
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Over the years, several railroads ran from the Mississippi River area out to Lake Ponchartrain. For example, the railroad tracks in the neutral ground of Elysian Fields were originally laid for this purpose. Among streetcar operations, the most significant early road was the West End line of the New Orleans City RR. This was originally a steam dummy line, meaning that trains on the West End line consisted of several trailers pulled by a “steam dummy” — a small steam locomotive hidden within a streetcar-like body. Conventional wisdom of the time held that this type of vehicle would be less likely to scare horses than an ordinary steam locomotive.
Eventually, in 1898, New Orleans Traction Co. (successor to New Orleans City RR) took delivery of a dozen double truck streetcars equipped to replace the steam dummies with electric cars. Barney & Smith provided cars 500-507, and American Car Co. sent cars 509-512. (Number 508 was skipped.) These cars began pulling the trains to West End on July 17, 1898.
Beginning March 26, 1911, a branch line was opened from the West End tracks at what became Robert E. Lee Blvd. east to the Spanish Fort area. Spanish Fort had a long history as an amusement resort before being improved by New Orleans Ry. & Light Co. (successor to New Orleans Traction Co.) between 1909 and 1911. During the summer season, the Spanish Fort streetcar line used the trains that West End had been using, the 500-class cars pulling up to three trailers, while West End after that time used “Palace” cars pulling single trailers. The rest of the year, Spanish Fort was a shuttle service operated along Robert E. Lee Blvd. between West End and Spanish Fort. Buses took over the Spanish Fort run on October 16, 1932.
Spanish Fort was equipped with a Spanish-style station building, an amusement park just behind the station, and sufficient trackage for the trains to be reshuffled and the electric cars to maneuver. There was also a pier extending three-quarters of a mile out into the lake, with tracks out to the end, on which a shuttle car operated during the summer for several years. There was also a bathhouse partway out along the pier, over the water. One could walk out to the bathhouse, or take the shuttle car.
| Picture 3-1. | |
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The station at Spanish Fort. — C. B. Mason |
| Picture 3-2. | |
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American Car Co. car 509 pulls its train into the Spanish Fort station. — C. B. Mason |
| Picture 3-3. | |
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American Car Co. car 511 has reversed direction and is loading passengers at the Spanish Fort station for return to the City. |
| Picture 3-4. | |
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The amusement park at Spanish Fort, with the station at the right. |
| Picture 3-5. | |
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The Spanish Fort pier, with the bathhouse built over the lake (in the left background), and the streetcar tracks running out to the end of the pier. |
| Picture 3-6. | |
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This 1912 view shows the entrance to the bathhouse, partway out along the pier over the water of Lake Ponchartrain, looking back toward the shore. The actual bathhouse is out of the picture to the right. The streetcar tracks for the shuttle car can be seen at the left, separated from the pedestrian walkway by a railing. — C. B. Mason/H. J. Harvey |
| Pictures 3-7 and 3-8. | |
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The reason for the name “Spanish Fort.” These pictures show what was displayed as the remains of old Fort San Juan, built about 1770 by Baron de Carondelet to protect early New Orleans from attack across the lake. — J. Scordill (upper), C. T. American Art (lower) |
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West End was originally an excursion line to the lake at the far northwest corner of New Orleans. It was powered by steam trains in the early days, beginning in 1876. In 1898, these were succeeded by trains pulled by double truck electric cars. Beginning in 1911, New Orleans Railway & Light Co. switched its excursion traffic to Spanish Fort, and that line used the trains (see Group 3, above), with “Palace” cars pulling single “Coleman” trailers assigned to West End.
In 1935, cars of the 800-900 series were assigned to West End, and trailer operation was dropped. After this, West End was in effect a longer and limited-stop version of the Canal-Cemeteries line. West End cars ran the length of Canal Street from the loop at the foot of Canal all the way out to City Park Ave., but between Claiborne and City Park Ave., they stopped only at Galvez, Broad, Jefferson Davis, and Carrollton. At the outer end of Canal St., West End cars followed City Park Ave. to West End Blvd., then ran all the way out to the lake. West End Blvd., while theoretically a public street, was mostly private right of way for West End cars. There were passenger shelters at stops along West End Blvd.
Buses took over from City Park Ave. to the lake on January 15, 1950.
| Pictures 3.5-1, 3.5-2, and 3.5-3. | |
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In the top picture, a passenger is walking away after leaving outbound car 913. A shelter can be seen in the background. The New Basin Canal is out of sight at the rear of the picture. The middle picture features outbound car 933 passing a shelter, possibly the same one as in the top picture, with the canal to the left. Note how the shelter is actually built out over the water of the canal. The bottom picture shows inbound car 936, with the canal to the right. Incidentally, the New Basin Canal was filled in about 1950 so that the right of way could become part of the Ponchartrain Expressway (I-10). |
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| Pictures 3.5-4 through 3.5-7. | |
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The outer end of the West End line, probably some time in the 1940s. These pictures show the West End terminal near Lake Ponchartrain late in the life of this line. The top picture features car 933, and shows off the little shelter erected at this spot. Then we see the sun-dappled sides of cars 900, 926, and 936. — Collection of Earl Hampton (first picture) and of the author (last three pictures) |
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| Pictures 4-1 through 4-7. | ||||
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The Magazine line was primarily a street running line.
The major exception was its uptown terminus, at Audubon Park, where the track was
laid at the side of the roadway. Here are some glimpses of that trackage. Five
of these pictures (the first three and the last two) were taken from the river side of Magazine
Street, which is just the other side of the streetcar right of way, by the same unknown
photographer on June 10, 1947. The fourth picture is dated 1938, making it
a bit older than the others. The fifth picture is undated, but was probably taken
in the 1940s. These two were taken from the other side of Magazine Street,
looking toward the river, the opposite viewpoint compared to the other five pictures.
