Pictures 186.4, 186.5, and 186.6.

This picture was taken seven minutes after the previous, from the same location.  Note the clock showing ½ minute to 11:00, and the little wagon at the edge of the neutral ground.  It may not have been made into a postcard, as the overall picture is perhaps less impressive than the previous picture.  But some closeups from it give us some vivid details.  The next two pictures are high-resolution details from the original, as posted to the web by Shorpy.com.

At the right, almost in the foreground, we see “Palace” car 08, lakebound on the inner track, signed for the Esplanade Belt line both in the end clerestory glass and on the dash, with several ladies in long dresses and fashionable hats waiting their turns to board the car at its left rear.  In the end window we can make out the rim of the vertically mounted handbrake wheel, implying that the car has air brakes.  Behind car 08 is a good view of a booth, perhaps a ticket booth, shaped vaguely like a tiny streetcar, and carrying on its roof an elaborate sign “N. O. Railway and Light Co.”  Several business signs are prominent, among them “N. Bellamore Leading Optician” and “Williams' Pharmacy”.

Toward the center of the picture, we see a cluster of six streetcars on all four tracks.  Prominent at the right, on the inner riverbound track, is “Palace” car 089 signed for the Magazine line in its clerestory glass and on its dash panel.  The motorman can be seen in the center front window, and next to him, we can see the rim of the vertically mounted handbrake wheel, so this car also has air brakes.  This is the same Magazine line car seen in Picture 186.2 on its way to its terminal at N. Franklin St., so we know that it took the car seven minutes to make the round trip from this point to the terminal and back.  Next to car 089 is Dryades car 46, riverbound on the outer track.  Car 46 was one of an order of ten single truck cars, numbered 41-50, built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1899 for the St. Charles Street RR.  Beyond car 46, lakebound on the inner track, we can see another Magazine line “Palace” car, possibly number 064, heading toward the terminal at N. Franklin St.  Following car 064 is another “Palace” car, and beyond that are two other single truck cars, but no further details of those three cars can be seen.  At the left front of this closeup picture is a good view of the future competition in the form of a Glide automobile, with its right-hand steering wheel.

In the background of the top picture, we can see at least eight more streetcars, but no further details can be made out. — Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection (top picture); detail views from Shorpy.com

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