The St. Charles Streetcar, the longest of New Orleans' Regional Transit Authority (RTA) three streetcar lines--the other operating lines are the Riverfront Line and the Canal Street Line, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world.
Designated as Route 12, the line travels a total of 13 miles, beginning at the intersection of Claiborne and Carrollton Avenues, across neutral ground in the center of Carrollton Avenue towards the Mississippi River. At the intersection of Carrollton and St. Charles Avenues, the line bends and continues on neutral ground onto St. Charles Avenue to Lee Circle, where it shares a single track with opposing streetcar traffic before continuing on neutral ground along Howard Street. The final leg is carried across Carondelet, sharing the road with vehicular traffic. At the intersection of Carondelet and Canal Street, the streetcar loops around onto Canal Street for one block and then back onto St Charles Avenue for its return trip to the Garden District.
The rolling stock for the line, in the 900 series, consists of green vintage 1924 Perley Thomas cars. They operate at a heritage line, or excursion, speed--not exceeding 10 miles per hour, and following the reserved right of way. The stations consist of modest uncovered ground level concrete areas to the sides of the track.
Planning for the line began in 1831, and work began as the New Orleans and Carrollton Rail Road in February 1833, the second railway in Greater New Orleans after the Pontchartrain Rail Road. Service began on September 26, 1835, originally without a dedicated right-of-way, and powered by steam locomotive. As the area along the line became more urbanized, objections to the soot and noise increased, and transport was switched to cars hauled by horses and mules. While the city's first experiments with electric powered cars were made in 1884, the line was not electrified February 1, 1893. In 1922 the New Orleans & Carrollton Rail Road was sold to New Orleans Public Service Incorporated (NOPSI), which consolidated the city's various lines over 200 miles of trackage. In 1972 automatic fareboxes were introduced, and the job of a separate conductor was eliminated from streetcars.
In 2005, service along the route was suspended due to damage from Hurricane Katrina. The small section from Canal Street to Lee Circle was the first to be restored. The section continuing up to Napoleon Avenue was re-opened on November 11, 2007, and on December 23, was extended up to Carrollton Avenue, near the line's original terminus. The remaining line was restored in 2008.
St. Charles Streetcar National Register #73000873 (1973)
Garden District National Register #71000358 (1971)
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