Mixed freight consist running westbound on the Norfolk Southern “Back Belt” in New Orleans, 30-April-2025.
Motive power:
BNSF 5064 – GE C44-9W
FXE 4057 – EMD SD70ACe
KCSM 4091 EMD SD70ACe
BNSF 8508 EMD SD70ACe
The consist is likely coming from the CSX Gentilly Yard, heading west through New Orleans, to Jefferson and the Huey P. Long Bridge and the BNSF yard in Avondale.While this particular train is more colorful than the typical NS or UP run, it’s still typical. We have CSX and Norfolk Southern in New Orleans, and trains travel back and forth from those yards to CN and KCS on the East Bank of Jefferson Parish. There’s also regular travel between all of these and the BNSF (formerly SP) and Union Pacific yards on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish.
Four Ways to Support NOLA History Guy
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Introducing a Premium Level for Patreon Supporters
We’re rolling out a Premium Level for NOLA History Guy, beginning in June. We offer a $1 “basic” supporter level on Patreon for a while now. The way we get our news and communicate in general on the Internet has changed so much in recent years, it’s time to make changes here.
Simply put: I’m retired now. I no longer offer the computer training services that paid the rent for me since the 1990s. It’s time, for a number of reasons. If you’re curious, ask me next time you see me at the coffee shop. So, that means a lot of my personal Internet expenses can’t be written off as learning curve, extended education, etc. Some of these expenses include:
“Business” Internet service
Website hosting
Podcast hosting
Social Media management services
Research expenses
Among other things. The bottom line is, no teaching, no revenue stream for these things. So, any help I can get to keep this all going helps.
Of course, retirement means more time for history content. We offer more for Premium Level supporters: more blog articles, and a second weekly podcast.
Changes to $1 level
The basic, $1 month level remains essentially the same. We’ll add another post or two a week for supporters-only. Anyone who has supported the site, past or present, will see these articles. Supporters also receive more “riff” posts, where we take something initially posted by another creator, say, on the Book of Zucker, and expand on their stuff.
$5 Premium
The big change! For $5 per month, supporters receive:
One or more Premium articles per week.
Second podcast episode each week, exclusively for Premium supporters.
Discord
NOLA History Guy now has a Discord server, available to supporters at all levels.
Buy my books! Edward Branley is the author of six books on New Orleans history. They’re available from local booksellers and all the usual online suspects.
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi dot com. I just love this concept as a way to say thank you/tip creators you enjoy. Our idea of monetization is buying books and having us come to speak. If you see me at a coffee shop, stop and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll raise coffee cup to you if you treat me.
Become a patron. Yes, we’re on Patreon. A lot of creators use the platform for direct monetization, and that’s great for them. We don’t have “exclusive content” for patrons. Still, if you think our history stuff is worth a dollar a month, go join!
Continuing the Maison Blanche Origins story of the “Greatest Store South” with the early career of Maison Blanche’s founder, Simon J. Shwartz. Simon worked for his father, primarily in New York City. He brought home innovative retailing
The last remaining roundhouse in New Orleans stands on Tchoupitoulas Street.
NOTE: this post is an update of one from 2018.
Unidentified man stands next to NOPB locomotive #22
NOPB Roundhouse on the riverfront
Franck Studios photo of a Baldwin 0-6-0 switcher. NOPB received the engine new in Jan. 1921. It bore construction number 54415 from Baldwin, and its NOPB road number was 22. The engine was retired May 1957. The photo shows the engine coming off the turntable and entering roundhouse stall 5.
NOPB operations
New Orleans Public Belt 1941 – Baldwin 0-6-0 switcher at the Tchoupitoulas terminal (courtesy NOPB)
The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad is a “short line” railroad. It operates along the Mississippi River in Metro New Orleans. The city created NOPB in 1908. They fixed the issue of railroad congestion along the riverfront. The Class I railroad wanted their own tracks and terminals along the wharves and warehouses. So, the city created a Class III railroad, the NOPB, to connect them.
A state agency manages the NOPB. It is the Public Belt Railroad Commission. The commission also maintains the Huey P. Long Bridge, since it services both railroad and automobile traffic.
The following railroads travel over NOPB tracks:
BNSF Railway
CSX Transportation
Canadian National/Illinois Central
Kansas City Southern
Norfolk Southern
Union Pacific
Amtrak
Engine Terminal
Google Earth image of the NOPB Tchoupitoulas terminal.
