Uptown Backatown lines connected downtown to the universities.
Uptown Backatown – Commuter Lines
The S. Claiborne line began operation in 1915. New Orleans Railway and Light Company was the city’s transit operator then. The S. Claiborne line’s route, 1915-1916:
Outbound
- Canal Street at Carondelet
- Inbound on Canal (1 block) to St. Charles Avenue
- Right turn onto St. Charles, up to Howard Avenue.
- Howard Avenue to S. Rampart
- S. Rampart to Clio
- Clio to S. Claiborne
- S. Claiborne up to Broadway
- Broadway to the end of the line at Maple Street
Return
- From Maple Street, Broadway to S. Claiborne
- S. Claiborne to Erato
- Erato to Carondelet
- Carondelet to Canal
After 1916, the S. Claiborne line was extended. Instead of ending on Broadway, it ran all the way to S. Carrollton Avenue. Carrollton and Claiborne was an important corner/hub for street rail. The St. Charles/Tulane belt stopped at S. Claiborne, and the Orleans-Kenner Railroad’s interurban service came into New Orleans at this corner.
Uptown Growth
As the backatown neighborhoods grew, the streetcar lines that connected them grew as well. NORwyLT initially operated the single-truck Ford, Bacon, and Davis streetcars. The 800/900 series arch roof streetcars ran on S. Claiborne after 1923. Tulane and Loyola students, as well as New Orleanians attending sporting events at Tulane Stadium used the S. Claiborne line as an alternative to St. Charles.
I’m not sure about the original source of the photo above. It’s NOPSI 964 at the end of an outbound run on S. Claiborne.
NOPSI 964 advertises Luzianne Coffee on this run. Luzianne coffee and tea is one of the brands from Reily Foods. Reily also makes/sells CDM and French Market Coffee.
Streetcar operations on S. Claiborne were discontinued in favor of bus service in 1953. Around the same time, belt service on St. Charles and Tulane was discontinued. The Tulane line was converted to bus service, and St. Charles began point-to-loop operation, running from S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne, down S. Carrollton to St. Charles, then looping around Carondelet and St. Charles in the CBD. Today, the corner of S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne is still a transit hub, but two of the three lines are buses.
Route information source: The Streetcars of New Orleans by Louis C. Hennick, E. Harper Charlton.
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