October 14, 201311 yr This is a conversation between me and a Spanish friend of mine from back in March. Call it comic relief. Me: My hometown is buying Trams from Spain. Care to wager if they come in on time and on budget? :) http://www.fox19.com/story/21706754/production-begins-for-cincinnati-streetcar-vehicles Victor: hehehe...that doesn't even work with German trains, so I wouldn't expect much from the Spanish. I didn't know anything about that company, CAF, but they have interesting projects all around the world and a lot of different train models, even a high speed one. Good news for the Spanish economy I guess...not everything is based on real-state speculation!
October 15, 201311 yr Cincy4Progress @Cincy4Progress 6s "Mayor Mark Mallory announces first streetcar rail will be installed tomorrow on Elm between 12th and 14th streets." http://fb.me/1OVar38xo Uh, this is HUGE! After how many years of fighting for this we are actually going to see the system being built! Tomorrow! What a huge day for this project. The next big milestone will be seeing the cars rolling down the street!! WOW! And BTW, Jeff Ruby being against the streetcar is nothing new. If I recall correctly, during one of the ballot initiatives (I think Issue 9) he took out a full 1 page ad in the Enquirer against the project or in support of Issue 9. John can probably remember better than me, but I remember him being vocal about this before. OH WELL...Its being built anyway. Lets celebrate! I'm going to be in front of Music Hall tomorrow morning even though I'm staying up all night at work tonight on a night shift. Its just too big of a day to miss!
October 15, 201311 yr Oct 15, 2013, 7:54am EDT First streetcar tracks to be installed today Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier The first streetcar tracks will be put into place today on Elm Street between 12th and 14th streets near Music Hall, according to Mayor Mark Mallory's office. A dozen pieces of rail will arrive today. The rails are 80 feet long and 9,000 pounds apiece. Utility work and preparation to put the rail in place on other streets continues throughout Over-the-Rhine and downtown. READ MORE AT: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2013/10/15/first-streetcar-tracks-to-be-installed.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 15, 201311 yr Cranley, 700wlw and the tea partiers are FLIPPING OUT. Its hilarious and sad to see at the same time
October 15, 201311 yr Cranley, 700wlw and the tea partiers are FLIPPING OUT. Its hilarious and sad to see at the same time Oh, please do share some tasty tidbits with us. I love it when Tea Party types get their underwear all bunched up!
October 15, 201311 yr Cranley, 700wlw and the tea partiers are FLIPPING OUT. Its hilarious and sad to see at the same time Oh, please do share some tasty tidbits with us. I love it when Tea Party types get their underwear all bunched up! 700wlw news guy this morning was reading the streetcar news with the enthusiasm of an obituary. Dramatic pauses, his voice was choked up and really low. It was just so over the top dramatic Dusty Rhodes has been going nuts on twitter: "Arrogance on parade. Present Cincinnati administration putting first streetcar rail in - just 3 weeks before the election. Better hurry!" "Bottom line, city responsible. Western Hills Viaduct handles 55,000 vehicles a day. Streetcar would be lucky to serve 500 riders a week" "Totally irresponsible to plunge city $150 million into debt to please "milennials". Even worse to ramp it up 3 weeks before an election" "My "1950's ways" include not plunging a local government $150 million in debt for the romantic dreams of a handful of urban hipsters"
October 15, 201311 yr ...romantic dreams of a handful of urban hipsters Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City... ...and Little Rock, Tucson...ya know, paradises of urban hipsters... "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 15, 201311 yr Those tweets from Dusty Rhodes seem completely irresponsible from an elected official, regardless of what side he is on.
October 15, 201311 yr ^You should tweet that at him. I'm sure he'd remove it (I'm assuming Twitter allows for that), but at least it would get some eyes on the problem for a little while.