The top picture shows car 916 at the Magazine line terminal. The car has just arrived from the right. The second picture, from about the same angle, features the motorman standing on the step of car 930, as another car begins its downbound run at the far right. In the third picture, car 954 and another car await their turns to pull up to the stub track, which is just ahead of 954. A motorman or conductor is stretching his legs before returning to his car for its next run. The fourth picture shows car 923, which has pulled into the stub terminal. Both trolley poles are up as the crew reverses the direction of the car. The pole at the left, which will be the front of the car when it sets out on its trip downtown, will be pulled down momentarily. Note the roof and bench of a shelter for waiting passengers, at the far right. — Collection of Leo Sullivan The fifth picture stars car 926, which has pulled into almost exactly the same position as car 923 in the previous picture. The motorman is raising the trolley pole to reverse the direction of the car. In the sixth picture, car 971 has just pulled forward from the stub track onto the downbound track, and is preparing to load passengers for the next run downtown. Two other cars at the left await their turns in the stub track. A motorman or conductor, probably from car 971, is seen at the right. He is being unusually casual, with his necktie off. The seventh picture shows car 913 and another car behind it after they have left the stub track and pulled forward on the downbound track. The star players in these pictures are all Perley Thomas cars: numbers 913, 916, 923, 926, 930, 954, and 971. All of these cars survive today except 916. Car 913 was at the Orange Empire Trolley Museum, and has been moved to San Francisco to join the Municipal Railway's historical collection. The others are still giving service in New Orleans. In several of these pictures, we can see that the poles for support of the trolley wires use bracket arms for the downbound wires, but span wires to support the upbound wires. Probably, the original installation used bracket arms for both streetcar trolley wires. But in 1930, when the pioneering Broadway trolley coach line was started, twin trolley coach wires were installed above the roadway of Magazine Street to connect the Broadway line to Arabella Station, a little over a mile from Broadway Ave. In this stretch through Audubon Park, the span wires for the TC overhead were used to support the upbound streetcar overhead as well. A very close look (for example, at the pictures of cars 916 and 954) reveals a glimpse of the TC wires above the roadway. After trolley coaches took over operation of the Magazine line, the street was widened in this area to absorb the streetcar right-of-way, and a narrow neutral ground was even created to separate the upbound and downbound roadways. |
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Arabella Station was one of the three largest and most important car barns operated by New Orleans Public Service Inc. (the others being Canal and Poland Stations). It was built in the 1880s by the Crescent City RR to house its then-new Coliseum line. The station was located along Magazine Street between Arabella and Joseph Streets. There was a large building in the block between Magazine and Constance Streets, with an open car storage yard in the next square block between Constance and Patton Streets. Arabella housed most of the uptown streetcar lines, until the Magazine line and Arabella with it were converted to trolley coaches and the rails were removed in 1948. Trolley coaches were replaced with diesel buses between 1963 and 1967. About 2002, Arabella was closed, and all bus lines were housed at Canal Station. The closed car barn was renovated for a second career as a Whole Foods store, opening in 2002. Renovated again after Hurricane Katrina, it was reopened Feb. 1, 2006, and survives in this form today.
| Picture 5-1. | |
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In front of the car barn, there was a third track in Magazine Street, to which all the car barn tracks connected. This picture appears to show that track under construction, or perhaps under repair. The streetcar at the right-center of this picture is on that third track. — Collection of Mike Walsdorf |
| Picture 5-2. | |
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Perley Thomas car 936 peeks out the front door of Arabella Station into Magazine Street. — Charles Franck photo, collection of Earl Hampton |
| Pictures 5-3 and 5-4. | |
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We are looking at the storage yard behind Arabella Station car barn, June 10, 1947. The upper picture features Perley Thomas car 941, and the lower picture car 943. |
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| Picture 5-5. | |
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Arabella Station from the rear, looking across the storage yard toward the car barn. This picture was taken in 2002, just about the time the station was closed as a bus garage. The storage yard is seen in the foreground, now paved for rubber tired vehicles. The trolley coach wires have long since been removed, but in the upper foreground, we can see the rear of the tags numbering the lanes for bus parking. Note the rust on the rear wall of the building. This view is no longer possible, as the storage yard has been developed for housing. — Photo by, and collection of, Johnnie J. Myers |
| Pictures 5-6 and 5-7. | |
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Arabella Station in its current role as a Whole Foods store, May 23, 2007. The upper picture shows the view from Magazine St. (compare Picture 5-1, above), and the lower view shows the rear of the building, from Constance St. — Photos by the author |
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| Picture 6-1. | |
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Perley Thomas car 924 is changing ends at the end of the Jackson line at the river, probably some time in the 1930s. Note the wide black stripe along the center of the roof, perhaps an attempt to hide stains from sparks from the trolley wheel. Jackson crossed several of the major uptown lines, then turned downtown and went to Canal Street. — Collections of Earl Hampton and Leo Sullivan |
| Picture 6-2. | |
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Perley Thomas car 926 lays over at the uptown end of the Jackson line, July 13, 1941. After Jackson was converted to trolley coaches in 1947, the neutral ground on Jackson Ave. was substantially narrowed to provide more lanes for automobiles. |
| Picture 6-3. | |
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Perley Thomas car 929 is working the Jackson line at its Canal Street terminal on S. Rampart Street. The car in front of 929 is a 400-class Southern Car Co. car, working on the St. Charles Belt line. That dates the picture to before the 1947 reroute of the St. Charles Belt from S. Rampart to Liberty Street. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
| Picture 7-1. | |
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Napoleon was one of the last four streetcar lines in New Orleans. Judging by the automobiles, this picture featuring car 958 was taken some time in the 1940s. Napoleon Ave. was, and remains, a wide beautiful street with a broad neutral ground eminently suitable for a streetcar line. |
| Picture 7-2. | |
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At the outer end of Napoleon Ave., the streetcar line ran along the Broad St. neutral ground the short distance to Washington Ave., then out Washington to Carrollton on tracks between the roadway and the New Basin Canal, eventually finding its way out to Metairie Road and into Jefferson Parish. Long before this picture of car 969 was taken on March 18, 1949, the Napoleon line had been cut back to this point at Broad and Washington. In this picture, the car has changed ends in preparation for its next inbound trip, and the conductor is loading passengers from what is now the left front door. |
| Picture 7-3. | |
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Car 952 has changed ends and is awaiting departure time from the Broad and Washington terminal. The motorman is looking out the first window toward the photographer, and the conductor taking his ease is visible through the third window — at least, his elbow is. Originally, there was double track here, which turned left and continued out Washington on side-of-the-road trackage. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
| Pictures 8-1 and 8-2. | |
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In the author's considered opinion, the South Claiborne line was the most beautiful line in the City. These first pictures are submitted in support of that view. At 191 feet wide, this avenue was even wider than famed Canal Street. For at least part of its length, the median was occupied by a large drainage canal, an important component of the city's drainage system. (Today, the canal has been covered over, but in streetcar days, part of it was open.) The beautiful part of Claiborne Ave. had a broad, grassy, landscaped neutral ground, with a streetcar track at each edge of the neutral ground, as seen here. The top picture from Feb. 12, 1950 shows car 956 and another S. Claiborne car downbound at State Street. The date and location of the second picture, featuring car 959, are unknown, but it was probably taken in the late 1940s. — D. R. Toye, S. J., Kenner Train Shop (Chris Rodriguez) collection, courtesy of Mike Palmieri (second picture) |
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| Pictures 8-3, 8-4, 8-4.5, 8-5, 8-5.5, 8-6, and 8-7. | |
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The uptown end of the S. Claiborne line was at the unusual
intersection of S. Claiborne and S. Carrollton Avenues. Probably only in
New Orleans would two major avenues both designated “South” intersect each
other. It happens because, while both cross Canal Street (the dividing
line between “South” and “North”), Carrollton runs in a completely straight
line, while Claiborne bends to follow the crescent of the Mississippi River.
