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Railriding consists of using a two, three, or four wheeled
light weight vehicle that's powered by pedal or motor, and
riding it on railroad tracks. There are many different
designs, many different guide systems and outriggers. This
very safe sport is done all over the world.
We
pick up the history of these contraptions around 1860 with a
three-wheel handcar used for track inspection. One way they
were powered was by pushing forward and back on the handle
bars. Around this time, Charles Edward Teeter (the first
Railrider), invented a light four wheeled single and
twin-bicycle type with special pebble-like surfaced wheels.
Railbikes were used not only by railroad and telegraph
employees as basic transportation and inspection, but by
many people for outdoor pleasure and non-railroad use. It
was even offered by Sears, Roebuck & Co. in their 1903 to
1911 catalogues. Sears and other stores offered both entire
railbikes and attachments that went onto a regular street
bike. Back then there were NO abandoned track, but
thousands of Railriders. These "Railbikes" can be seen in
many museums and even the Smithsonian Institute in
Washington, DC.
Time
moves forward and not so long ago, during the 1980's, the
speeders (as we now know them), were being discarded by the
railroads in favor of the more efficient pick-up truck with
special rail guide wheels. A number of railroad enthusiasts
intercepted the speeder trip to the scrap metal yard and
took the unwanted vehicles home, fixed them up and began
riding on any track available; abandoned, used, with and
mostly - without permission.
Over the years I've heard stories about speeders being
ridden on live and abandoned rails without permission. I
heard one story of a guy who painted his speeder all black,
and knowing the schedule of the rails near his home, would
put his heavy speeder on the rails after the midnight
freight went by and, totally dressed in black himself, had a
grand time riding the rails with his adrenalin pumping
completely unobserved.
As
the years passed, these lone speeders got together and
formed local clubs and later, the national organization,
NARCOA. (North American RailCar Operators Association) These
groups of enthusiasts saved a few tracks. But another
larger group of people want to remove the track for another
purpose. "Rails To Trails" has had much more success in
tearing up those beautiful ribbons of steel, and all that
history that is lost forever. Here in NH we have a few
tracks set aside for everyone's use, and it works very, very
well. Side by side we have rails and trails. Railriders
and speeders on the tracks, joggers and walkers on the trail
right next to each other. But old time backward thinking
prevails, and too much track has and is bringing taken up in
most states and even here in NH. Did I say, "Lost
Forever."
In
2004 I was visited by three different companies from Asia,
to learn how to build a railbike. Like the Europeans, they
realized the value in abandoned rails and started using
their tracks for Railriding. The towns nearby these rails
are enjoying great tourist business. Here in the USA, the
throw-away society, they prefer to take up the rails.
The
same time the speeders where getting their act together,
another group of individuals were out there already enjoying
the abandoned and not so abandoned rails - I've named -
Railriders. This group is all the other contraptions that
didn't fall into the "speeder" group. At first, they rode
with the speeders, many of the Speeders were/are still
Railriders, but somewhere along the line, like everything in
life, some speeder owners started making rules in the name
of safety and organizing their fast moving and heavy
vehicles, but here's were it got bad, some felt they were
special and the rest of us were the renegades. Isn't this
always the case? The speeders of today forgot their
rough-shod beginning-history, and now point to Railriders as
the "bad" guys. Not all, Not most, just those few that
spread lies, and have a different agenda. Railriders
are not organized and love the fact that we are loners and
individuals that share are very colorful history. And again
I say, not a ONE railbike has been in or caused an
accident. If you know different, advise me.
Railriders are
made up of those same people who love the rails, but perhaps
can't afford or don't want those big, heavy, fast moving
speeders. They don't like that they need two men and a
donkey to put them on and off the track, and
don't appreciate the fact that speeders take a fair amount
of maintenance. We Railriders like to view nice things,
enjoy the ride, not make all that noise and go too quickly
by all that beauty nature has to offer.
So
there's the dilemma - two groups of people who love the
rails equally, but in slightly different ways. Two groups
of people who share a checkered past. If we could get
together, maybe we can stop or at least slow down
those politically powerful Rails to Trails folks. Tracks
torn up are not coming back for any
hobbyists. Again, old ideas, old thinking, losing the past |
