A St. Charles "green car" turns around
on New Orleans' Canal Street for the trip west.
For the tourist who is an unreconstructed rail buff, the streetcars of
New Orleans are a powerful attraction, and of course I just had to ride them
during my recent two-day visit to the Big Easy from Chicago on Amtrak's City
of New Orleans.
Actually, I had time to patronize just one of the three lines -- the oldest,
the 7 1/2-mile-long St. Charles Avenue line, which has existed since 1835.
One morning I rode it for several miles west from Canal Street along the Garden
District all the way to Tulane University, and was struck by the fact that
native New Orleanians, not just tourists, ride the line heavily. That should
not be surprising, for each ride costs just $1.25, and seniors and PWDs get
a discount. (In Chicago, the regular fare is $2.25.)
The St. Charles line has an interesting history. Originally steam locomotives
pulled the cars, but when those who lived along the street finally had their
fill of smoke and cinders, horses and mules were employed as motive power.
That's backwards. Usually early streetcar lines began with horses and later
moved to steam.
In 1893 the line was electrified.
Rail buffs notice instantly that the distance between rails is 5 feet
2 1/2 inches, not the conventional 4 feet 8 1/2 inches of American railroading.
Supposedly broad-gauge tracks give a better, stabler ride with less rocking.
One of the other two lines, the Riverfront line, was originally built in 1988
to the 4 feet 8 1/2 inch standard, but was regauged in 1997 to broad gauge
so that its cars could run on the other two lines to the storage barns.
The colorful red cars on the Canal St. and Riverfront lines are fairly
new or recent rebuilds, but the classic green Perley Thomas streetcars on
the St. Charles run date back to 1923 and 1924.
When Hurricane Katrina wrecked the city in 2005, all the lines were badly
damaged and the red cars were ruined by floodwaters. The green cars, however,
had been stored on high ground and escaped damage. Not until late 2008 were
all three lines fully restored to service.
New Orleans clearly loves its streetcars. My wife and I noticed that the
motormen and motorwomen, like service people everywhere in the city, are unfailingly
kind to everyone, locals and tourists, and are quick to give directions when
asked. That, in our experience, rarely happens in Chicago or New York.
That shouldn't be surprising. New Orleans still has not completely recovered
from Katrina, and its people know that the best way to attract tourists again
is to make them feel welcome and perhaps valued for something more than their
money.
