LAST -- Streetcar line in New Orleans -- New Orleans LA
N 29° 56.609 W 090° 04.361
15R E 782554 N 3316127
A victim of obsolete infrastructure and a change in how people get around means they won't be laying down any more streetcar tracks in New Orleans. A local historic marker admits as much.
Waymark Code: WMNCB7
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 02/12/2015
Views: 6
The St. Charles streetcar line from the Garden District to downtown New Orleans is the world's oldest streetcar line. A historic plaque at Lee Circle shares the history of this once-important part of the New Orleans transportation grid now a quaint major tourist draw, the last streetcar line in New Orleans.
The plaque reads as follows:
"ST. CHARLES LINE
The New Orleans and Carrollton R.R. Co. began passenger train service on September 26, 1835. Steam-powered trains and mule-drawn cars transported New Orleanians between Canal and Carrollton, via St. Charles Avenue.
Improved technology led to the development of electric traction streetcars. The St. Charles line was the first electrified route, opening on February 1, 1893. By 1900, the single line had grown to 28 lines, running over 178 miles. New Orleans first and last streetcar route, the St. Charles Avenue line is the world's oldest operating streetcar line."
Blasterz love public transportation, but this line, while historic, is difficult to use because does not keep to a schedule. Cars are cramped and overcrowded, except when they are empty (because several cars will arrive at a station within minutes of one another, when they should be spaced every 30 minutes according to the schedule). Paying is also a hassle. DART and WAMATA have spoiled us, that's for sure!