You’re the engine for this ride on the rails
“This will either be really lame or kinda . . . fun,’’ said the teenager at the Rail Explorers check-in desk with her family, a skeptical, “I’m-too-old-for-Thomas-the-Tank-Engine’’ expression on her face. We saw her later as we disembarked, taking a selfie alongside her rail bike.
Yep, this one rates a smiley-face emoji. If you’re heading to Newport for the time-honored trifecta of mansion tour/alfresco lunch/harbor cruise, here’s a good reason to plan a pit stop in neighboring Portsmouth. Rail Explorers launched in Rhode Island in April, and 13,000-plus riders have come aboard so far. That total includes railroad buffs in the Rare Miles Club looking to add to their tallies of railroad miles collected. You ride a two- or four-seater, custom-built pedal-powered vehicle along the Old Colony and Newport Railroad tracks.
“My wife [Mary Joy Lu] stumbled upon this type of rail bike in South Korea, where they were running them on abandoned railroads in old mining towns in beautiful locations,’’ says Rail Explorers co-founder [with Lu] Alex Catchpoole. “We fell in love with the concept and, after much researching, decided on this design, adapting it for the US market.’’ Their first operation, in New York’s Adirondacks, shut down after two seasons, when the state decided to pursue converting the rails to multi-use trails in that region. So far, so good in the Ocean State.
Partnered with the Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad Co. (operator of the Ice Cream Train and other excursions), Rail Explorers runs tours to the north and south of the little station they built in Portsmouth. It’s an ideal location because the tracks are flat and the scenery on Aquidneck Island is lovely, especially where the route skirts Narragansett Bay.
We were happy to be in the first rail bike on our tour, eager to put pedal to metal (and some space between us and the group riding behind us, nice though they were). How fast can these things go? “Our staff has gotten the bikes up to 15 miles per hour,’’ Catchpoole said. Sounded like a challenge to us! Plus, we were keen to work off the mojitos and fajitas (mojitas?) we’d wantonly consumed in Newport all weekend.
What’s especially nice about this excursion, though, is that it doesn’t have to be a workout. You don’t even have to pedal, as long as someone in your bike (a two-seater or four-seater) does the honors. Folks of all ages and physical abilities can enjoy this ramble through the countryside. “People who would not be able to bike or hike six miles are out there, experiencing the outdoors with their kids and grandkids, and having a great time,’’ Catchpoole says. Riders have included people who are wheelchair bound, vision-impaired, and mobility challenged, riding together with their families, he adds.
We pedaled continually along our six-mile “Northern Ramble,’’ stopping only at intersections, for cars and golf carts. (Rail bikes have hydraulic disc brakes.) On a picture-perfect summer day in New England, the foliage was vivid green and the bay sparkled, and we were enjoying it all from our curious-looking conveyance. Rail Explorers has a five-year permit to operate in Rhode Island as a partner of the Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad Co., and also plan to open in New York’s Catskills region next spring. They’re also scoping out warm-weather locations for winter, since nobody wants to ride an open-air rail bike in Rhode Island when the snow flies. The season here closes at the end of October, and it may close with a bang: they’re considering “haunted’’ night rides through the dark woods for Halloween on their Southern Circuit, maybe doing s’mores around the fire pit at the picnic area.
Our take on the experience? Pleasant, unique, and a fun way to see territory you wouldn’t otherwise explore. “There’s something magical about the railroads,’’ Catchpoole says. “To be able to ride it in a new and unique way is attractive to people.
“People see a picture of the rail bikes and they say, ‘Yes, I’ve gotta do that.’ ’’
Rail Explorers, 1 Alexander Rd., Portsmouth, RI. 877-833-8588; www.railexplorers.net. April-Oct. (In September and October, it’s Thursday through Sunday only.) Allow two hours per tour. Reservations recommended. Tandem (two riders), $75; Quad (four riders) $125. Single seats available.