October 15, 201311 yr ^You should tweet that at him. I'm sure he'd remove it (I'm assuming Twitter allows for that), but at least it would get some eyes on the problem for a little while. He blocked me on twitter Tom Luken will be on 700wlw at 12:06 to discuss the Cincinnati Streetcar construction. Calls it "A sad, sad day in Cincinnati History"
October 15, 201311 yr Tom Luken just said cancelling Cincinnati streetcar project wld only cost a couple million $$ vs of half a billion $$ to keep it going
October 15, 201311 yr I'd like to show these people around and reintroduce them to the planet we call Earth. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 15, 201311 yr Video: http://www.local12.com/news/features/local-12/stories/first-streetcar-rail-now-installed-4532.shtml#.Ul13IBYk_ww "If Cranley wants to stop the Streetcar, he's gonna need a jackhammer"
October 15, 201311 yr Tom Luken will be on 700wlw at 12:06 to discuss the Cincinnati Streetcar construction. Calls it "A sad, sad day in Cincinnati History" His appearance on WLW was really just another vehicle for Cunningham to scream doom, gloom, and Detroit if Cranley, Murray, Smitherman aren't elected. Tom Luken's comments were all over the place. Sad really. A few choice (paraphrased) ones: Chris Bortz is the father of the streetcar and the voters kicked him out because of it... The voters are pretty wise on these things! We won't have it (streetcar) until 2016. That's four years away. They are starting on Elm St. because it doesn't get a whole lot of traffic. Why? Beause if they started on Fountain Square people would be up in arms because they are going to block all the traffic and cause an impass. This (today's rail installation) is just a token thing where they'll do a few things before this election and then sit around again for another three years until they're going to put the rest of the construction in. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 15, 201311 yr This (today's rail installation) is just a token thing where they'll do a few things before this election and then sit around again for another three years until they're going to put the rest of the construction in. there ya go
October 15, 201311 yr Tom Luken will be on 700wlw at 12:06 to discuss the Cincinnati Streetcar construction. Calls it "A sad, sad day in Cincinnati History" His appearance on WLW was really just another vehicle for Cunningham to scream doom, gloom, and Detroit if Cranley, Murray, Smitherman aren't elected. Tom Luken's comments were all over the place. Sad really. A few choice (paraphrased) ones: Chris Bortz is the father of the streetcar and the voters kicked him out because of it... The voters are pretty wise on these things! We won't have it (streetcar) until 2016. That's four years away. They are starting on Elm St. because it doesn't get a whole lot of traffic. Why? Beause if they started on Fountain Square people would be up in arms because they are going to block all the traffic and cause an impass. This (today's rail installation) is just a token thing where they'll do a few things before this election and then sit around again for another three years until they're going to put the rest of the construction in. It would start to worry me if Bill Cunningham was ever right about elections, or much of anything else. He guaranteed Mitt Romney would win last year and was so sure of it that he said he would resign if Obama was re-elected. Of course, Obama was easily re-elected and Bill is still spewing garbage on the radio.
October 15, 201311 yr Tom Luken will be on 700wlw at 12:06 to discuss the Cincinnati Streetcar construction. Calls it "A sad, sad day in Cincinnati History" His appearance on WLW was really just another vehicle for Cunningham to scream doom, gloom, and Detroit if Cranley, Murray, Smitherman aren't elected. Tom Luken's comments were all over the place. Sad really. A few choice (paraphrased) ones: Chris Bortz is the father of the streetcar and the voters kicked him out because of it... The voters are pretty wise on these things! We won't have it (streetcar) until 2016. That's four years away. They are starting on Elm St. because it doesn't get a whole lot of traffic. Why? Beause if they started on Fountain Square people would be up in arms because they are going to block all the traffic and cause an impass. This (today's rail installation) is just a token thing where they'll do a few things before this election and then sit around again for another three years until they're going to put the rest of the construction in. Don't forget Luken's famous line: "$200 million? That's what they want you to think! This streetcar will cost $3 or $4 BILLION once Parsons Brinkerhoff's done with it!"
