More than anything…
….I think it’s vitally important to this city to get the St. Charles streetcars running again. It’s a psychological and emotional thang, y’know cher?
Here’s where things stand — the Canal St. line ain’t dere no more, at least for a while. The red cars were inundated by the flood and need extensive repair before they can get going again. But the cars from the St. Charles line are okay — it’s a matter of repairing the electrical connections, clearing the debris and, in some places, clearing the tracks out of the dirt, now that so many folks have been parking on tne neutral ground.
Not that it’s going to be an easy job. And there are so many other things at the top of the long priority list. The streetcar lines are being handled by buses and it’s all free for now (and free is always good when it comes to transportation these days). And I have no idea how many streetcar operators (if any) are actually back in town and available for work.
But TBK (The Beautiful Kim) and I took our first decent walk down St. Charles earlier this week and, despite all the other things coming back, I missed the clatter. I think it would be a huge boost for morale, not to mention tourism, for the streetcars to be running again.
Speaking of St. Charles — some things simply aren’t coming back. While Igor’s remains unchanged, the Garlic Clove restaurant next door is being turned into some kinda BBQ place. There was a fire above the Please-U, so it closed less than a week after it reopened. There’s no Bravo yet. The St. Charles Tavern is, for now, a buffet place with home-style food. Mr. John’s remains shuttered and I’m not sure what’s up with the Clarion Grand Boutique/Cheesecake Bistro. Cannon’s and Fat Harry’s ARE open, but Copeland’s and Superior Grill were still closed last time I went by. Like the rest of the city, St. Charles Ave. is a hodgepodge of what was, what is and what never will be again.
But it’s sorely missing the streetcars. Dammit.
Related posts:
And in the WTF were they thinking category:
http://www.gawker.com/news/advertising/also-no-katrina-and-no-wit-137911.php
Are the cars not compatible between lines? Because it seems like if you have working cars than you can press them into service in areas where the lines themselves can be repaired quickly. I understand that they’d rather brand all three lines differently with different types of cars, but in the short term wouldn’t it make sense to ignore that and provide what service they could?
So perhaps if we coordinate with the Mayor’s office, we could put together a volunteer group to clean off the tracks one weekend in an effort to grease the wheels of progress. Any interested?
As I understand it, the main problem is getting the electric lines back up to provide power to the streetcars. If you look above, they’re a mess, if they exist at all.
It would be a very hard sell to convince the many home and business owners still waiting for power in Gentilly and elsewhere that manpower should be diverted to get the streetcars going. But when it comes down to cleaning the tracks and the neutral ground and stuff, yeah — count me in.
…Craig
I sent an email inquiry to the Bring New Orleans Back Commission informing them of my interest. I will report back on the response if any.
http://www.bringneworleansback.org./
god forbid copeland’s and the cheesecake bistro don’t re-open!!
Thanks for the eyewitness account. We New Orleans natives living elsewhere want to be able to picture this so badly. I cannot wait for my return.
Just Think
‘Bout “Mr. Bingle!!”
An’ de “Brown’s Dairy Cow”.
:D
Laurie
Doesn’t Al Copeland have a whole lotta’ money he can throw in to help?!
I wanna’ be a locomotive engineer when I grow up!!
Laurie