Category Archives: Streetcars

By:  Eliot Barron

Streetcar builder.

Pardon the indulgence, but this title, which was assigned not claimed, merits a bit of an analysis.

Who builds streetcars? Because of my educational background, I’m likely to say society. But a city can; also a country or nation or state, like Pennsylvania. Originally, our streetcars were built in North Carolina in the mountains, by hand, by the same company (in origin) that builds school bus lines to this day: Perley Thomas / Thomas. That said, I reiterate, the green ones anyway, were built ninety years ago; the red ones ten.

The red cars that run Canal and soon Loyola, were built by teams from the ground up Uptown at Carrollton Station. They were built by tradesmen like blacksmiths and welders, machinists and sheet metal masters; carpenters and body men, electricians and even an upholsterer. Their names are on plaques as having built streetcars.

Yet many others still were involved throughout the design stages and phases of implementation. And this is ongoing. Streetcar Mechanics and daily and preventative maintenance and repair: Our beloved iconic alternative means of transportation, an allegory in and of itself of the history of the industrial revolution, American manufacturing and the advent of modern living with mass rapid transit, has been preserved, yea maintained. Pending changes in legislation, our trains may yet be built anew and bought and sold on the market.

May we all be streetcar builders.

By:  Eliot Barron, Guest Contributor

Congratulations!

You win for caring, in this little life of ours, for this short time on earth, about what we do for each other and those who come after. Sometimes the best way to do that is to honor and learn from the people who came before us. This has been a guiding principle for me personally, as I have journeyed, literally and figuratively, living (since 1975) and working (since 1991 – for taxable income) all across the country and halfway around the world. My name is Eli and I am currently a part of the Streetcar Maintenance Training Program and this is my weblog. We be blogginʼ.

Growing up within earshot of the old New Orleans-Carrolton Rail Road, also known as St. Charles Avenue, the rumble and hum of the street cars and the lines overhead are as vital in memory as the smell of my mother’s kitchen. Everyday, from age ten on, the streetcar ride home after school – from the hill on Jackson to the lower line of the old town of Carrollton – was an eye and ear opener. I heard recently that there used to be a canal down that uptown street. There was probably a streetcar line too; they used to be everywhere. These days, with all the construction and work on the trails and switches, the cars that stand between Broadway and Carrollton give everyone who goes that way a new awareness of their presence in our lives. Part of the infinite charm of the New Orleans streetcars are the associations each of us has with the singular, historic and time-honored machine. Be it sight, sound, smell, or memories of other times, every one knows about the trolley. Or do we?

As the third century of continuous operation of the St. Charles line goes on (the overhead wires for the system we have today were installed in 1892), the reality of budgets and priorities has led to the endangerment of the species.

Ironically, as the true streetcar craftsmen are retiring or seeing their responsibilities outsourced, the wisdom of the tradition of rapid transit from its origins and the knowledge for maintenance of the fleet and its value – both practical and intangible – are widely recognized and cherished. While appreciation increases, institutional memory, as well as the ever-aging system, is at risk. Yet, fortunately, New Orleans is not the type of place to let a piece of history go without a fight. After the outrage of the loss of all our lines of connectivity and more, it was that type of spunk that saved the one we had for so long. 20 years later the wins began to add up and the rail fleet began to grow again.

The Riverfront streetcar, while a victim of compromise, is a wonderful addition to the life and economy of the French Quarter and beyond. The Canal Street line is a real source of pride and self-reliance. Each of the new cars (handicap accessible and air-conditioned and painted red) was hand crafted at Carrollton Station. While all of this revival had been in my lifetime, so too was a great communal catastrophe in 2005.

Those new cars were all ruined. The power substations that serviced the city were ruined. The neighborhoods – which provided the ridership, which kept the RTA going – were ruined. And in 2008, generally speaking, the national economy was ruined.

Skip forward to 2012, and at the beginning of the year at any rate, just six short months ago, you have one man, a jobless vet with a deep and abiding sense of place, volunteering with an outfit you may know and love as Transport for NOLA. Pushing for progress, calling for services, planning on paper and in person: all things a fellow can get behind. Best of all, while sympathetic to the bicycle, the whole thing was about the streetcars. By the end of this year, one new-new line may be added to the list. While this is many years in the making, it is happening now, and thatʼs what matters. Also happening now, which matters, is the stimulus package as manifested by the people of the Regional Transportation Authority and its managing concern, Veolia Transportation. With money from the Federal Transportation Administration, the seasoned Veterans, so to speak, are raising up the next generation of RTA mangers. Thatʼs the idea anyway. With this in mind, the Streetcar Maintenance Training Program represents many culminating factors – like historical precedence and preservation, like sustainable development, like real deal economic stimulation. It is hands on and teaches how to keep the streetcars rolling. Itʼs awesome, and to steal a quote from the local basketball fans:  “Iʼm in” for good.