October 15, 201311 yr Another video http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/cincinnati/First-streetcar-rails-laid-in-downtown-Cincinnati/-/13549970/22446668/-/k55jsx/-/index.html?absolute=true&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=wlwt Thankfully No mention of John Crankley
October 15, 201311 yr COAST, Cranley and SMitherman have been extremely quiet today. No interviews, no 700wlw shows, no Enquirer stories. Only a generic statement from Cranley. That usually means they are plotting something
October 15, 201311 yr >No interviews, no 700wlw shows, no Enquirer stories. Maybe they were having an emergency pothole meeting, like they were during the 2012 groundbreaking.
October 15, 201311 yr "We will stop this project. We will bring some sanity back to the financial house of the city and we will put the focus back on neighborhoods and basic services and public safety," John Crankley "I believe if I'm elected at least five members will share my views, and we will renegotiate the contract they signed to pave roads and to fix city buildings," John Crankley. http://www.fox19.com/story/23699980/mayoral-candidates-weigh-in-on-the-cincinnati-streetcar
October 16, 201311 yr COAST, Cranley and SMitherman have been extremely quiet today. No interviews, no 700wlw shows, no Enquirer stories. Only a generic statement from Cranley. That usually means they are plotting something We heard from a COAST representative when Cunningham had Tom Luken on. The candidates are restricted from the airwaves until after the polls close. But you are right, Brian Thomas didn't utter the word streetcar today. Somethings gotta be up. ;-) "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 16, 201311 yr 20 days to settle the streetcar debate. Has everyone volunteered for a streetcar candidate? Or made a donation? Most are very easy at their campaign pages to donate.
October 16, 201311 yr I suspect anyone on this board, if they really want to see rail expanded here, can contribute at least $100 to a candidate or to Cincinnatians for Progress, which is about to undertake some myth-busting.
October 16, 201311 yr Absolutely John. So glad Cincinnatians for Progress is going to start attacking John Cranley's false claims on the project
October 16, 201311 yr Has anyone read the city's contracts with the construction companies/Feds? Are there copies online? Is there a way to get the Federal transportation department to chime in and warn Cincinnatians(cranley) about the massive penalties they will hammer us with if we return the money? I would simply just go to the media, walk them through the contracts word by word, walk them through all the reasons why it would be devastating to cancel, and get it out there that this project phase 1A cannot be stopped without massive massive ramifications. That eliminates Cranley's major talking points immediately. There's no wiggle room his statement that he will use the money on schools, roads, police, fire etc like he's claiming. No wiggle room for him to say that he will use the money for the MLK interchange. No wiggle room that to say that he will reinvest the streetcar money in neighborhoods He would be absolutely caught red handed if the contracts prove as conclusive what I've heard
October 16, 201311 yr no Enquirer stories. This is the one I find interesting. Was there anything in the print edition? Chris Finney regurgitates some garbage out of his mouth and the Enquirer reporters are there like eager baby birds to swallow every last drop and write a story about it. Rails go in the ground and -- radio silence. They're obviously planning something, but waiting until Sunday would be strange. I guess it's not all bad, as everyone else has reported it, so unless the Enquirer skips the story entirely, they're basically extending the "first rails" story's news cycle. Their endorsement is going to be verrrry interesting. They were early to support to parking lease (but backed up their support a little bit as the lawsuit dragged on), and they said after the last election that the streetcar debate should be conceded by opponents. I don't know how they could reconcile that with a Cranley endorsement. (Well, I do know, they could proceed like they never held those positions.) But it seems the more consistent thing, since Cranley's main campaign positions are against what the Enquirer supported, would be to support Qualls. And probably give some token blurb about how she should focus more on "the neighborhoods."
October 16, 201311 yr He would be absolutely caught red handed if the contracts prove as conclusive what I've heard Only if reporters are willing to state the truth in no uncertain terms, instead of "XYZ streetcar supporter interprets the documents as saying..."
October 16, 201311 yr I suspect anyone on this board, if they really want to see rail expanded here, can contribute at least $100 to a candidate or to Cincinnatians for Progress, which is about to undertake some myth-busting. John- When is the CfP mail piece going out? I was volunteering for roxanne recently and we were knocking on doors for people who already said they had voted. Also, Roxanne is probably out funded 2-1 by John right now.
