Sharon Coolidge

scoolidge@enquirer.com

Cincinnati streetcar executives are just back from Spain where they signed off on the final streetcar specs – how fast it will go, at what rate it will stop and how many people it will hold.

Up until this trip Cincinnati's Streetcar Project Executive John Deatrick and Assistant City Manager Chris Eilerman had only seen the cars via weekly video conferences.

"We had to make sure what they were building meets the performance specs," Deatrick said.

"The drawing on the laptop came to life," he added. "It was cool – there is no other way to put it."

Cincinnati City Councilwoman Amy Murray, head of council's Major Transportation and Regional Cooperation Committee, said the trip was essential.

"Since December we've all been working hard to be open and transparent," Murray said. "We need to make sure we're on time and on budget. This trip was essential to meeting these goals."

The trip from Sunday, May 18 to Thursday, May 22 wasn't exactly the ideal European vacation. The plant is located in the manufacturing town of Zaragoza, Spain. The team spent their days in a windowless conference room decorated with a plastic tree. They did get to tour the manufacturing facility, which Deatrick described as a series of buildings the cars roll between.

The two-man trip cost $6,000 and followed federal guidelines for travel, which meant no alcohol, meal cost limits and flying coach.

Former Mayor Mark Mallory and his staff's 10-day winter 2013 trip to Spain came under fire when its $21,000 cost came to light.

Eventually Cincinnati will have five streetcars, each with three cars. Deatrick and Eilerman examined the shell of Cincinnati's first car, but saw what will come by looking at cars under construction for other cities.

They also inspected shipping, which will happen in large crates outfitted with a sophisticated set of frames and rigs that will cross the ocean via boat.

Next stop for the streetcar: Elmira, New York, where construction will be finished before the cars head to Cincinnati.

The 3.6 mile track is under construction. It's set to start running in the summer of 2016.