There`s good news and bad news about New Orleans` famous Streetcar Named Desire.
The bad news is that the old olive green tram, which inspired Tennessee Williams` play and the movie starring Marlon Brando, is no longer on display outside the Louisiana State Museum in the French Quarter.
That`s because-and here`s the good news-Desire has been moved to a car barn where Regional Transportation Authority officials hope to refurbish it and return it to service.
”We`re just looking for a way to pay for it,” said RTA spokeswoman Valerie Robinson. ”We don`t know whether it`ll be by public subscription, or what, but we hope to have Desire back on the line as soon as possible.”
Long noted for its Mardi Gras, Dixieland jazz and its historic French Quarter, New Orleans finally has discovered that its 157-year-old St. Charles streetcar line is a treasure in itself.
The oldest continuing streetcar line in existence, the St. Charles route went into service in 1835 as the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, connecting the then town of Carrollton with New Orleans. Carrollton has since been incorporated as a neighborhood in the city.
The route begins at Canal Street, opposite the Vieux Carre (French Quarter), where Royal Street becomes St. Charles Avenue. The line runs the length of St. Charles to Carrollton, then over to Claiborne Avenue, where it turns around and comes back.
The 13.13-mile round trip takes about 1 1/2 hours. One-way fare is $1; 40 cents for seniors. Have exact change ready and be prepared to flash your Medicare card if you want the 40-cent rate.
Originally drawn by steam engines, then horses and mules, the streetcars have been electrified since 1893.
The 35 cars now in operation are of the arch roof-900 series, built in 1923-24 by the Perley A. Thomas Car Co., of High Point, N.C. Each has a capacity of 52 passengers. The motorman stands up front, where passengers enter, drop their fares in the box and head for one of the slatted wooden seats by open windows. Standees grab any of the timeworn brass handles.
The streetcars stop every two blocks, and each stop is clearly numbered. Car stop No. 1, the starting point, is at Common Street, around the corner from Canal Street on St. Charles.
Crossing over from the French Quarter, you will pass Kolb`s Restaurant on the way to the corner. The landmark building was the site of the original Louisiana Jockey Club in 1845.
From Kolb`s proceed to the corner, where it should be only a few minutes` wait and then, with two clangs of the bell, you`re off for a different look at New Orleans.
While the Vieux Carre has a French-Spanish character all its own, St. Charles Avenue cuts through the American Sector, with its splendid Victorian and colonial homes.
Between stops 6 and 7 the car loops around Lee Circle, dominated by Alexander Doyle`s towering statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, facing north. The locals will tell you that this exemplifies the fact that the Confederate general never turned his back on the Yankees.
After Lee Circle the car crosses Jackson Avenue to enter the Garden District, with rows of fine homes on either side of St. Charles and on cross streets in either direction.
The swank 1920s era Ponchartrain Hotel, between stops 12 and 13, has hosted famous visitors from Elizabeth Taylor to Tennessee Williams. A little farther down, between stops 17 and 18, is the blue and white Elms Mansion, typical of the fine architecture along the car line.
The movie ”Pretty Baby” was filmed at The Columns, named for the imposing two-story columns that were added after the home was built in 1884. It is on the right, between stops 21 and 22.
Between stops 24 and 25 is Sacred Heart Academy, the city`s oldest Catholic school for girls, founded in 1887.
As the streetcar rumbles along, it passes the Orleans Club, between stops 27 and 28, one of the oldest homes on the avenue, built in 1868. A few blocks down, between stops 30 and 31, is Tara, a stately replica of Scarlet O`Hara`s home in ”Gone With the Wind.”
The 1896 Wedding Cake House, named for its ornate Georgian Revival style, is on the right between stops 31 and 32, while the Palacio House, an Italianate mansion built in 1867, can be seen on the left.
Loyola and Tulane Universities line the right side of the street between stops 36 and 37. On the opposite side of the street is Audubon Park, one of the country`s finest zoos. It was once the plantation of Etienne de Bore, who invented the process of refining sugar from cane, in the late 1700s.
Past the zoo, between stops 38 and 39, is the old Park View Guest House, built as a hotel for the Cotton Centennial Exposition held in Audubon Park in 1884 and still taking in guests.
As the streetcar approaches Riverbend, between stops 43 and 44, it might be a good idea to pull the cord and exit from the rear door before the car it turns into the Carrolton neighborhood. The most scenic part of the trip is behind you.
This is a good place to get off and stretch your legs and maybe climb the sloping grass wall of the nearby Mississippi River levee, where several towboats and barges usually are tied up.
There is also a small shopping area at Riverbend, including a grill, a bakery, a deli and Haagen-Dazs and Baskin Robbins Ice Cream stores.
When you get ready for the ride back downtown, remember that New Orleans is known as the ”Big Easy.” That means folks sometimes take it slow and easy. The tourism brochures declare that St. Charles streetcars run every 15 minutes. We waited 55 minutes for one, and then six cars came at once, followed closely by a seventh.
There is another streetcar line in New Orleans for those who want a quickie ride without the massive dose of history. It`s the new Riverfront Streetcar, running along the riverfront at the edge of the French Quarter.
The bright red cars run from early morning until midnight along a 1.9-mile track, making 10 stops along the way.
There currently are six cars on the line. Three are 1920s vintage Perley A. Thomas cars, like those on the St. Charles line.
Once part of the New Orleans streetcar system, they were sold off around the country when the Canal Street line was abandoned in 1964. When the Riverfront line was built, transit officials located two of the old cars in Dallas, one in a museum and another in Chattanooga and brought them home. The other cars were brought over from Melbourne, Australia, where they had been built in 1924.
The cost of a Riverfront ride is $1.25 one way. Have exact fare ready, and enjoy the experience.