NOPB services its engines at the roundhouse on Tchoupitoulas. While turntable/roundhouse facilities were common prior to World War II, they became less common as diesel locomotives entered wider service. Diesel locomotives operate easily in either direction. Steam locomotives have a clear “front” and “back.” Turntables enabled the service facility to easily reverse the direction of the steam equipment. For diesels, crews just engaged the engines in reverse.
The image above is a Google Earth shot of the Tchoupitoulas facility today. Engines enter the facility from a siding track connected to the riverfront “main line.” The turntable directs equipment onto seven sidings. Depending on what’s required, an engine may simply park outside the roundhouse, or enter the stall. The tracks to the left of the circle appear to be a separate building for heavy maintenance tasks.
Dating the Photo
The photo was commissioned by the NOPB. So, it is part of the Franck Studios archive at the Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC). HNOC dates the photo 29-October-1941, but there are dozens of photos with that date. It’s possible they were all processed by Franck Studios then. Therefore, it’s not clear just when the picture was taken. Since the engine was in service until 1957, it’s possible that the photo is indeed from 1941.
Mystery Man
We haven’t been able to identify the man in the white suite in the photo. Given that he’s dressed in a white suit, it’s more likely he is either a NOPB commissioner or a city or state official. We’ve contacted NOPB in the hopes they know who he is.
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Endorsements and recommendations
I consider it a privilege to endorse and recommend folks I know. If we’ve worked together in the past, or have other personal connections, ask me to endorse your skills. Networking improves when we overlap our circles.
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“Consulting”
As an Independent Scholar and author of six books on the history of New Orleans, I am a font of NOLA trivia and minutiae. Working on something that needs details about New Orleans? Quick questions are always welcome. Sometimes it’s the little things, like checking a scene where your character orders a cappuccino at Cafe’ du Monde (hint: it’s not on their menu).
Yeah, you could check the menu of a place on Google, but asking a quick question nurtures a conversation, and possibly, a relationship. Feel free to ask. The questions often go beyond basic fact-checking, into restaurant recommendations, etc. These situations are often mutually beneficial. You get your answer, and you may be offering inspiration for a deep-dive article.
More extensive projects
I am always open to consulting work related to New Orleans. If you’re a content creator, journalist, or feature writer, and you have the budget to hire “experts,” let’s talk. This sort of thing often originates with the basic question.
Fees
I often receive emails and messages from folks that say, I’d love to buy you lunch and pick your brain. I’ve got an easy way for you to do that – click that “support me” button and buy me a coffee! Better still, become a patron of my History work, or my Fiction writing.
The 1929 transit car strike left a lot of Palace car damage.
Palace car damage
Photo of New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI) streetcar 625, an American Car Company “Palace” streetcar, photographed on 2-July-1929, showing damage by vandals. The motormen and conductors operating the city’s streetcars struck NOPSI on 1-July-1929. Those workers inflicted a great deal of damage to streetcars, tracks, and stations overnight, 30-June/1-July, and into 2-July. This photo, taken by Franck Studios, is part of a series documenting that damage for NOPSI’s lawyers. NOPSI 625’s roll board indicates it last operated on the West End line, likely on 30-June. The operator parked the streetcar at Canal Station. That station stood on the original site of the New Orleans City Railroad Company’s car and mule barns, built in 1861. By the 1920s, several of the original buildings remained. The public notices like the one tacked up on the end of the streetcar went out on 11-July-1929, so that may specifically date this photo.
The 1929 Strike
The Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America, Division No. 194, negotiated with transit managers for NOPSI for several years, in the run-up to 1-July-1929. Talks broke down that Summer, and the union called for a strike. The motormen and conductors took destructive actions overnight. They vandalized a number of streetcars, particular at Canal Station, along with track on Canal Street. They also vandalized the station itself.
While the story of the invention/creation of the po-boy sandwich offers a romanticized version of the four months of the strike. It’s clear, however, that the circumstances were anything but romantic. While the violence of the first two days of the strike subsided, it picked up again by 5-July. NOPSI decided not to operate any streetcars from 1-4 July.
On 5-July-1929, NOPSI brought in strike-breakers in an attempt to restore streetcar service. One Palace streetcar departed Canal Station that Saturday morning. Crowds of union members and their supporters blocked Canal Station and the other streetcar barns after that first streetcar left. The lone streetcar traveled down Canal Street to Liberty Place. The crowd followed it, eventually surrounding the car. They pulled the strike breakers off the car and set it on fire.
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