It was a hot, sunny, morning on May 19th, 2024. I boarded the St. Charles Streetcar line and sat down on my way to ride the utilize the new line in order to visit a local arcade in the Bywater. It was mostly uneventful apart from seeing the most polite motorcyclists all participating in a motorcade. When I got to Canal Street, I hopped off the old green streetcars and walked up Canal Street towards the Rampart Stop. I waited with anticipation and after only about 10 minutes a red streetcar bearing the rollsign ELYSIAN FIELDS||RAMPART/ST CLAUDE||46 turned off of Loyola Avenue and onto the stop on canal street. I paid my fare and hopped onboard. We waited for the automatic electric switch to activate, which would allow us to continue onto Rampart. However, when we turned off of Canal Street onto Rampart, the trolley pole dewired. However, the operator quickly hopped out and rewired it and then we were on our way. The first site we passed was the site of the collapse which killed three people, exposed serious problems with the city’s building inspection program, damaged the Saenger Theatre, and left a critical piece of infrastructure out of service. We continued down the line and immediately it became clear people were excited about the streetcar line’s reopening. I saw people in bars wave frantically and one bar tender even cheered. There were even signs on a lot of the stops proclaiming “Rampart is Back!”. When I got off at Elysian Fields, I headed to the local arcade but it turns out it was closed due to me not checking the website. When I went back to the Elysian Fields stop, it was clear however, that people hadn’t thought that the line would be open because there was a second line which blocked off half of the line. The streetcar arrived at the stop and I saw several costumed accordion players exit it. We had to wait a while for the second line to clear before departing. Because the arcade was closed and I still had plenty of time, I decided to ride the whole line to the Union Passenger Terminal. The terminal had a vending machine so I decided to treat myself to a soda. I then boarded a streetcar bound for the Riverfront and got off at Carondelet Street to board the St. Charles line. I safely made it home.
