^And didn't we know both of those points anyways?

If you try to get yourself hurt, there's a 100% success rate. Did you try walking across the rails too? I hear they're a pretty hefty pedestrian trip hazard. Oh nos!

Whenever the side of your front wheel runs along something, you go down pretty quick. Old railroad tracks were a PITA because the pavement around them would get lumpy & one would not want to hit them at 90 degrees but you wouldn't want to hit them at too soft an angle either.

This was one of my first complaints about the streetcar but after seeing how the rails are installed, I realized I had no idea what to expect as it's like nothing I've encountered.

Frankly, I avoid riding in front of Muzak Hull just because of the rough ride over the bricks.....

I rode all over Europe, including Amsterdam and Berlin, where there are definitely tracks in the street. In Amsterdam it is barely a problem because cyclists basically have their own mini-roads all over town with stoplights and everything. I got the front tire of my bike caught in a track in Berlin when I didn't cross it at the correct angle. I didn't wipe out but i had to jump off my bike quickly and looked like a total n00b. Like someone else said, it is a manageable problem. Perhaps a nice solution would be for the city to create some bike lanes downtown on some of the many non-streetcar route streets.

Wha-wha-what? You're kidding, right? Come on.

No, I'm not kidding. I really did try it. The reason I tried it was to see if it was really a problem.

Honestly, I fell pretty hard, and was surprised.

 

Again, please tell me you have video...

Problem solved!

 

 

 

More likely solution.

 

 

 

>Do you even own a road bike with 700x23 tires?

 

Sherman, you're an equipment junkie.  All hat, no cattle.  With all these falls you've been having, maybe you should invest in some training wheels.

 

 

 

 

 

Does anyone know if any of the historical streetcar wire poles still exist around Cincinnati? If so, where? Could they be repurposed?

I don't know if I'd want to own a bike that has trouble on anything but glass smooth pavement since there's so many things like train tracks, potholes, rough pavement and that "cobblestone" stuff that's getting popular in cities. Of course, I'm the kinda guy who mostly rides a BMX (race, not freestyle) around town.

Does anyone know if any of the historical streetcar wire poles still exist around Cincinnati? If so, where? Could they be repurposed?

 

They are all over... slowly being removed though. jjakucyk has a pretty compendium of them. They all look the same: http://www.jjakucyk.com/transit/poles/index.html

Again, please tell me you have video...

 

I don't have video. I was by myself.

 

I'll make you a deal, though. If you want to video the experiment, I'll try it again. It would be interesting to see what a cyclist can or can't do on rails. I don't have my old ten-speed anymore, though, so we'll have to come up with a bike somehow.

 

 

 

 

Problem solved!

 

Hey, where can I get one of those? Looks like fun.

^ This experiment sounds like a great headline story for the next Fake Cincinnati Enquirer.

Does anyone know if any of the historical streetcar wire poles still exist around Cincinnati? If so, where? Could they be repurposed?

 

Yes there are still a number of them around town.  The ones that I remember seeing are being used as street lamp poles now.  They are scattered about town, but some that I'm pretty sure of are located around 7th and Vine.  I'm sure there are a lot more though, you just have to know what you're looking for. 

 

Just saw that someone posted a link above...

About bikes and train tracks.  I can testify that tracks can give bikes trouble if you're riding along next to them and try to cross them too slowly or without turning into them sharply enough.  However, they're easy to learn how to deal with when you live with them everyday.  For instance, I ride down Elm between 12th and 13th all the time (in front of music hall) and the first couple times I rode through there I almost had trouble, but quickly learned how cross them properly.  No big deal.

 

Today at the opening day parade was a troop of 100 or so grade school kids on unicycles riding two abreast in a serpentine pattern all the way down Race street. Maybe we had better not go there, but you can guess what I was thinking.  :wink:

^I bet they practiced intentionally falling like you beforehand.

Here's an interesting idea....there are people in NYC trying to make use of some underground space originally used as a streetcar terminal.  Wouldn't it be amazing if our abandoned subway tunnels got some creative use like this? 