At the terminal, the upbound track curved across the neutral ground, connecting
to the downbound track in a single-track stub terminal, which continued in a
curve to connect to the tracks on Carrollton for access to the car barn at
Carrollton Station. (It seems surprising that the track didn't simply
curve back on itself to form a loop rather than a stub terminal. There
was certainly plenty of room.)
The upper picture here shows car 964 just after it has completed its upbound run and discharged its last passengers. The car is stopped on the curve, with the upbound automobile roadway glimpsed behind the car. This picture is undated, but the automobile suggests an early 1950s date. The second picture, probably from the late 1940s, shows car 961, just a bit forward of the location of 964 in the first picture. The track glimpsed across the bottom of the picture is the downbound track. — D. R. Toye, S. J., Kenner Train Shop (Chris Rodriguez) collection, courtesy of Mike Palmieri The third and fourth pictures, undated but from the same era, show cars 960 and 946 on the upbound track, approaching the switch connecting to the downbound track. In the fourth picture, car 964 has already changed ends and pulled forward to the point from which passengers are loaded for the next trip downbound. — Collection of Earl Hampton (fourth picture) In the fifth picture, car 877 has passed over the switch and is still facing upbound. From here, normal operation calls for the car to be reversed, i.e. the trolley poles are changed and the seats are reversed, and the motorman and conductor swap positions in the car. Otherwise, the car is now facing the curve connecting to the S. Carrollton tracks, from which it could proceed to Carrollton Station. The activity visible in the foreground appears to be the construction of the terminal for the bus line which replaced the streetcar line in early 1953. That would date the picture to late 1952. (During the 1940s, car 877 would not usually have been assigned to S. Claiborne service; this would be more likely after S. Claiborne was moved in 1948 from Arabella Station to Carrollton Station and Napoleon Yard.) Note the Katz & Besthoff drug store on the corner, visible behind the streetcar. This was a long time New Orleans chain store, well known in the city and surrounding area. This store building included doctors' offices on the second floor. The sixth picture, also from the late 1940s, shows car 969 after it had pulled into the stub terminal and changed ends, ready to depart on its next trip. — D. R. Toye, S. J., Kenner Train Shop (Chris Rodriguez) collection, courtesy of Mike Palmieri The bottom picture, taken March 14, 1949, shows car 959 facing downbound, after having pulled into the stub, changed ends, and then pulled forward and loaded passengers. Notice the landscaping on the neutral ground in most of these pictures. |
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| Picture 8-8. | |
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This is a diagram of the trackage at the intersection of S. Claiborne with S. Carrollton. It is not drawn to scale, but is intended to suggest the general layout. Tracks are shown as black lines, street and neutral ground curbs as green lines. The tracks shown in blue were added about August 1952. This is the configuration of crossovers usually found in reports of the period (1940s), although the author has seen at least one such report with a crossover on S. Carrollton near what would be the bottom edge of this diagram. While such a crossover would make travel from Carrollton Station to S. Claiborne more convenient than this diagram shows, other reports do not confirm it. Carrollton Station is off the bottom edge of this diagram, some blocks away. Assuming this diagram is accurate as to the position of the crossovers, travel from Carrollton Station to S. Claiborne must have involved going across Claiborne to the crossover on Carrollton, switching back and crossing Claiborne again, then changing ends and taking the broad curve into Claiborne. (Return to the station would of course have been much simpler.) In wondering why such a track layout would have been tolerated, it should be remembered that in earlier days, the S. Claiborne line was housed at Arabella Station, and the connecting curve between Carrollton and Claiborne would have been used only rarely. By the time Arabella was stripped of its rails (1948), it was clear that the assignment of S. Claiborne cars to Carrollton Station would last only for a few years. It should also be noted that in August 1952, the St. Charles line was cut back to this intersection, and a new double scissors crossover, still in use today, was installed on S. Carrollton as shown in blue. That would have made the connection from Carrollton Station to the S. Claiborne line more convenient, but S. Claiborne had then less than six months to survive as a streetcar line. |
| Picture 8-9. | |
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The portion of the S. Claiborne line that was not on S. Claiborne Ave. was mostly street running, inherited from the earlier Clio line. After leaving S. Claiborne Ave., downbound cars followed Erato St. to Carondelet, which they took to Canal Street. They made the loop that St. Charles streetcars still take, from Carondelet to Canal to St. Charles and back to Howard Ave. at Lee Circle, then went out Howard to S. Rampart Street and up to Clio to return to S. Claiborne Ave. Except on Howard and Canal, this was all street running. This Nov. 1, 1951 picture shows car 969 on Carondelet, just about to cross Howard on its way to Canal Street. The car is using the right-hand trolley wire of the Freret trolley coach line; in fact, there are double trolley coach wires visible in this picture. |
| Picture 8-10. | |
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It is September 1951, and S. Claiborne streetcar 957 has paused for passengers on Carondelet Street at Canal, with a Freret trolley coach behind it. (The roll signs on some cars, such as 957, were marked Claiborne, with a blank space where the “S” should have been.) Another streetcar follows, about a block away at Common Street; it is probably on the St. Charles line. The streetcars use the right hand wire of the two-wire trolley coach overhead. There is an automatic switch in the overhead wire ahead of the car, so that when it moves forward, its trolley pole will follow the track onto the Canal Street neutral ground; the double poles of the trolley coach activate the automatic switch such that they will follow the coach into the roadway. |
| Pictures 8-11 and 8-12. | |
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S. Claiborne cars came down Carondelet to Canal, then turned into the outer track on Canal Street, ran one block to St. Charles Street, then turned up St. Charles to begin their upbound runs. These two June 10, 1947 pictures show S. Claiborne cars on Canal Street at St. Charles, loading passengers before turning up St. Charles Street. The upper picture features car 928 loading passengers, and Cemeteries car 820 at the left on the inner riverbound track. The lower picture shows car 924 from the opposite direction, as the motorman looks back into his car at his passengers. The lady in the hat at the right is dressed up, as anyone would do before going shopping “at Canal Street.” She is waiting for the car to pass in front of her on the inner riverbound track. |
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For over 50 years, from Feb. 19, 1900 to Jan. 8, 1951, the St. Charles and Tulane lines operated as belts, with St. Charles being the clockwise side of the loop, and Tulane the counter-clockwise side. Putting it another way, cars leaving Canal Street for St. Charles Ave. were marked St. Charles, and cars leaving Canal Street for Tulane Ave. were marked Tulane. One small difference was that, after the 1929 rebuilding of the Canal Street trackage, Tulane served the loop at the foot of Canal, while St. Charles did not.
