Pontchartrain Rail-Road

Pontchartrain Rail-Road

Pontchartrain Rail-Road was an early railway in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chartered in 1830, the railroad began traffic of people and goods between the Mississippi River front of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain on 23 April, 1831, and closed down over 100 years later.

The 5 mile long line connected the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans along the riverfront with the town of Milneburg on the Lakefront. When built, the majority of the distance of the route between neighborhoods at either end of the route was a mixture of farmland, woods, and swamp. The route of the railway ran down the center of Elysian Fields Avenue.

Early history

Meetings discussing building a railway between the river and lake began in 1828. The Pontchartrain Railroad was chartered on 20 January 1830. The right-of-way was approved by the New Orleans City Council on 15 March, and construction began immediately, with a pair of parallel railroad tracks. Construction of the line was completed on April 14, 1831, and it officially opened on the 23rd, with horse drawn railway carriages. The first steam locomotive, "the Shields", arrived on 15 June, 1832. This first locomotive proved unreliable; a second locomotive "the Pontchartrain" proved better, allowing the line to advertise regular steam service of 7 round trips per day (9 on Sundays) starting on 27 September 1832. "The Shields" was canibalized, the boiler used to run equipment at the railroad's machine shop.

At first, the passenger fare was 75 cents round trip. For some years both steam and horse drawn traffic ran on the line, with steam only gradually becoming dominant with the acquisition of additional more reliable locomotives. One horse drawn car was kept on the line as late as 1861, although the line at the time also had 5 working locomotives.

For much of the of the 19th century, a significant portion of sea traffic to New Orleans came in not via the river but to Lake Pontchartrain. Thus the railway was important in transferring cargo between ocean going ships docked at the lake and riverboats. Many passenger sea ships also arrived via the lake, and the railway took passengers the remainder of the way into the city.

For decades the passenger fare was 15 cents for a one way trip, 25 cents for a round trip. The railroad had terminals at the two ends of the line; stops would also be made at a small station at Gentilly Road, about the mid point of the line, by advance request.

In 1871 the line was purchased by the New Orleans, Mobile and Texas Railroad.

In 1880 the Louisville and Nashville Railroad leased the line, and the following year purchased it outright.

The line switches from shipping to recreation

In the late 19th century, the Pontrchartrain Railroad became less important for commerce, as ships too large to use the Lakefront routes became common and the extensive network of long distance railways grew. However at the same time, the line became more important for recreation. Especially during the long summer, excursions from the city out to the lakefront with the cooling breezes and the entertainments at Milneberg became common.

In the early 20th century rates were 10 cents for adults, 5 cents for children one way, and double for round trip.

Generations of New Orleanians fondly remembered the archaic veteran steam engine nicknamed "Smoky Mary" running on the line as late as the 1930s. The somewhat less outdated companion locomotive on the line was called "Puffing Billy".

Final years

Thanks to the popularity of recreational excursions at Milneburg, business remained brisk for the Pontchartrain Railroad through the mid 1920s. After this, however, the railroad declined for two reasons. One was less demand for short distance rail passenger service with expansion of electric streetcar routes and growth in automobile ownership. The final straw, however, was the closing of the Milneburg resorts while a land reclamation project dredged earth into the shallows of lake Pontchartrain there in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The last passenger service of the line was on March 15, 1932, the line having been in business for over a century.

Freight runs on the line continued to 1935, mostly servicing the Lakefront land reclamation project work which made the line obsolete.

External links

* [http://nutrias.org/exhibits/choochoo/page1.htm Exhibit on New Orleans Public Library site]
* [http://lrs.railstuff.net/pontchartrain/p_home.htm Pontchartrain Railroad]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pontchartrain Railroad — Pontchartrain Rail Road was an early railway in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chartered in 1830, the railroad began traffic of people and goods between the Mississippi River front of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain on 23 April, 1831, and closed more …   Wikipedia

  • Pontchartrain — might be:People*Jérôme Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, French statesman (1674 1747) *Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, French statesman (1643 1727)Places*Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, Detroit, Michigan, USA *Lake Pontchartrain,… …   Wikipedia

  • Rail transportation in the United States — Rail transport Operations Track Maintenance High speed Gauge Stations …   Wikipedia

  • Rail transport in the United States — This article is part of the history of rail transport by country series. Today, most rail transport in the United States is based in freight train shipments. Changing U.S. economic needs and the rise of automobile, bus, and air transport led to… …   Wikipedia

  • 1830 in rail transport — EventsJanuary events* January 7 ndash The Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road opens its first section, 1½ miles (2.4 km), in Baltimore, Maryland. * January 9 ndash; Ground is broken in Charleston, South Carolina, for the first railroad to use steam… …   Wikipedia

  • 1831 in rail transport — EventsApril events* April 23 the Pontchartrain Rail Road begins operation. * April 25 ** Matthias W. Baldwin displays a model steam locomotive at the Philadelphia City Museum a year before building his first full size locomotive for a working… …   Wikipedia

  • 1932 in rail transport — EventsJanuary events* January 1 ** William Stanier succeeds Ernest Lemon as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. ** Ralph Budd leaves the Great Northern Railway and becomes president of the Chicago, Burlington… …   Wikipedia

  • Pontchartrain Expressway — Infobox road marker state= LA highway name= Pontchartrain Expressway name notes= type= route= alternate name= section= length mi= 6.5 length round= length ref= length notes= established= 1950s decommissioned= direction a= West starting terminus=… …   Wikipedia

  • Streetcars in New Orleans — New Orleans Streetcars Streetcar in the background on St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District with Mardi Gras beads on a crepe myrtle tree …   Wikipedia

  • Milneburg — This article is about the historic town and neighborhood. For the modern neighborhood, see Milneburg, New Orleans. Aerial photograph of a section of Milneburg, 1921 Milneburg was a town on the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”