The staff thought it was time to show off the cars to clients and potential customers
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad commissioners this week put the kibosh on a scheduled excursion by the agency's infamous Pullman railcars, even though the trip was slated as a strictly business affair.
View full sizeThe interior of one of the three Pullman cars owned by the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad was photographed in December 2003. The June 24 outing was to have carried executives from Mediterranean Shipping Co., International Paper Co. and other Port of New Orleans clients across the Public Belt's 25 miles of railroad tracks, which stretch across the Huey P. Long Bridge, along the Mississippi River, through the port and the French Quarter and on to the city's eastern reaches.
Interim General Manager John Morrow mentioned the trip matter-of-factly during a meeting of the board's ownership and management committee, noting that it would not violate strict new rules that bar free use of the cars by private groups.
Those regulations went into effect after news reports last year revealed that in addition to official tours, Public Belt managers routinely let friends, politicians and board members use the cars for free, often dipping into public coffers to finance the catered meals and cocktail services that accompanied the excursions.
Even with new restrictions, the cars have been off limits to anyone other than Public Belt staffers for nearly a year as officials tried to sell them. That idea was tabled after the single bid for the three cars came in far lower than what the agency paid to refurbish them.
Rather than keep the cars mothballed, Morrow said his staff thought it was time to revive them to show off the railroad to clients and potential customers. "I think we passed through that stink era, and we're going to use those cars to increase business on the line," he said.
But commissioners balked, calling the shift "a seismic change" in policy and pressing Morrow on how he would decide whether to permit an excursion.
"I'm sitting in the chair, and I know the difference between personal use and business use," he said. "It's going to be customers who can do business with the port, who can do business with the city."
Morrow also stressed that the scheduled trip would be far from the kind of boozy trips that raised eyebrows. "Zero alcohol. Just Coca-Colas, coffee, 7-Up, water. No food -- nothing," he said, adding that the outing for the big-name port clients trip would be "a big deal for the port."
But Tulane University President Scott Cowen, who oversees the committee, said the board should review its rules about railcar use before allowing nonstaff rides to resume.
"We need a standard to be squeaky clean," he said.
As officials haggle over their terms of use, the Public Belt this week issued a request for proposals from firms that want to lease the vintage railcars, Morrow said. An official tour for interested parties will be held July 29, with bids due Sept. 11.
Michelle Krupa can be reached at mkrupa@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3312. Frank Donze can be reached at fdonze@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3328.