When belt operation was established in 1900, St. Charles and Tulane were among the minority of New Orleans routes which were standard gauge. In 1915, the first arch roof cars were acquired, the 400-449 class designed by Mr. Perley Thomas and built by Southern Car Co. These cars were standard gauge, and were assigned to the belt lines and Jackson. In 1925, Jackson was converted to wide gauge and rerouted, and 800-900-class cars were assigned to it. In 1929, the belts were converted to wide gauge; the 400-class cars were also converted at this time. These cars then ran on St. Charles and Tulane until their retirement in 1948. By 1945, cars 800-818 were also assigned to St. Charles and Tulane to supplement the fifty cars of the 400 class. After retirement of the 400s, other 800-class cars were assigned to the belt lines, having been made available by the bustitution of other streetcar lines in the City.
| Pictures 8.5-1 and 8.5-1.5. | |
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Tulane cars 813 (above) and 442 (below) were photographed on the outer track of the layover area at the foot of Canal Street. The upper picture was taken June 10, 1947, the lower one in December 1945. Car 837 on the inner track in the upper picture is probably working the Cemeteries or the West End line. There is a Car Stop sign on the light pole at the right. When the Tulane cars begin their runs, they will switch to the inner track for the trip to Saratoga Street, which they will then follow up to Tulane Ave. Note that the right front (and left rear) doors of the 400-class cars, such as 442 here, are sliding doors, but on the 800-class cars, they are folding doors, the same as the other doors. |
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| Pictures 8.5-2, 8.5-3, and 8.5-4. | |
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These pictures all look out from the corner of St. Charles/Royal and Canal Streets on June 10, 1947. The Tulane Belt cars have just arrived at Canal Street from Carondelet, one block behind, and switched to the inner track for the trip to the loop at the foot of Canal. In the top picture, car 406 is discharging a lady passenger at the front door. To the left, we have a rare glimpse of a White bus on the Freret line. Freret had been converted from streetcars to buses temporarily on Dec. 1, 1946, while trolley coach wires were built for its reconversion to TCs on Sept. 3, 1947. The middle picture features Tulane car 802 and another 800-class car outbound on the Cemeteries or West End line. The bottom picture shows the motorman of car 807 intent on his departing passengers. Notice the light but mostly not-casual summer dress of the shoppers in these pictures. |
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| Pictures 8.5-5, 8.5-6, and 8.5-7. | |
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These June 10, 1947 pictures show St. Charles Belt cars at the University Place intersection with Canal Street, on the outer track. Since March, St. Charles cars have approached Canal from Tulane Ave. via S. Liberty Street. They will continue one more block on Canal and then turn into Baronne St. for the trip up to Howard Ave., which they will then follow to Lee Circle and St. Charles Ave. The top picture features car 435 at the left, with a glimpse of another 400-class car on the Tulane Belt at the right behind the elegant hat of the suited gentleman. We see car 440 in the middle picture. The bottom picture shows car 878 working the St. Charles Belt (an unusual assignment for this car at that time), while car 822 follows the West End line. |
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| Pictures 8.5-8 and 8.5-9. | |
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The neutral ground on Tulane Ave. was none too wide for the car line. Here are two views of Tulane Ave., just out from Broad St. The building at the left is the Criminal Courts Building. Notice how the span wires are mounted to poles near the outer curbs of the street, rather than on poles mounted on the neutral ground, as was the practice on wider streets such as St. Charles, Carrollton, and Canal. When Tulane Ave. was converted to buses and trolley coaches, and the rails removed, the neutral ground was reduced to nothing more than a narrow strip separating the inbound and outbound roadways. The upper picture shows the conductor's back as he leans against the window of car 441. The lower picture features car 813 as the conductor and some of the passengers look back wondering what that silly photographer is up to. |
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| Picture 8.5-10. | |
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Tulane Belt car 832 rounds the curve from Lee Circle to Howard Ave. on its way downtown, probably in the late 1940s. It will turn into Carondelet Street, one block ahead, just as St. Charles cars still do today. In the distance, we can see a St. Charles Belt car approaching on Howard Ave., after having turned in from Baronne Street. The St. Charles car will take the curve in the left foreground to Lee Circle, going around to St. Charles Ave. for its trip uptown. |
| Picture 9-1. | |
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This is the Perley Thomas Car Co. builder's photo of car 1000, the first of what were the most advanced cars that builder provided to New Orleans. According to the notes on the reverse of the picture, an order of 100 cars was placed April 17, 1924. Delivery of the first ten was completed October 23, 1924. These were cars 1000-1009. Another ten such cars, 1010-1019, were built by St. Louis Car Co. (Hennick & Charlton state that the cars were ordered in September 1927.) The cars had smaller wheels, and thus rode lower to the track than their predecessors, the 400s, 800s, and 900s. They also had a ramp inside the car instead of a step up from the platforms to the floor of the car body, and they were slightly wider than the earlier cars. They had four motors, instead of two, and so were also somewhat faster. They were initially built as one-man cars, but the city forbade the use of one-man cars, so they were converted for two-man crews, and no more of the type were ordered. |
| Picture 9-1.5. | |
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This apparently posed picture shows Perley Thomas car 1001 demonstrating how riders would board and alight from the car in one-man service. The car is signed Special. We see a passenger boarding at the front door and another exiting from the rear door, the opposite of the usual practice in New Orleans at that time. When the city government refused to allow the use of one-man cars, NOPSI eventually reworked cars 1000-1019 for two-man crews, and assigned them to the St. Claude line. |
| Picture 9-2. | |
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Car 1003 at the uptown terminal of the St. Claude line, on N. Rampart St.
at Canal, June 10, 1947. The motorman is changing ends, pulling down the
trolley pole at what will be the front end of the car, prior to beginning the
next outbound run down N. Rampart and St. Claude Ave. to the American Sugar Refinery.
Note the shelter for St. Claude patrons, sticking out into the traffic lanes of
N. Rampart St., a unique feature on Canal Street, but a very handy one with the
frequent rains found in New Orleans.
