THE PALACE CARS (CONT'D)

SERVICE RECORD
033 MG 1/14/04, 2/29/04    096 PR 6/9/04, 8/19/07, LA 12/2/14
034 DAU 1/3/03, 10/8/16    097 MG 12/9/06, 2/24/19
035 DAU 11/2/05    098 PR 9/9/07
036 DAU 4/17/09, 4/3/20    099 PR 10/22/10
037 DAU 5/27/07    0100 PR 6/20/04, 10/11/05, MG 2/23/12 (P - DP 2/22/12 p. 9), LA 3/23/18
038 DAU 3/11/09, 6/12/17    0101 MG 12/14/09
039 DAU 8/8/04, 12/10/03, 5/14/16    0102 MG 4/29/08
040 DAU 2/8/10    0103 MG 6/6/12, LA 2/18/20
043 PR 1/19/03, DAU 4/19/04, 7/17/04, 9/16/07, 1/29/10    0104 DAU 1/31/06, ES 12/4/07, COL 6/11/09, LA 3/6/18
044 DAU 5/5/10, 6/14/11, 10/6/13, 12/15/17    0105 PR 7/20/05, 2/28/06
045 DAU 2/8/10    0106 ES 9/18/05, NA 3/9/11, LA 12/2/14, LO 1/4/19

   0108 PR 10/14/06, 11/12/06, NCLA 1/1/17
058 DAU 4/17/10    0112 MG 11/5/16
059 DAU 3/18/03, 3/5/05, 9/2/07, 11/18/08    0113 NCLA 7/10/20
060 DAU 3/18/03, 3/5/06, CA 4/12/15, 1/4/18    0114 NCLA 1/28/17
061 DAU 10/2/06, 9/11/07, 1/1/09, LO 10/19/19, MG 7/12/20    0115 PR 3/4/08, 11/15/08, 2/8/09
064 PR 3/22/03, MG 11/5/03, 1/13/07, 7/7/07, 6/29/08    0116 PR 3/22/10
065 MG 9/10/03, 4/23/05, 10/20/06, 8/2/07, DAU 11/2/19    0118 PR 4/29/09
066 MG 1/14/08, LA 10/5/18    0119 NCLA 11/5/13
067 MG 11/112/04    0120 PR 7/4/07
069 MG 9/22/03, 2/26/09, LA 8/31/18    0121 ES 7/5/13
070 MG 10/5/08, 10/6/08, 5/30/09    0123 CA 10/16/10, 6/14/11, 1/4/18, 3/15/19, LA 6/16/20
071 MG 1/1/12, WE 5/17/15, MG 12/8/15    0124 DAU 6/5/07, CA 6/8/08
072 MG 10/22/04, 1/18/16    0126 ES 9/12/06, CA 8/28/09, 3/12/10, ES 1/31/19
073 MG 7/16/06, 9/17/09, LO 3/25/20    0127 CA 12/13/07, 2/28/12
074 MG 6/7/03, 7/16/06, COL 7/29/07, MG 2/24/09, 5/9/10    0129 ES 7/1/07, DAU 2/19/12, CA 12/11/12
075 MG 8/31/04, NA 5/11/12    0131 CA 6/16/08
076 MG 9/8/04, 4/7/18    0132 CA 9/17/13
077 MG 7/26/06    0133 ES 7/5/13, CA 11/11/13, 1/19/19
078 MG 3/21/05, 5/1/05, ES 8/23/05, 4/27/11, LO 2/15/19    0134 CA 1/13/12, 8/7/14
079 MG 7/23/05, 3/8/07    0135 CA 5/18/12, 10/25/15
080 MG 9/29/08, 10/5/12    0137 DAU 7/18/06, 3/17/07, 9/19/07, 9/25/07, 9/30/07, 10/28/08
081 MG 11/10/04, PR 12/18/04   
082 PR 6/11/03, MG 11/5/12    602 SF 7/22/30
083 MG 7/16/06, 12/15/07, LA 12/20/19    603 DAU 10/26/23
084 MG 9/12/04, NA 9/26/08, COL 3/10/10    605 ES 12/31/21 (P - DP)
085 MG 11/13/06, 3/21/07, 5/2/07, NA 11/19/07, LA 4/17/18, MG 6/15/18    626 ES 3/25/20
086 MG 4/23/05, 6/14/07    631 CA 12/19/21
087 MG 9/5/06, COL 7/27/11    634 ES 7/24/20
088 PR 2/24/04, MG 11/26/18    641 LA 7/18/23
089 PR 7/8/08, 9/23/04, MG 6/3/10, ES 4/19/15, LO 1/23/20    645 ES 12/15/19
090 PR 1/17/04, MG 11/25/12    656 VI 2/5/25
091 PR 8/2/03, 2/21/06, MG 10/13/18    658 LO 7/9/22 “Flying Dutchman” accident, 9/25/22
092 PR 5/11/05, 11/25/05, 2/5/06, MG 2/7/06, NA 9/8/13, LA 1/22/18    671 LA 11/20/20
093 PR 8/18/08    681 LA 4/14/23
094 ES 10/4/07, PR 12/12/08, MG 3/17/10    684 ES 10/14/25
095 PR 2/5/06    717 DAU 11/7/24

THE SEMI-CONVERTIBLES (New Orleans Ry. & Lt. Co.)

