New Orleans tram fleet clocks up century

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has marked the 100th anniversary of the fleet of Perley A.Thomas trams that have been used on the historic St Charles Streetcar line since 1923/24. 

 

The celebration took place at the Carrollton Streetcar Barn where RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins said, 

 

‘It is an honour to join our community to celebrate the legacy of the Thomas A. Perley Streetcar, St Charles Streetcar line and the RTA workforce that has maintained the system for generations’. 

 

The St Charles line is the oldest continuously operating tramline in the world, debuting as a horse tramway in 1835. The line was electrified in 1893 and the city bought 73 Perley Thomas trams from the company of that name in North Carolina for USD 15 000 each to operate its system in the 1920s. 38 remain and 10-12 are in daily service from the Carrollton depot, where they are maintained by skilled technicians, often using antique tools and machines. 

 

The line is registered as a National Historic Landmark.