The entire 20-car fleet of 1000s was usually assigned to the St. Claude line, because it was the only line for which there were enough of these cars to provide base service. Because of their higher speeds, they did not mix well with the somewhat slower cars of the 400, 800, and 900 classes, although those cars were used as necessary for tripper runs on St. Claude. The 1000s were also used in some owl services, where their higher speeds could be utilized effectively. St. Claude was converted to trolley coaches, and the entire 1000 class was scrapped, in 1949. |
| Picture 9-3. | |
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St. Louis car 1016 approaching the uptown terminal of the St. Claude line on N. Rampart at Canal, June 10, 1947. The photographer is looking down, away from Canal Street, which is at his back. In front of the car is the crossover it will use to begin its next downtown (outbound) run. |
| Picture 9-4, 9-5, 9-6 and 9-6.2. | |
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Perley Thomas cars 1001 and 1003, and St. Louis cars 1010 and 1016, at the St. Claude terminal on N. Rampart at Canal, the same location as Pictures 9-2 and 9-3. The cars have yet to pull up to the stub end and change ends for their next downbound runs. The photographers are standing on the lake side of Rampart, looking in toward the river. Note the distinctive building in the left background of each picture, the New Orleans Athletic Club. The picture of car 1010 (second picture) is dated June 10, 1947. In the picture of car 1003 (third picture), dated only about a month later (July 18, 1947), we see construction beyond the car; the building in the right background of the first two pictures has been demolished, and a new Woolworth's is being built on the site. The fourth picture, featuring car 1016, is dated November 23, 1947, and shows the partially opened front doors as the passengers prepare to alight. The Woolworth construction is obviousing still ongoing. |
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| Picture 9-6.5. | |
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The highest numbered car, St. Louis Car Co. car 1019, is seen working the St. Claude line somewhere on N. Rampart St., Oct. 3, 1943. |
| Picture 9-7. | |
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St. Claude car 1006 is somewhere on the line, probably travelling between St. Claude Ave. and the river on its way to its downtown (i.e., downriver) terminal at the American Sugar Refinery. |
| Picture 9-8. | |
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One of the St. Louis cars, number 1015, pauses at the downtown terminal of the St. Claude line at the American Sugar Refinery. |
| Picture 9-9. | |
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St. Louis car 1013 is idle in a car barn yard, probably Canal Station. It is possible that this picture was taken at Poland Station, which closed in 1934. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
| Picture 9-10. | |
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St. Louis car 1017 awaits its next run in Canal Station yard, June 10, 1947. |
| Picture 9-11. | |
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Perley Thomas car 1001 is sunning in the car barn yard, apparently fresh and only partly dried from a scrubbing down. The question is, which car barn? This might be Canal Station, but if the date is 1934 or earlier, it might be Poland Station, which closed that year. |
| Picture 9-12. | |
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Car 970, alone of the 900 class, had four motors instead of the usual two, and so was usually assigned to St. Claude service. Hennick & Charlton describe (pages 151-152) a 1930s experimental installation of four motors on certain 900 series cars in hopes of improving their performance. The result of the experiment was the judgement that the expense of so equipping the entire car fleet did not justify the small improvement in performance, and so the experimental equipment was removed from the cars. Apparently, car 970 retained its four-motor configuration. This made it suitable to join the 1000 class cars in St. Claude line service. However, the car was retired after an August 1949 collision with a line car, and was gradually cannibalized for parts until final scrapping in 1952, the first 900 class car to leave the active roster. This picture of 970 was taken in Canal Station yard. Since the car appears to be intact, the date is probably some time in the 1940s. Note the work car, presumably car 29, behind the 970. |
The famous Streetcar Named Desire, i.e., the Desire Line, was a one-way loop which ran from Canal Street down Bourbon through the Vieux Carré, out Dauphine to Desire Street, then out its namesake street to Tonti, down to France Street, and back in to Royal, finally returning through the Vieux Carré to Canal. In the process, it passed Elysian Fields Blvd., the site of most of the action in the famous Tennessee Williams play and movie. Incidentally, Tennessee Williams got the travel directions backwards, presumably a bit of artistic license. Blanche enters New Orleans at the railroad station at the foot of Canal Street, and tells a helpful stranger that she has been told to take a Desire streetcar and transfer to one marked Cemeteries. In the movie, a Desire streetcar promptly comes around the loop at the foot of Canal Street, and she boards. In real life, Desire cars never ran to this loop. The correct travel directions would have been to take a Cemeteries car and transfer to one named Desire! But dramatically, it sounds better the way Williams wrote it.
| Pictures 9.5-1 through 9.5-4. | |
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These four pictures show Desire streetcars at Canal Street. The top three pictures, all taken June 10, 1947, are probably all from the camera of the same unknown photographer. The first picture features Brill-built car 885 on Royal Street, about to enter Canal Street. The car will follow the track in the foreground, turning into the outer lakebound track, and will proceed one block to Bourbon Street. Royal Street is flanked by the Royal Jewelry on the left and National Shirt Shops on the right. The panel delivery truck in the right foreground is a 1936 Willys. The smoke cloud suggests that its engine must have been near the end of its life. The second picture shows the trailing end of Perley Thomas-built car 898 at its stop on the Canal Street outer lakebound track at Bourbon Street. Passengers are heading toward its open rear door to board. The car will then turn right into Bourbon Street to begin its downbound (outbound) trip to Desire Street. We know it is summertime, even if we did not have the date for the photo, as evidenced by the white suit on the gentleman at the left, and the lightweight and light colored clothes on all the people. Note the business signs: Keller-Zander and Godchaux's at the left (the uptown side of Canal Street), and D. H. Holmes and Maison Maurice prominent on the right (the downtown side). The third picture shows Desire car 893 (another Brill product) on the outer track, and Tulane car 416 (from the Southern Car Co.) on the inner track, at Bourbon Street. The bottom picture shows Brill-built car 819 leaving the Canal Street terminal, turning from the outer Canal St. track into Bourbon St. to head downtown. This may be a special car; note the crowd aboard, and what appears to be an organization's banner in the right front window. The sign above the right front window, where a destination might be shown, reads “Exhibition”, but the significance of that is unknown. Ordinary Desire cars would have shown a blank space in this sign window except for displaying “Car House” when heading to the station. Notice also that the light pole next to the streetcar has been decorated, probably for Mardi Gras. It is surmised that the car is carrying Mardi Gras partiers, who may have been playing with the roll sign. |
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| Picture 9.5-5. | |
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A vacationing couple from Philadelphia took this picture of Desire car 894 working its way through the French Quarter, February 16, 1948. The Desire line had only about three and a half months to go. |
| Picture 9.5-5.5. | |
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Cars 898 and 884 are somewhere on the Desire line, probably at or near the terminal at France and Tonti Streets. There are no passengers aboard 898, but several are visible aboard trailing car 884. Note the unpaved street. |
| Picture 9.5-6. | |
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This streetcar named Desire lost an argument with a large truck. Car 888 is seen here on May 13, 1947 on Jeannette St. adjacent to Carrollton Station, where it has apparently been towed. Yes, this end of the car looks fine, but look closely through the center window (click on the picture for enlargements). The other end of the car is simply gone! Rather than being repaired, the car was scrapped, the first Perley Thomas car to leave the roster. — Charles Franck photo, collection of Earl Hampton |
| Pictures 9.5-7, 9.5-8, and 9.5-9. | |
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NOPSI car 832 has led an interesting life. A 1922 Perley Thomas car, it is well known as a Desire car. The top picture here shows it operating on the Desire line down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The middle picture shows it during World War II, when it wore a War Bonds patriotic livery. The bottom picture shows it in retirement at the Pennsylvania Railway Museum, where it can be found operating to this day with its correct Desire route sign — or even two of them! It is one of the last three 800-class cars still in existence. — Photo by John M. Miller (bottom) |
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| Picture 9.5-10. | |
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Another Perley Thomas car seen in retirement, car 913 was at the Orange Empire Trolley Museum at Perris, California when this picture was taken. But the folks at the museum apparently did not realize that the Desire route name should have been displayed over the center window, not the right. The right window was used in New Orleans for a destination sign, such as Car House, when appropriate. This car has recently been moved to San Francisco, where it has joined the Municipal Railway heritage fleet. — Photo by Jim Walker |
| Picture 9.5-11. | |
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The REAL “Streetcar Named Desire”. This is the actual streetcar that appeared in the movie. At this point in its life, it was operated on the St. Charles streetcar line, and no longer had a DESIRE selection on its roll sign, so photographer Hampton made one for this picture. That's Louisiana Tourist Development Commission “motorman” Byron Pulley in the suit near the headlight of car 922 at Carrollton Station. — Photo by Earl Hampton |
There were only three interurban lines in the entire state of Louisiana: the Orleans-Kenner Traction Co., the St. Tammany & New Orleans across Lake Ponchartrain from the city, and the Southwestern Traction & Power Co. in Iberia Parish. Of these, the most important by far was the Orleans-Kenner Traction Co. It was built in 1914, running from the corner of S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Aves. out what is now known as the Jefferson Highway, through the towns of Harahan and Kenner, to the Jefferson-St. Charles Parish line. It was a standard gauge railroad, so to reach the New Orleans central business district, it utilized trackage rights over the standard gauge St. Charles-Tulane Belt lines on Carrollton and Tulane Aves. to S. Rampart Street, where it had a terminal and waiting rooms. In 1928, due to declining patronage and revenues, service was cut back at the outer end to Kenner, and at the inner end to the corner of S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne, with transfers issued for passengers to take the streetcar to Canal Street. Finally, on December 31, 1930, all service was abandoned.
