New Orleans 12/20-22/2004

In front of my hotel was the Erato Street stop, which took me downtown to Canal Street where I detrained.

This historic streetcar line is administered by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and originally operated from 1861 to 1964. It was redesigned and rebuilt between 2000 and 2004, and operation was reinstated in 2004 after a 40-year hiatus. Primarily running along its namesake street, Canal Street, it consists of two branches named for their outer terminals, totalling about five-and-half miles: "Canal–Cemeteries" (officially designated as Route 47) and "Canal-City Park/Museum" (officially designated as Route 48).

After just a few minutes wait, a Canal Street Cemeteries streetcar took me out to City Park Avenue and would make a total of 24 stops along the route from Waterfront to City Park Avenue.

For the downtown areas, the tracks are in the cement median of Canal Street and the stops along this part of the route are on the right.

Once the grassy medians were reached, the stops were then on the left in the middle of the medians.

We came to the junction with the City Park Line (Carrollton Spur).

The line ended at City Park Avenue, where there are two above-ground cemeteries.

The 1840 Cypress Grove Cemetery.

The 1852 Greenwood Cemetery. The Canal Street Streetcars were built new in the shops, perform excellently and are extremely quiet and comfortable to ride. The operator for my first trip was Richard Garnett and was very helpful pointing out sights, as well as providing information. I took the streetcar back down Canal Street to Carroklton Street to wait for my next ride over some recently-built tracks.

This route starts at the east end of the Waterfront Streetcar Line then comes up Canal Street to Carrollton where it turns east to City Park and Museum of Art. Just as I detrained, a City Park car arrived and after a brief problem with a switch, we turned onto Carrollton Street. The line ran in the left-hand traffic lane along a grassy median with palm trees in the middle. The route has five stops and at City Park Avenue, runs single track to the end of the line where there is a two-track station.

The end of this line.

A statue of Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (1818-1893), a United States military officer who later served as a Confederate general during the Civil War (1861-65). A native of Louisiana, Beauregard resigned from the United States Army in February 1861 and ordered the first shots of the Civil War during the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861. Beauregard was instrumental in the early Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run and in 1862, served at the Battle of Shiloh and Siege of Corinth. Beauregard's outspoken and combative nature led to a strained relationship with Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and in 1863 he was removed from his post and placed in command of the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, where he helped withstand repeated naval assaults by Union forces. Beauregard later returned to the field and led a crucial defense of Petersburg in 1864. After the war, he worked as a railroad director and as a supervisor for the Louisiana Lottery. He died in 1893 at the age of 74.

At the adjacent City of New Orleans park is a amusement park train and Bayou St. John is to the east and is quite beautiful. Reboarding Car 2003, I returned to downtown and thought it would end at the Convention Center, but the route continued, turning left on the Waterfront Line all the way to the French Market stop, where I detrained to wait for a Riverfront Streetcar.

This historic streetcar line is also administered the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and was built along the east bank of the Mississippi River, in an area with many amenities catering to tourists. It opened on August 14, 1988, making it the first new streetcar route in New Orleans in 62 years. The line runs for two miles from Julia Street at the upper end of the New Orleans Convention Center to the downriver (far) end of the French Quarter at the foot of Esplanade Avenue. Unlike the other three lines, it travels on an exclusive right-of-way, along the river levee beside New Orleans Belt Railway tracks, making it more akin to a light rail line. The line was regauged in 1997 from standard gauge to broad gauge.

Car 460 arrived and after changing poles, picked up three new riders with three already aboard and took off west, where the operator gave us a fast ride, skipping Ursulines, Toulouse and Bienville Street stops. We did stop at Canal Street to let off those three passengers.

The Poydras and Julia Street stops were just a brief pause before we reached the west end of the line at John Churchill Chase, where I climbed off and waited a few minutes for Car 463, which 460 followed to here. I took 463 back to Canal Street, where I walked a short block to a waiting Canal Streetcar which took me to Bourbon Street where I walked across Canal Street to a waiting St. Charles Streetcar to return me to the hotel.

After making some phone calls including one to Amtrak, I relaxed and watched some television then rode a very full St. Charles Line Streetcar to the end of the line and on the way back, I rode in the operator's seat in the rear of the car, which was really fun. We passed people waiting and they gave me looks which asked "Why did not you stop?!" I would point down the track so they would see the one coming behind us in a few minutes.

I enjoyed a KFC dinner which I brought back to my room then called a few other people and watched "Inspector Gadget 2" before calling it a night.

Sleeping in until 7:30 AM, late for me, I walked over to Amtrak to exchange my ticket then since the station store was closed, I walked over to the Hyatt Hotel for some postcards, then wrote and and mailed them at the post office on the way back to the hotel.

I went to the St. Charles Tavern for breakfast and St. Charles streetcars rumbled by during my meal.

A short walk to Lee Circle gave me a chance to watch the St. Charles Line in action. I returned to the hotel for a day of rest as the weather was changing with an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms and severe weather forecast for tomorrow. After watching some television, I made an afternoon trip back to Lee Circle.

I gained elevation for some of the above by standing on walkways of buildings built well above the street. I really do love the sound these old St. Charles Streetcars make. Back at the hotel, I watched episodes of "MASH" and went to KFC to bring back dinner then watched "Sergeant Bilko" and was lucky on both nights with films that made me laugh, after which I turned in for the night.

During the night, it had only rained lightly, so after checking the Doppler radar on the Weather Channel, I visited St. Charles Tavern for some French Toast and crispy bacon. After packing, I checked out and taxied to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal and dropped my bags off in the very warm and humid Magnolia Room, the first class lounge, then visited the gift shop and walked over to the post office to mail those cards. The agent came in to the lounge to take the passengers for the very late eastbound Sunset Limited that was going to Florida. With the heat and humidity in the lounge and since my train was open for the bus passengers from Florida and all points east of New Orleans, I asked if I could just wait in my cool room on the train. The attendant of the lounge told me to go ahead and have a great trip!