Streetcars in New Orleans - Historic Lines

Historic Lines

In the mid 19th to early 20th century, the city had dozens of lines, including:

• Poydras-Magazine (January 1835 - March/April 1836) - Though short-lived, this was the first true streetcar line to begin operation in New Orleans, having opened the first week of January 1835.
• Jackson Ave. (January 13, 1835 - May 19, 1947) - This long-running line also opened before the St. Charles line, on January 13, 1835. Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service.
• Louisiana Ave. (February 4, 1850–1878, August 27, 1913 - December 27, 1934) - The original 1850-1878 Louisiana Line was a branch line of the New Orleans & Carrollton, running on Louisiana from St. Charles to the river at Tchoupitoulas. The later 1913-1934 line ran from Canal Street up to Louisiana Ave. on Freret and Howard (now LaSalle) Streets, then to Tchoupitoulas. For part of its life, it terminated on Canal Street at the ferry landing.
• Napoleon Ave. (February 4, 1850 - February 18, 1953) - Like the Louisiana Line, the original Napoleon Ave. line was a branch line of the New Orleans & Carrollton, running on Napoleon from St. Charles Ave. to the river at Tchoupitoulas. Unlike the Louisiana, it was extended to Canal Street when electrified in 1893. A second line, popularly known as the Royal Blue Line, was opened on January 1, 1903 from St. Charles out to the end of the Avenue at Broad Street. The two were combined in 1906. With the Shrewsbury Extension on Metairie Road, which operated from 1915–1934, this was the longest streetcar line in New Orleans. Its routing was as follows: on Napoleon Ave. from Tchoupitoulas to S. Broad, then turning right onto S. Broad, left onto Washington Ave. (running between the street and the Palmetto-Washington drainage canal), right onto S. Carrollton Ave., left onto Pontchartrain Blvd. (this would now be impossible due to the presence of the Pontchartrain Expressway / I-10), left onto Metairie Rd., then zig-zagging through several Old Metairie streets to a terminus at Cypress and Shrewsbury Rd. (now Severn Ave.).
• Esplanade Ave. (June 1, 1861 - December 27, 1934) - This was the first streetcar line to traverse the "back-of-town" section of New Orleans, running all the way out Esplanade Ave. to Bayou St. John in its original routing. From 1901–1934 the Canal and Esplanade lines operated in a loop as the Canal-Esplanade Belt, until Esplanade Ave. went to buses in 1934.
• Coliseum (originally Canal and Coliseum and Upper Magazine) (September 1, 1881 - May 11, 1929) - Known as the "Snake Line" because it curved all over the place in uptown New Orleans. Originally operating on Coliseum Street from Canal to Louisiana, it was extended piece by piece over the years, first on Magazine to the present Audubon Park, then through the park to Broadway and then across to Carrollton Ave., where it connected to the loop on Oak and Willow Streets from Carrollton to the Orleans-Jefferson parish line. Beginning in 1913, however, the Magazine Line took over all trackage on Magazine Street, and a shorter Coliseum Line ended near Audubon Park.
• Magazine Street (June 8, 1861 - February 11, 1948) - Its longest routing, in the 1910s, took it all the way from Canal Street, up Magazine and Broadway to S. Claiborne Ave. Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service.
• Prytania St. (June 8, 1861 - October 1, 1932) - Known as the "Silk Stocking Line", Prytania ran through the Garden District.
• Bayou Bridge and City Park (mid-1861 - December 22, 1894, route absorbed into Esplanade line) - This early line ran the full length of the present-day City Park Ave. (then called Metairie Rd.)
• Tchoupitoulas Street (August 10, 1866 - July 2, 1929) - This early riverfront line once ran the full-length of Tchoupitoulas St. from Canal Street to Audubon Park.
• N. Claiborne Ave. (May 13, 1868 - December 27, 1934) - This was a downtown (i.e., downriver) line. From 1917 to 1925, it was operated as a single line with the Jackson Line.
• Tulane Ave. (originally Canal & Common) (January 15, 1871 - January 8, 1951) - From 1900–1951 the St. Charles and Tulane lines operated in a loop as the St. Charles-Tulane Belt, taking passengers past the beautiful homes on St. Charles Ave., up S. Carrollton Ave. past the St. Charles Line's present terminal at S. Claiborne Ave., across the New Basin Canal (now the site of the Pontchartrain Expressway), turning at the former Pelican Stadium onto Tulane Ave. and back downtown. The Tulane Avenue service became a trolley bus and later a diesel bus route.
• Broad St. (originally Canal, Dumaine & Fair Grounds) (1874 - July 16, 1932) - After 1915, the Broad Line had two branches, on St. Bernard and Paris Avenues.
• West End (April 20, 1876 - January 15, 1950) - This line is still fondly remembered for its jaunty ride through the grassy right-of-way along the New Basin Canal (now filled in) to the popular West End area on Lake Pontchartrain.
• Spanish Fort (March 26, 1911 - October 16, 1932) - Further east along Lake Pontchartrain at the mouth of Bayou St. John was another amusement area built around an old fort. This was the original location of Pontchartrain Beach before it moved further east to Elysian Fields Ave. The Spanish Fort Line branched off of the West End Line at what is now Robert E. Lee Blvd.
• S. Claiborne Ave. (February 22, 1915 - January 5, 1953) - In its later years, this line operated at the edges of the neutral ground, which covered a large drainage canal, part of which was open. The part of the neutral ground that was covered was planted in grass and ornamental trees and bushes, and was quite beautiful.
• Desire Street (October 17, 1920 - May 29, 1948) - This line ran through the French Quarter down to its namesake street in the Bywater district. It was immortalized in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire. The line was converted to buses in 1948. Various proposals to revive a streetcar line with this name have been discussed in recent years, but the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has no current plans to rebuild. For many years, a 1906 Brill-built semi-convertible streetcar was displayed in the French Market with a Desire route sign, although there is no evidence that cars of this type ever served the Desire Line. At first it was under cover; later out in the open, it deteriorated from the weather, and in the 1990s it was turned over to New Orleans RTA. It is currently housed at Carrollton Station in the car shops.
• Freret St. (September 7, 1924 - December 1, 1946) - Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service.
• St. Claude Ave. (February 21, 1926 - January 1, 1949) - This and the Gentilly Line were the last two streetcar lines to open in New Orleans until August 1988 (inauguration of the Riverfront line). Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service. The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has plans to rebuild a similar route.
• Gentilly (February 21, 1926 - July 17, 1948) - Gentilly was derived from the old Villere Line. It was unusual in being named for the neighborhood it served, rather than the street along which it ran. At one end, it traversed the French Quarter. Then it turned up Almonaster (now Franklin) to its terminal at Dreux. Replaced by diesel bus service, which was eventually renamed Franklin for the street.
• Orleans/Kenner interurban (or O.K. Line) - This line operated between 1915–1931 and connected New Orleans to Kenner. It began at the intersection of Rampart and Canal in New Orleans and followed the route of the present-day Jefferson Hwy. through Jefferson Parish to the St. Charles Parish Line in an area then known as Hanson City (now part of Kenner). This line was not a NOPSI service, although it came under NOPSI control in the late 1920s.