The line had three groups of equipment. The first motor cars, #1, 3, 5, and 7, were large combination passenger-baggage interurban cars. These were supplemented by three or four second-hand trailer cars with even numbers, acquired from the rapid transit system in Brooklyn, NY. The third group of cars was purchased second hand in 1921 from the Southwestern Traction & Power Co., whose operations had been suspended in 1918. This group of cars included three more motor cars, SWT&P #21, 22, and 24, which became O-K cars #9, 11, and 13, and two trailers, O-K #10 and 12.
| Picture 9.7-1. | |
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Orleans-Kenner car 7 leads a pair of the ex-Brooklyn trailers in a train chartered by the Dameron-Pierson Co., Ltd. for a “book binders” outing, some time between 1915 and 1918. The train is seen on its terminal track in S. Rampart St., about ready to leave; it will turn right into Tulane Ave. to begin the trip out of the city. The destination is not known, but was probably one of the parks along the line, such as Felix Park at Kenner, or the Jefferson Park Race Track near Shrewesbury. Behind the train is the station and waiting rooms at 127 S. Rampart St. (It's hard to make out, but on the building behind the train, and above the word “OUTING” on the sign on the side of the trailer car, is a sign with large letters “ORLEANS-KENNER”.) There are four tracks on S. Rampart. The O-K train is on the track farthest from the camera. The two center tracks carry streetcar traffic. The track closest to the camera provides a terminal for the Spanish Fort and West End line trains. Incidentally, the Dameron-Pierson Co. is still in business today in the New Orleans area. |
| Picture 9.7-2. | |
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Orleans-Kenner flat car 100, probably near one of the car barns. On the next track, we see combination car 11, ex-SWT&P 22. Behind car 11 is one of the trailers, probably one of the ex-Brooklyn group. — D. R. Toye, S. J., Kenner Train Shop (Chris Rodriguez) collection, courtesy of Mike Palmieri |
Even after various car lines were closed, their route names continued for a while on the roll signs carried on the streetcars. Motormen and conductors could often be induced to “turn the crank” and display an obsolete route name while they were taking a break at the end of a run, while a photographer snapped a no-longer-possible picture. With the popularity of the Tennessee Williams play and movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”, it is no wonder that “Desire” was a popular choice for such posed pictures. But it was not the only choice....
| Picture 10-1. | |
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This is one of the most nearly convincing photos purporting to show a streetcar named Desire. It seems to show Perley Thomas car 904 as it lays over at the end of the Desire streetcar line, on France Street near Tonti Street. The Desire line looped through this neighborhood on single track; there was double track such as seen here on France St. just below Tonti to allow for switching cars at the terminal. But note the above-ground tombs in the cemetery behind the streetcar. There is no such cemetery anywhere near France and Tonti! This picture actually seems to have been taken at the pre-1950 outer end of the Cemeteries line on West End Blvd. just off City Park Ave. The picture is dated March 18, 1949. The last Desire streetcar ran May 30, 1948. — Collection of John F. Bromley, used with permission. |
| Picture 10-2. | |
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This picture was posed at the foot of Canal Street, where cars which used the loop there took a layover in preparation for their next runs. Unfortunately for reality, Desire line cars never used this loop or the layover area. — D. R. Toye, S. J., Kenner Train Shop (Chris Rodriguez) collection, courtesy of Mike Palmieri |
| Picture 10-3. | |
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This picture looks out from the layover area at the foot of Canal Street. The Custom House, at the corner of Peters and Canal, is in the background. Freret is another route which never came to the loop and layover area at the foot of Canal. It gave up to rubber tired vehicles December 1, 1946. — D. R. Toye, S. J., Kenner Train Shop (Chris Rodriguez) collection, courtesy of Mike Palmieri |
| Picture 10-4. | |
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Like the Desire line, the City Park in its last years came to Canal Street on Royal, and left on Bourbon. Thus it, too, came nowhere near this location near the foot of Canal Street. When this picture was taken in the late 1940s, City Park had been running on rubber tires since January 1, 1941. — D. R. Toye, S. J., Kenner Train Shop (Chris Rodriguez) collection, courtesy of Mike Palmieri |
| Picture 10-5. | |
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Taken literally, the signs on car 913 mean Canal Line, destination Broadway. Unfortunately for reality, Canal Street and Broadway Ave. do not come anywhere close to intersecting. This view, taken in Canal Station yard, was clearly posed. There never was a Broadway streetcar line in New Orleans, although before the creation of the pioneering Broadway trolley coach line, streetcars of several different routes operated on parts on Broadway Ave, from north of S. Claiborne Ave. to Magazine St. near the Mississippi River. That is probably the reason for a Broadway selection on car 913's roll sign. |
The best known work car in New Orleans, the only one surviving to the present day, is car 29, built from a single truck passenger car and used today as a rail grinder, a sand car, and a general purpose rail work horse. Click here for an article about car 29.
