One of my oldest dreams I remember as a kid has been to ride a draisine. You know, those old-time contraptions consisting of a double-lever on top of a simple platform, where two people could propel themselves forward by pumping up-and-down. In fact, I may have seen it in an old episode of the Muppet Show, where Gonzo was trying to outrun a train coming behind him... Well, until now I haven’t had the pleasure to try this. However, in the meantime my dream grew and took on slightly different forms.
You may remember one of my bicycle day trips on Vancouver Island, I wrote about this Summer, where Horizon and I took a short cut along the train tracks. It was certainly adventurous, but not in a fun way. The constant bum-bump, bum-bump of riding on the railroad ties went from annoying to tiring within the first minute, and balancing on the rail was out of question.
So we were both happy to get off the tracks, but did a quick image search with the limited Internet we had, and came across some very inspiring pics. Apparently many people have been tinkering with the idea of putting bikes on rails, with quite amazing results. And certainly it makes sense: pedaling is so much more comfortable than pumping a lever! Time for me to look into it in detail.
It seems like people have been combining bikes and rails for as long as both have been around. Back in the day they were called velocipeds, and were mainly used by maintenance personnel to inspect the tracks. That was before the majority of the railroad lines became defunct. This page has a nice collection of antique photographs, right below the ones of an actual velociped that survived into our days. The most exciting part: its mechanism seems surprisingly simple.
The main objective of a rail-bike is precisely that: to stay on the rail. This means, your steering needs to be locked, letting the rail guide you, and your balance must be maintained. The best way to achieve both of these objectives is an outrigger, riding on the other rail beside the bike. As you can see here, there are only three bars running from the outrigger wheel to the stem and the the two axles respectively, and BOOM You’ve got yourself a rail-bike. The only thing I’m not so sure about is how well the steering is locked. Could it happen that just by pushing the handlebar to the side a bit BOOM I find myself beside the track? Of course, the outrigger wheel looks heavy enough to keep that from happening, though I'm not sure…
It seems like my concern of steering myself off the tracks has occurred to others as well, as many rail-bikes include a front wheel guide in their design. This rail-bike is similar to the aforementioned velociped, except for the extra contraption that keeps the front wheel from derailing. It was made using aluminum poles, an extra bike-fork, and a cut up “razor” scooter. Ingenious design, but far from perfect. Scroll down on the page to see what became of it!
I much prefer this setup: while also made of light-weight materials, the front wheel guide is much bigger in size, holding on to the rail from both sides. As for the outrigger, it’s held tight by two aircraft cable guy wires, and best of all: the entire setup can be easily removed and strapped on the back of the bike, so switching back onto the road (or trail) seems easy-peasy. The only thing I don’t like about this bike is the fuel-burning engine on it. Come on, dude! Why spoil such a beautiful design?
Any ride is made so much nicer if you can share it with someone, and riding side-by-side is the best way to do so. Unfortunately, this can only be done seldomly, where there is no traffic on the road, or where the trail is wide enough. The railroad, however, with two continuous tracks running side-by-side, offers a perfect opportunity for this, which would be a shame not to use. Many designers understood this, as they came up with some wonderful setups.
This system seems like an ideal design. The two bikes are connected by the rack in the middle, offering a good amount of loading space. The front wheel guides are held together in the same fashion, and are attached to the bikes with two extra forks. This contraption even has a rear wheel guide, eliminating the slightest chance of a derailment. Impressive! But can we take this idea any further?
Probably the most impressive design I have found is this four-wheeled recumbent track/road vehicle. It is held on the rail by four small wheels that can be clicked on, or pulled up, making the switch to and from the railroad tracks super simple. So you can lean back, enjoy the ride, as you chat with your riding companion, be it on the road or the train line.
Given the amount of abandoned tracks in most countries, it seems almost self evident that someone would turn rail-biking into a commercial tourist attraction. Needless to say, you wouldn’t want to encounter a train, or even a maintenance car traveling at the speed of a motor vehicle, so coordination with the train company, or whoever is in charge of the rail lines is imperative. But it seems like many people have done exactly that, and in places like Korea, Norway, and even the States you can actually book rail-biking tours.
While this to me seems like taking the fun out of bike touring, it may also be the future of rail-biking. I mean, just imagine encountering another rail-bike coming the other way, or trying to pass one going slower than you. Too many rail-bikers would certainly spoil the fun. So this means, the time to ride the rails without much interference is NOW, while it’s still a novelty, but without having to re-invent the wheel. If you don't want to tinker yourself, take a look at the site of Bentley Railbike. They sell complete kits for putting your bike on the tracks, and even offer maps on abandoned rail lines you can take them to. I may just start out with this, and before soon have my own rail-bike touring company in Mexico... Well, we'll see about that. But first I want to enjoy the ride.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
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