Podcast P09 – Pan American on the Back Belt
Description
After 1954, L&N passenger trains like the Pan American ran on the Back Belt to UPT.
L&N Pan American 1970
This 1970 photo shows the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Pan American passenger train heading to Union Passenger Terminal on Loyola Avenue. From Mike Palmieri:
L&N No. 9 – NEW ORLEANS – Circa 1970 – Photographer Unknown
Louisville & Nashville train No. 9 – the southbound PAN-AMERICAN – was on the Southern Railway’s BACK BELT at East City Junction, about four miles from its destination at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal. The diverging track is the Southern’s St. Louis Street Line, which once served Terminal Station on Basin Street at Canal Street.
Prior to the opening of Union passenger Terminal (UPT), L&N trains arrived and departed from their passenger terminal at the head of Canal Street. When the city merged the five passenger stations into UPT in 1954, L&N trains approached the station via the Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) “Back Belt.” The trains came into town via the Rigolets bridge, then switched onto the Back Belt. As Mike mentions, the track curving off connected the Back Belt to Southern’s terminal at Canal and Basin Streets. The trains ran down Basin Street to tracks just before St. Louis Street. They turned north on St. Louis, connecting here to head to the “5 Mile Bridge” across Lake Pontchartrain. After 1954, that track saw limited use, as the Southern passenger trains also shifted to UPT. SR shifted most of its freight operations from their Bernadotte Yard in Mid-City to Gentilly. So, most of the track at St. Louis Street vanished over time. The path morphed into the Lafitte Greenway bicycle/walking trail.
Approach to the station
L&N #9 heads towards the back of Greenwood Cemetery. It turned into town at what was the east bank of the New Basin Canal. The track followed the canal, originally to Union Station on S. Rampart. Street. The city closed the canal in 1949. The Pontchartrain Expressway opened in its place. So, the end of this access track changed to UPT in 1954.
Amtrak uses this track for the Crescent (#19/#20) to New York. Additionally, the Sunset Limited extension to Jacksonville operated over it. That route closed in 2005. This summer, Amtrak inaugurated the Mardi Gras route, from UPT to Mobile, Alabama. Mardi Gras runs both ways, morning and evening. So, those four trains follow the route taken here by the Pan American.
Crescent City to Queen City
L&N operated the Pan American route, from New Orleans to Cincinnati, from 1921 to 1971. The railroad turned its passenger operations and equipment over to Amtrak in 1971. The new passenger rail company discontinued the Pan American in 1971. So, this photo shows the route in its last few months of operation.
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