| Picture 10.5-1. | |
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This odd contraption is sand car 021. Its history is lost. Whatever its origin, it appears to be a product of considerable local building and rebuilding. The car's purpose was to sand one rail on wet days, to improve traction for passenger cars. Note the odd, wide, open-ended operator cab on the left end of the car. The car had to have been considered double-ended, i.e., capable of operation in either direction, with either end leading. But how clumsy it must have been! It seems that the operator would have to face away from the controller to operate the car with the cab end leading, in which case he would have had the wind and weather in his face. Even more strange, unless there was a controller on the opposite platform (with no cab around it), operation with that end leading would have required someone to be a pilot on the leading end, because the operator in the cab could not see where the car was going! — Collection of Leo Sullivan |
| Picture 10.5-2. | |
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NOPSI owned several of these side-dump cars, half motored (cars 050-053) and half trailers (cars 030-033), built in 1923. There was also a pair of center dump cars, motor 054 and trailer 034, built in 1924. By the early 1950s, trucks were in service for all the purposes that these dump cars had been used. The last of them were scrapped in January 1953. Note the rust on the bottom edge of the dash panel at the left in this picture of motor side-dump car 052, taken August 14, 1949. |
| Pictures 11-1, 11-2, and 11-3. | |||
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Hat badges worn by NOPSI operating personnel: motormen, conductors, and bus operators. The author is unsure of the precise eras when each type of badge was in use. Information from knowledgeable readers would be most welcome. |
| Pictures 11-4, 11-4.3, 11-4.5, 11-4.7, 11-5 through 11-12. | |||
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| Service pins awarded by NOPSI to employees for various lengths of service. The first pin does not indicate the length of service for which it was awarded. The 5, 10, 15, and 20 year pins were all awarded to one single employee. The 30, 35, 40, 45, and 49 year pins were all awarded to another single employee. The jewels correspond to the number of years of service: 1 diamond for 30 years, 1 diamond and 1 ruby for 35, 1 diamond and 2 rubies for 40, 2 diamonds for 45. The 32 and 49 year pins have the same jewels as the next lower multiple-of-5 pins; one assumes that they were one of a kind, struck when a long-time employee retired. The 32 year pin appears to be somewhat newer than the others; for one thing, it is fitted out with a modern clutch as a tie tack. The actual width of the word NOPSI on each pin is about one-half inch. The letters on the first five pins are a bit taller than those on the gold-colored pins. | |||
| Picture 12-1. | ||
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New Orleans Railway & Light Co. was the name of the streetcar system from 1905 to 1922, so these tickets could have been issued any time in that range. |
| Pictures 12-2, 12-3, and 12-4. | ||
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Here are tickets issued in a booklet by New Orleans
Railway & Light Co. for travel to Spanish Fort (see Group 3).
Shown are the front and back covers of the booklet, and a typical page of
tickets from inside. (The reverse of the tickets is blank.)
The cover bears a handwritten date 6/16/11, which would be during the
first season that Spanish Fort was open by NOR&L.
Curiously, the inscription on the tickets says that they are good "on the
West End train". They were apparently supposed to be taken up by the
conductor in order, since the cover proclaims “Coupons good only when
detached by conductor”. They are attached to the booklet at their left
edge, so that the fact that they are printed in the order 1-2-4-3 apparently
caused no harm. Coupon 1 is marked “City to Half-WayHouse”; number 2 is
“Half-WayHouse to Spanish Fort”; 3 is “Spanish Fort to Half-WayHouse” (for the
return trip); and number 4 is “Half-WayHouse to City”. (Half Way House
was located at City Park Ave./Metairie Road and West End Blvd.) Each
ticket is also marked “Good only for free transportation”; it is not known
whether this was for a promotion, perhaps to encourage travel to Spanish Fort,
or whether some fee was required for the “free” transportation.
The back cover details some of the rules for use of these tickets: “Caution. This ticket is issued with the express condition that no Coupons will be taken from it to pay the fare for any one except the person to whom it is issued. The cover must be returned to the office of the Company before another book will be issued in its place. This book must be taken up by the Conductor and returned to the office, if used or offered for any other person than the one whose name is written herein.” The tickets are somewhat enlarged; the booklet covers are reduced in size. |
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| Picture 12-5. | ||
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In the 1960s and 1970s, New Orleans Public Service Inc. (NOPSI) used tickets of this type for several classes of free riders. This form of ticket was for the use of officials of the company. (This ticket, and several following, shows mildew caused by surviving the floods that followed Hurricane Katrina.) — Collection of Earl Hampton | |
| Pictures 12-6 and 12-7. | ||
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Here are two different tickets issued to employees of the company. The second is a one-day pass, this one dated June 28, 1970. — Collection of Earl Hampton | |
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| Pictures 12-8 through 12-12. | ||
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The tickets issued to retired employees evolved slightly over the years. Here are samples of tickets from series D, E, F, G, and H. The oldest is inscribed “Pensioner”, the rest are marked “Retiree”. Note the logo of the Globe Ticket Co., especially noticeable on the otherwise blank reverse of the last ticket. As the corporate structure changed, the name of the parent company “Middle South Utilities System” was added to the logo, beginning with series G. — Collection of Earl Hampton (series D, E, F, G), collection of the author (series H) | |
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| Picture 12-13. | ||
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In 1970, this type of ticket was issued to postal carriers, who rode the cars and buses free. Note that the cash fare at this time was still only ten cents! In earlier times, not even tickets were required of a postal carrier in uniform carrying his leather satchel. Incidentally, by long standing custom in this predominantly Catholic city, Catholic nuns in their distinctive habits boarded at the front of the streetcar and rode free, no tickets or fares being required. — Collection of Earl Hampton | |
| Picture 12-14. | ||
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This New Orleans Railway & Light Co. token dates itself, having the year 1919 stamped on the reverse. The token was struck in what collectors call White Metal (WM), and is 16 mm (millimeters) in diameter. The dark colored metal is the normal patina which forms in the low spots on such a token over the years. The token bears Atwood-Coffee token catalog number LA 670 A. (For more information on transportation tokens, visit the American Vecturist Association website at www.vecturist.com. A “vecturist” is a collector of tokens.) |
| Pictures 12-15 and 12-16. | ||
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New Orleans Public Service Inc. issued these two similar tokens years apart. The upper picture shows the token issued in 1947. It was commonly used by conductors stationed on the street at busy rush hour streetcar and bus stops. In those days, streetcar conductors and bus drivers made change, which of course slowed boarding. So the street conductors passed among the people in the crowd, selling these tokens and making change, thus speeding up the boarding when the streetcar or bus arrived. The second picture shows the token issued in 1970. It differs only in the reverse inscription, saying “One Base Fare” instead of “One Cash Fare”. At this time, some NOPSI routes (e.g., express routes) had premium fares. Both of these tokens are also 16 mm in diameter, and were struck in WM. Atwood-Coffee catalog numbers LA 670 Bb and LA 670 H. |
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| Picture 12-17. | ||