DTDR 300-324  30'8" OB
39'4" OA
11'9" W
27-GE-1 American Car Co. ON 643 2 May 06 25 cars
(Truck order)  Brill ON 14975  3 Feb. 06  50 27-GE-1   “For American Car Co.”  Promised 10 Mar. 06
Popular order for N. O. riders, the Brill patent “semi-convertible” which allows both sash on sides to go up into the space hidden by the headlining, allowing rapid ventilating.  Many cities in U. S. and foreign countries had these cars.  In mid-teens all 25 RB to “fishbelly” design — not an improvement to lose waist and rocker panels.  Series REN 450-474 ca. 1919-20.  WT each car with 27-GE-1 trucks: 37,100#.  P - S pp. 145-146, scale drawing S p. 144.  Builder's P - N.  All cars equipped with GE “straight” AB sys. when REN, type S brake cyl. 10x12, type SL brake valves; RB cars RT as follows (perhaps some time before RB):

First RT: Brill 39-E trucks ON 18199 22 Feb. 12 promised 27 Mar. 12 — 28 trucks for 14 cars.  P car 457 with 39-E S p. 145.

Second RT: Some eqpt. with 76-E-2 trucks ca. 1923.  4'10" WB, 30" WH, WT each car with 76-E-2 trucks 42,000#.  Poss. truck orders:
Brill ON 21842   2 July 23 for 12 76-E-2 + GE 57 mot. for 6 cars
Brill ON 21861 23 July 23 for 16 76-E-2 + Whse. 306 CV4 mot. for 8 cars
Poss. only the 39-Es were repl. and others retained 27-GE-1s.

Another truck order — Brill ON 21842½ 12 76-E-2 trucks with GE 263 mot. of 2 July 23, poss. for semis.  NOPSI usually divided orders between GE & Whse.  Many 76-E-2 trucks ordered by NOPSI in early-mid 1920s — all semis poss. RT with these.  76-E-2s ordered for some Palace cars at the time, difficult to determine which truck orders went to which cars.

Also, four Brill 39-E trucks ON 22027 28 Apr. 24 from June 23 — cars unspecified, poss. repl. trucks for 2 cars (semis?).

All semis scrapped (except 453) in 1935.  453 kept at Canal Station until ca. 1940 (P - N) when moved to Napoleon Yard (Napoleon & Tchoupitoulas).  There the 453 was used as a training car.  At first the car could operate on trackage there, but by 1948, maybe later, 453 was moved into the station building (an old power station blt. ca. 1892 by NO&CRRCo), where it was prepared for stationary use as training car, more as trouble-shooter training.  The car's motors could run, however, for the powered axles were blocked up to clear floor (P - S p. 146).

NOR+L_311

NOR+L_3xx-int

Car 311, one of an order of twenty-five (300-324, later 450-474 per NOR&L's 1918 renumbering program) built and delivered 1906 by Brill's American Car Co. subsidiary.  It's a fine example of Brill's semi-convertible patented car design.  These exterior and interior views appeared in the Brill Magazine of August 15, 1909 (the delay in publication is inexplicable).

Car builders' photos advertised their cars' features.  Semi-convertibility allows both upper and lower sashes of the car body to disappear into the space between carlines and roof.  Each platform had two two-panel doors and two gates.  The car body had bulkheads and sliding doors.  (Note the fixed Brill steps, which surely were difficult for children and ladies wearing long skirts and laced high-heel shoes!)  The cars were double-ended, delivered with Brill 27G-E-1 trucks.  American had “semis” ready to ship; New Orleans' order was dated May and the first cars were rolling on the Coliseum line the next month!

The door and gate as shown here may not have been an NOR&L practice.  To open and secure the rear gate at every stop required the conductor to leave his station at the sliding doors where the handle to open and close the platform doors, and the leather straps to register fares and ring the motorman's signal bell, were located.  This set-up provided fast fare collecting, saving time and making it easier to keep on schedule.  Unfortunately, research has yet to discover any official instructions for using the gates.  To increase ventilation, it's possible the doors on the left side could have been secured in the open position, with the gates set for safety.  Thus, with all windows open, even those in the clerestory, the full effect of the semi-convertible features would be in action.

The interior features: A lighted sign in the monitor's glass end window, clear to see — etched glass, an elegant touch!  Also in the Victorian and Edwardian “parlour” concept are the bulkhead's sliding doors, fine mahogany paneling, polished brass fittings, and the “cash” and “other” fare registers.  Rods that worked these registers run along and just below the clerestory windows, and the rattan seats were comfortable.

On the next page is an interior view of 453 with changes NOR&L made in the mid to late teens: wood slat seats, sliding doors removed, bulkheads reduced with enough remaining to strengthen the point where umbrella hoods join roofs, and the most noticeable — semi-convertibility cancelled, upper sash fixed, lower sash rising part way.  The rich elegance has, lamentably, given way to functionalism.  This extends to the exterior, where “fishbelly” sides replaced waist and rocker panels.  Platforms now have folding steps and four-panel platform doors.  Note the heavier 76-E-1 Brill trucks substituted for the original 27G-E-1s.

Text copyright © 2008 Louis C. Hennick.  Picture captions copyright © 2012 Louis C. Hennick and H. George Friedman, Jr.  All rights reserved.

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