The Streetcar Named Desire Is Gone, But New Orleans Still Has


September 08, 1985|By Jim Heaney, Orlando Sentinel.

NEW ORLEANS — Babe Ruth had hit just 197 of his 714 career home runs when car No. 900 began ferrying passengers from within earshot of the French Quarter to the Victorian mansions of St. Charles Avenue.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was recovering from polio, his election to the White House nine years away.

And Will Rogers had just burst onto the American scene, thanks to a new column in the New York Times.

Ruth, Roosevelt and Rogers are history. Old No. 900 is history, too--a living piece of it, still shuttling passengers along the grassy median of St. Charles Avenue.

The tree-lined boulevard had been the refuge of Americans in the early 1800s who were shunted west of downtown by Spanish and French settlers who didn`t think the newcomers fit in. The Americans built the parade of stone mansions with stained-glass windows to let their unfriendly neighbors know they had class, clout and money.

The streetcars that still pass the meticulously kept mansions are the ancestors of mule-drawn trollies that have carried commuters down St. Charles Avenue since 1835, making it the oldest continuously operated streetcar system in the world. The only other cities in this country that still have streetcars are Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

The New Orleans streetcars were immortalized in literature by Tennessee Williams, whose 1947 play ``A Streetcar Named Desire`` was named for a line that no longer operates.

The olive streetcars, which carry 22,000 passengers a day, were built in 1923-24, when the city had 26 streetcar routes carrying 480,000 passengers a day. In 1963, the streetcar`s private operator tried to kill off the four remaining routes. But the 13.1-mile St. Charles line survived, thanks to public outrage over ending streetcar service, especially along the historic boulevard.

``The St. Charles line was the stand the public took,`` said Tom Schnadelbach, director of program development for the city`s Regional Transit Authority.

Today it is the third most heavily traveled transit line in a city now largely dependent on buses for public transportation. Streetcars run every 4 minutes during rush hours and every 19 minutes during most slower periods of its round-the-clock schedule.

Not surprisingly, tourists make up a hefty share of the ridership. The RTA estimates about a quarter of the streetcar`s riders are tourists. A third are commuters, the rest mostly shoppers and students who attend the numerous schools and two colleges (Tulane and Loyola) along the line.

The St. Charles streetcar is a relatively cost-efficient system to operate. Revenue from the 60-cent fares covers 62 percent of operating costs, better than the 30 to 50 percent recovery rate of most American rail transit systems.

The comparison with other transit systems stops there.

Unlike the sleek, computer-controlled systems being built in many cities, the St. Charles streetcar plods along under the power of two 65-horsepower electric engines that draw power from overhead lines.

Much of the streetcars` interiors are wood, including the bench seats and floor. Twelve stark, 125-watt bulbs burn overhead.

Any relief from New Orleans` stifling heat and humidity comes through open windows. No air conditioning here.

The age that gives the streetcars their ambiance also makes them a daily challenge to maintenance crews. Because no one makes parts for the streetcars anymore, workers have to make their own when the need arises. Sometimes that means using an in-house blacksmith shop.

``Not only do they make the parts for the streetcars, but also (they make) the parts for the machinery to make the parts,`` said James Baker, director of facilities planning for the transit authority.

After 62 years, the system needs an overhaul, as evidenced by the uneven ride and monthly derailments.

The transit authority has applied to the federal government for a grant to pay three-quarters of the $40 million to $45 million needed to rebuild the line. The railbed would be dug out and replaced. Steel rails would be replaced, as would the antiquated power system. The maintenance shop would be modernized.

The streetcars would get a careful facelift, designed to maintain their historic air. If the transit authority gets the federal grant, the

rehabilitation would begin within 18 months and take 4 years.

Transit officials are unsure whether they can keep the line open during the project. Any interruption would be only temporary, we are assured, as time, and the streetcar, keep rolling along St. Charles Avenue.