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This handsome token was issued by New Orleans RTA in 1984 for the Louisiana World Exposition, the world's fair held in the city that year. It was good for a fare, but RTA clearly expected that many people would buy and keep one as a souvenir without riding, thus selling more rides than were claimed. This token was struck in brass, and measures 27 mm in diameter. Atwood-Coffee catalog number LA 670 M. |
| Picture 12-18. | ||
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RTA issued this brass token in 1985. The inscription on the reverse says “Oldest continuously operating streetcar in New Orleans since 1835”. Someone seems to have decided that this didn't quite say what it was intended to say. A subsequent issue has the inscription “Oldest continuously operating streetcar in the world since 1835 New Orleans St. Charles Streetcar”. These tokens are 16 mm in diameter. The token illustrated is Atwood-Coffee catalog number LA 670 N; the subsequent issue, not shown, is LA 670 O. |
| Picture 12-19 and 12-20. | ||
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After NOPSI went to an exact fare system, and conductors and bus drivers no longer made change, tokens were advertised as an alternative to the nuisance of presenting exact cash fares. Banks, grocery stores, and many other kinds of stores sold the tokens in packets of 10 or 20, although the price per token was still the same as the cash fare (15 cents at this time). The tokens seen above in Pictures 12-15 and 12-16 were the ones usually included in these packets, but an occasional older token (Picture 12-14) could also be found. — Collection of Earl Hampton |
| Pictures 12-21 and 12-22. | ||
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A transfer of the New Orleans City RR Co., circa 1900. The reverse side is blank. Note the list of lines across the bottom of the transfer. The issuing conductor had to punch one of the stars to indicate the line of his car, and then punch the light (for a.m.) or dark (for p.m.) box for the line to which the customer wanted to transfer. In the panels at the right, he also had to punch the time limit for the transfer to be valid, plus the month and day at the top. This copy is pretty beaten up; the dark area at the right torn edge was caused by a tape mend some time in the past history of this transfer. The second picture is the same transfer, “mended” on the computer to be closer to what the original would have looked like. | |
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| Pictures 12-23 and 12-24. | ||
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These are the types of transfer used by New Orleans Railway & Light around 1920-22. (The Desire line, listed on both of these transfers, was started in 1920, and the company was reorganized into New Orleans Public Service Inc. in 1922.) The two transfers are slightly different. It is not known to the author whether they were used in the same period, or if not, which was the older type. One possibility is that they were handed down in these forms from predecessor companies of NOR&L, without being changed to a single standard company-wide format. |
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| Picture 12-25. | ||
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New Orleans Public Service Inc. (NOPSI) adopted standard transfer forms. This transfer was used on the pioneer Broadway trolley coach line. The transfer listed each possible transfer point, i.e., each point where the Broadway line intersected another line: from north to south, the S. Claiborne, Freret, St. Charles-Tulane Belts, and Magazine streetcar lines. Note how streetcar terminology was used on the transfer, even though it did not literally apply: there is reference on the reverse to the “conductor”, and on both sides to the “car” (meaning streetcar, not automobile). There was never a streetcar line named Broadway. And New Orleans trolley coaches never had two-man crews, although the city insisted on two-man streetcar crews, which was one of the incentives in the 1940s and 50s for NOPSI to convert from rail to rubber-tired vehicles. |
| Pictures 12-26 and 12-27. | |||
| This is the type of transfer NOPSI used for many years. With the multiple coupons, one could transfer several times on the same ticket. Each conductor or bus operator would take up one coupon. Each coupon listed the routes on which it was valid (or sometimes the ones on which it was not valid). Someone had to have worked out all the different combinations a person could have reasonably used for a journey anywhere in the city, always on the assumption of one continuous trip and no return to the point of origin. These two transfers date from 1949 on the two Canal Street lines, Cemteries and West End. The Cemeteries transfer is the complete form, as issued to the conductor or operator. In use, the conductor or operator arranged to tear it off at the time that represented the limit on the time to use the transfer on the first connecting car or bus. Complete forms such as this were not supposed to be available to riders. | |||
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| Pictures 12-28 and 12-29. | |||
| These transfers were issued on the real Streetcar Named Desire, the first in 1936, the second in 1944. Notice that the 1944 transfer has one more coupon than the 1936, probably reflecting the fact that the system had grown and a longer trip was possible. | |||
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| Pictures 12-30 through 12-35. | |||
| Here is a sampling of transfers for a variety of streetcar lines, from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. During the 30s and 40s, the full date, including the year, was printed on each transfer, but some time in the 50s, the year was dropped. The samples which list numbered routes must come from the late 1950s or later, as the first numbered routes (express bus routes, such as Bridge 60 and Express 70) came into use in 1958. Incidentally, bus lines used the same type of transfers as streetcar lines. The reason St. Claude and S. Claiborne transfers were printed “St. Claude Car” and “S. Claiborne Car” was to distinguish them from the feeder bus lines having those same names. | |||
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| Pictures 12-36 through 12-40. | |||
| New Orleans Regional Transportation Authority (NORTA) issued transfers such as these. The first comes from the restored Canal-Cemeteries streetcar line on its inaugural day, April 18, 2004; both front and back are shown. Note that the year again appears on the transfer. The second transfer, also from Canal-Cemeteries, is from April 18, 2005, the one-year anniversary of the line. The third was issued on the St. Charles streetcar line on Nov. 7, 2004. The list of lines on which each coupon will be honored is now simply a list of route numbers, without route names. The last two transfers in this group are samples of a generic one, used by NORTA as it worked to recover from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. The blank one is dated October 7, 2006. In use, the route number issuing the transfer is handwritten on the form, as can be seen in the last example, dated May 23, 2007. (Route 47 is the current designation for the Canal-Cemeteries streetcar.) — Collection of Earl Hampton | |||
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New Orleans streetcar workers were among the organizers of the original Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America. In New Orleans, they were initially organized into Local Division No. 2. Over the years, the national union changed its name as transit evolved, becoming the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America, then the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway, and Motor Coach Employees of America, and finally simplifying its name to the current form, Amalgamated Transit Union.
In New Orleans, union matters evolved, also. In the late 'teens and early twenties, we find Division 194 in New Orleans. But the biggest event in New Orleans union history was the 1929 strike (see Group 2.5, above). At the end of the strike, the Amalgamated in New Orleans was in very poor shape, and a different union (one that the Amalgamated calls a Company Union) was formed. This arrangement was successfully challenged in 1974, when the Amalgamated won a representation election and formed Local 1560 in New Orleans. This was followed by unsuccessful negotiations between Local 1560 and NOPSI, and then by a strike, not settled until March 1975.