October 16, 201311 yr >and get it out there that this project phase 1A cannot be stopped without massive massive ramifications. CityBeat did this last week, and crickets chirped. Last night one of the TV reporters kept mispronouncing Over-the-Rhine. That is the level of blockhead we're dealing with in this town.
October 16, 201311 yr >and get it out there that this project phase 1A cannot be stopped without massive massive ramifications. CityBeat did this last week, and crickets chirped. Last night one of the TV reporters kept mispronouncing Over-the-Rhine. That is the level of blockhead we're dealing with in this town. I love citybeat. I think German is doing a great job at actual journalism. The problem is the media in this town is so heavily favored to the Enquirer, 700wlw, Fox19, WCPO, WLWT, and WKRC. If one of those outlets would do a report like German did, it would be all over in my opinion. Obviously 700wlw is out because of their bias. Kevin Osborne barely scratched the surface. The opportunity is there for page hits if the Enquirer, Fox19, WLWT, and WKRC would like to do an investigation. It would be a huge story. Personally, I think the Enquirer is holding out until right before the election to touch on this.
October 16, 201311 yr I suspect anyone on this board, if they really want to see rail expanded here, can contribute at least $100 to a candidate or to Cincinnatians for Progress, which is about to undertake some myth-busting. John- When is the CfP mail piece going out? I was volunteering for roxanne recently and we were knocking on doors for people who already said they had voted. ^ Today. Also, it's a little early for the Enquirer mayoral endorsement. Won't happen this Sunday. More likely on October 27th.
October 16, 201311 yr Some photos from today of the rubber boot, track welding, trench digging, and the maintenance facility site (first day that I can recall that there is no activity): "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 16, 201311 yr Looking great! I know I haven't posted in a while, but it's great to see this project going strong. I like the color scheme too :) . Makes it feel like April 1951 was a month ago! ;)
October 16, 201311 yr BTW - what is the hot yellow thing the worker is watching in one of the photos? Is that for welding the rail to rebar or some other anchor? Looks kind of cool. EDIT: One other thing - how long does the main trench extend so far (to what street)? How much rail will be installed by, say, November 5th? ;)
October 16, 201311 yr BTW - what is the hot yellow thing the worker is watching in one of the photos? Is that for welding the rail to rebar or some other anchor? Looks kind of cool. EDIT: One other thing - how long does the main trench extend so far (to what street)? How much rail will be installed by, say, November 5th? ;) That hot yellow thing is a thermite welder. It's basically a cone that is filled with a powder which is then ignited to form a weld. These are used on railroads all over the world. That worker is welding the ends of the rails together.
October 16, 201311 yr Thanks, BuckeyeB...that makes sense...I'm a bit embarrassed that I had forgotten about the thermite reaction :) . Cool!
October 16, 201311 yr how long does the main trench extend so far (to what street)? How much rail will be installed by, say, November 5th? ;) The trench is almost to 15th St. I believe John Deatrick said the track would be to Henry St. by the end of the year. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 16, 201311 yr Thanks, BuckeyeB...that makes sense...I'm a bit embarrassed that I had forgotten about the thermite reaction :) . Cool! You can see how this works on You Tube. It's interesting how this works!
October 16, 201311 yr Has anyone read the city's contracts with the construction companies/Feds? Are there copies online? I asked about getting a copy under the "Contact Us" page of the official streetcar website ( www.cincinnati-oh.gov/streetcar/contact-us/ ) a week or two ago. Chris Eilerman responded the same day and said that while the contracts are not online for viewing, you could walk into City Hall Room 104 and ask for a burned copy on a CD. Security policies won't allow them to give it to you on a flash drive and the files are too big to email. They will also mail you a CD of the contracts if you would like. Unfortunately I had no time with work to pick up a copy of the contracts before I left for vacation, but it is very easy to get copies.
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