 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/855802805/lowline-an-underground-park-on-nycs-lower-east-sid?ref=discover_pop

About bikes and train tracks.  I can testify that tracks can give bikes trouble if you're riding along next to them and try to cross them too slowly or without turning into them sharply enough.  However, they're easy to learn how to deal with when you live with them everyday.

 

EXACTLY. You know what else is difficult? Riding over rocks or pieces of wood. Until you learn how to safely avoid them.

 

8th and state- going SLOWLY over railroad tracks is MORE dangerous. You were implying "I was even going slowly and I fell!".  Of course. That's WHY you fell. If you were perpendicularly crossing the tracks at a regular speed (or diagonally at a decent angle) you would have been fine.

 

Can this silly "streetcars kill cyclists" conversation be wrapped up now?

 

Any word on construction? Water main work seems to be moving along pretty well! Is there more work like that that can be done without duke?

Who said anything about killing cyclists?  It's not even about trying to stop the streetcar project.  For fuck's sake it's just a concern that's being brought up, and we're looking for some ways to address it.  Since when is that a crime?

Well I can tell the tracks-kill-bicyclists crowd don't really bike that much because one of the real dangers around town are the expansion joints on various bridges, which link together like the prongs of forks turned toward one another.  My bike has tires wide enough that I can ride over the Suspension Bridge and Taylor-Southgate bridge joints without having to hop over them, but road bikes are not so lucky (in fact, the last time they had a bike road race downtown, which I think was in 1998, they could not use the suspension bridge at all).

 

Riding a racing bike in the city is like wearing ballet slippers on a run through a boot camp obstacle course.  It's the wrong tool for the job but bicycling advocacy groups frame their whole thing from the perspective of racing bikes so as to create more things to complain about. 

^I specifically purchased my current bicycle for riding on Cincinnati streets. I bought a mountain bike, but I traded the knobby tires for smooth ones to reduce drag and increase the speed a little bit. I also added fenders, a rack, and lights. I admit it looks a bit goofy but it does the job.

 

My first bike was a cheap ten-speed and after about 1000 miles on city streets the rims were bent out of shape so badly that the brakes wouldn't work.

 

Hazards that I find most troublesome are:

Glass and other trash

Storm sewer grates

Parked car doors

Interstate ramps

Ice, excessive sand and gravel, or wet, slick spots

Idiot drivers

 

I'm not worried about streetcar rails.

 

 

If you can't ride a racing bike in the city, then where CAN you?  Pavement is pavement, and that's what racing bikes are for. 

^ Good question. Answer: nowhere. Let's get rid of racing bikes. They make cyclists whiny.

You people are talking like the anti-streetcar COAST troglodytes.  Learn some tact and respect please. 

I never quite understood the use of racing bikes in an urban setting.  I think they're more at home on a designated bike trail, as a leisure vehicle rather than in a city as a commuting vehicle.  You wouldn't fare too well driving a race car on racing slicks in the city, so I don't really see justification behind the complaints. 

This thread has a long leash for off-topic postings, but even the last day's posts have ventured off... track.

Some photos around Race Street and Findlay Market on Opening Day

 

 

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Anyone who wants to attend the Mayor's State of the City Address tomorrow but hasn't RSVPed I believe still can.

 

"Those who wish to attend are asked to RSVP at www.rsvp.mayormallory.com or by calling 352-6297."

Cincinnati's streetcars will be made by CAF-USA in Elmira, N.Y. CAF is based in northern Spain, and from what I've heard, is a reliable supplier. It is dominant in the Iberain Peninsula and South America. CAF built Houston's light rail vehicles and builds cars for AMTRAK.

 

Here is the deal on CAF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construcciones_y_Auxiliar_de_Ferrocarriles

 

And here is the streetcar page from the CAF site: http://www.caf.es/ingles/productos/tranvias.php

 

 

 

This is interesting:

 

"The units are fitted with an on-board energy storage system (ACR) which permits both catenary free LRV travel between stops, and energy saving via maximum braking energy recovery."

 

While this may not be applied to the vehicles Cincinnati has in mind, it looks like this manufacture has provisions for battery-operation for at least part of the route.

