The New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad (originally Rail Road) was one of six short-line rail systems built to connect the city of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, with surrounding neighborhoods, in this case, four-and-a-half miles to the resort village of Carrollton. It was one of the first

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

trolley systems built in the urban

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

The line was chartered in 1833, and opened for business two years later. It was constructed with a

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...

of and was the only one of the New Orleans suburban railways to use locomotives to pull the passenger cars (the other five used horses or mules). The street railroads provided low cost and convenient public transportation for New Orleans' residents. Prior to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, hundreds of people took the train to Carrollton to tour the famed Carrollton Gardens or to dine at the Carrollton House or another of the village's restaurants. Among the

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officials was the line's secretary, Albert Blanchard, who would become a Confederate brigadier general in the Civil War. During the war, the line continued periodic operation, despite the

Federal army The Mexican Federal Army ( es, Ejército Federal), also known as the Federales in popular culture, was the military of Mexico from 1876 to 1914 during the Porfiriato, the long rule of President Porfirio Díaz, and during the presidencies of Franci ...

occupying the city. Ridership and revenues were drastically reduced, and the railroad suffered financially. Following the Civil War, the line was leased to former Confederate general P. G. T. Beauregard, who with two financial backers, assumed control of the NO&CRR in April 1866. However, his partners proved untrustworthy, and Beauregard was publicly embarrassed when the line failed to pay its debts within a few years. However, the railroad survived. The line evolved into an urban

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

line as the land along the route was developed and incorporated into the city of New Orleans. It is now the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar Line.Cook, p. 136. In 1922 the New Orleans & Carrollton Rail Road was merged into

New Orleans Public Service Incorporated Entergy New Orleans, formerly New Orleans Public Service Incorporated (NOPSI), is an electric and natural gas utility and former mass transit provider that was based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The various streetcar lines of New Orleans were consoli ...

(NOPSI), which consolidated the city's various streetcar lines and electrical production. In 1983, NOPSI became part of privately owned

Entergy Entergy Corporation is a Fortune 500 integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and ge ...

, and transferred all transportation operations to the

New Orleans Regional Transit Authority The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA or NORTA) is a public transportation agency based in New Orleans. The agency was established by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1979, and has operated bus and historic streetcar service through ...

(NORTA).

References

* Cook, Samantha, ''New Orleans: Directions''. Rough Guides, 2005. * Williams, T. Harry, ''P.G.T. Beauregard: Napoleon in Gray''. LSU Press, 1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:New Orleans Carrollton Railroad 4 ft 8 in gauge railways in the United States History of New Orleans Defunct Louisiana railroads Tram, urban railway and trolley companies 1833 establishments in Louisiana Defunct public transport operators in the United States American companies established in 1833

See also

References