A portable power plant, on loan to the RTA from the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, has been running the Canal Street line and will be used to drive the Lee Circle extension. The Riverfront line has its own power source.

The wrecked Uptown substation housed three "rectifiers," devices that convert the alternating current electricity that flows into homes and businesses into the direct current needed to run a streetcar. One rectifier was used for cars headed Uptown, one for downtown service and the third for a backup.

RTA administrators have long recognized that it was never a good idea to have all three rectifiers in the same location. The pre-Katrina upgrade included a provision -- to be paid for with an $11.8 million federal grant -- to place new stations at three points along the route. Basha said the agency will stick to that strategy.

The first of the new stations will be placed beneath the Crescent City Connection at Calliope Street. The second will be located near the old Upperline station, while the third will go inside the Carrollton Barn at the intersection of Dublin and Jeannette streets.

The Calliope Street location will allow the RTA to run streetcars to Napoleon Avenue.

"What's more important," Basha said, "is the additional flexibility this gives us. If something like this (Katrina) ever happens again and power gets knocked out, it won't take the whole line out of service."

Wires to be strung

But before the RTA can power up, it must finish stringing a new and improved network of overhead wires and cables.

To prepare for the job, RTA contractors already have replaced more than 150 of the 560 poles that line the route.