 

It could also be useful for storing and releasing energy on the phase 2 climb up Vine Street.  Even without that, it would also be a good way to recover energy from braking to use for accelerating, evening out the electrical load. 

Is there any chance we can get HR Giger to design the body?

Kenner did make an Alien toy back in the 70s so there's kind of a connection.

Mayor Mallory presents:

Here are new CAF streetcars in Zaragoza, Spain:

 

 

 

 

Is there any chance we can get HR Giger to design the body?

Kenner did make an Alien toy back in the 70s so there's kind of a connection.

 

That would kick so much ass!!

These pics and videos of what our streetcar will look like are really exciting to see!  This city has SO much to be excited about with this project underway!!  We are really going to be the envy of cities all across the country.

Is there any chance we can get HR Giger to design the body?

Kenner did make an Alien toy back in the 70s so there's kind of a connection.

 

That would kick so much ass!!

They mostly come at night. Mostly.

Cincinnati's streetcars will be made by CAF-USA in Elmira, N.Y. CAF is based in northern Spain, and from what I've heard, is a reliable supplier. It is dominant in the Iberain Peninsula and South America. CAF built Houston's light rail vehicles and builds cars for AMTRAK.

 

Here is the deal on CAF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construcciones_y_Auxiliar_de_Ferrocarriles

 

And here is the streetcar page from the CAF site: http://www.caf.es/ingles/productos/tranvias.php

 

 

John, is this official? When will the city make this announcement? At Mallory's State of City speech?

 

They mostly come at night. Mostly.

 

Newt. My name's Newt. Nobody calls me Rebecca, except my brother.

 

Don't mess with this 80s man!

Cincinnati's streetcars will be made by CAF-USA in Elmira, N.Y. CAF is based in northern Spain, and from what I've heard, is a reliable supplier. It is dominant in the Iberain Peninsula and South America. CAF built Houston's light rail vehicles and builds cars for AMTRAK.

 

Here is the deal on CAF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construcciones_y_Auxiliar_de_Ferrocarriles

 

And here is the streetcar page from the CAF site: http://www.caf.es/ingles/productos/tranvias.php

 

 

I hope we end up with the ones that have the more rounded fronts.  They look cool!

 

These: http://www.caf.es/ingles/productos/proyecto.php?cod=4&id=622&sec=desc

It was announced at Mallory's state of the City speech this evening.

It was announced at Mallory's state of the City speech this evening.

 

Thanks!

Jake--  The third video you posted loosely translates to Tram car breaks down/crashes in middle of avenue.

How many streetcar vehicles will be ordered?

 

EDIT: never mind, I found it here......

 

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/noncms/projects/streetcar/docs/news_streetcar_vehicle_rfp.pdf

 

Five (5) low floor modern streetcar vehicles, with options for up to twenty-five (25) additional streetcars.

 

>Jake--  The third video you posted loosely translates to Tram car breaks down/crashes in middle of avenue.

 

Most of the videos of this particular line are of test runs of the trains from last year.  These streetcars basically never break down and it's possible that the person who posted the video titled it this when in fact the streetcar was stopped for some other reason. 

Oh my god, those things are so sleek and awesome.

 

 

I hope we end up with the ones that have the more rounded fronts.  They look cool!

 

These: http://www.caf.es/ingles/productos/proyecto.php?cod=4&id=622&sec=desc

and

Oh my god, those things are so sleek and awesome.

 

Seconded!

 

Yay, exciting. Love to see news developments that make it easier to picture this project up and running.

Did anyone else catch the UrbanCincy Twitter feed?  It indicated that Mallory discussed/announced five phases of streetcar expansion and two regional light rail lines.  I gather these were just discussed generally as hopeful projects rather than anything specific?

I saw the tweets but was wondering that as well.

 

Those are nice vehicles! I wondered when a US city would step out and choose one of the sleak European style trams for a streetcar

here were the maps the mayor presented in the speech:

 

Streetcar Phase 1

 

Uptown Connector and Circulator

 

NKY, Walnut Hills Expansion

 

Light Rail