September 8, 2024
Rail Explorers is a company that utilizes disused railroad lines, outfitting them with large, electric-motor-assisted pedal cars that can seat two or four. They have six locations throughout the US including in Cooperstown, New York, and Boone, Iowa. When I found out there was a location near our stay in Kentucky, I put it on our to-do list.
We knew about the company long before we planned this trip, as I mentioned, they have a location in Boone, Iowa, that we’d wanted to visit but hadn’t gotten around to yet.
While in Vermont, I discovered the Kentucky location so I added it to our things to do list, but didn’t buy the tickets.
When we arrived in Kentucky and the time came for me to buy the tickets, the only day that was available was Sunday, September 8. Brandy wanted to go on the earliest ride they had available so I paid the $100 for the two of us to ride at 9:00 am.
When I got the e-mail confirmation and added the event to my calendar, I noticed that, while in the same state, Rail Explorers are in the Eastern Time Zone, where we were staying in the Central Time Zone. This meant that instead of being there for 9:00 ride, we had to be there for an “8:00” ride, which meant we’d have to leave around 6:00 am Sunday morning.
Ride Day
Sure enough, we were out the door and on the road at 6:00, stopping for gas and heading up I-65 to highway 62 and into Versailles where we drove into the Falling Springs Center, a recreation center with basketball courts, running tracks and fitness center. It also houses the Bluegrass Railroad Museum and Rail Explorers.
We parked and headed in to the center and around to the back side where the Rail Explorers “office” was situated in a trailer with a fully open side and a full merch store set up inside. We checked in there, filled out some waivers and were instructed to wait nearby.
The cars were lined up on the tracks we had crossed over, and each had a placard attached with the riders’ last names. We found the car labeled “Green” about half a dozen spots from the front of the line of about 20 or 25.
At 9:00, we were gathered around as one of the guides went through his safety spiel, how to operate the car, how to brake, and the hand signal we were supposed to use when we braked. We were then released to our cars, instructed to fasten our seat belts and were released, stopping for a quick brake check before heading out to the great wide open.
I had read that the cars were pedal powered but assisted with an electric motor. I had it in my head that you wouldn’t have to pedal at all if you so desired. Well, that wasn’t the case. The motor was run by the pedals, so we did have to pedal, and almost constantly at that.
The Ride
The track we rode upon wound through 5 miles of farmland and the Kentucky hills. Trees lined either side of the tracks, and left just enough room to see the corn and grains being farmed on the other side.
We frequently came to driveway crossings where signs would warn us to keep our eyes open and slow down, which we did.
The trees surrounding us filtered the light of the still-rising sun, dancing patters of shadows all around us. The leaves were just starting to show the first tinges of color as fall started creeping in.
As we moved along, we encountered a few instances of abandoned rolling stock parked on lines parallel to ours. There were box cars, and passenger cars and, I believe, even a caboose somewhere in the mix. It was clear that all of these cars has been sitting in these locations for quite some time- the metal was rusted, wood was rotting, glass had been broken out and there was spray paint tagging to be found.
We pedaled along diligently toward the five-mile mark when suddenly and without warning, the electric motor stopped. The meant that the only way of powering the 500 pound car with another 550 pounds of people and stuff was by pedaling without motor assistance.
We got the car moving and once we got a little momentum going for us, the pedaling got easier.
We were warned that if we had motor problems, to stop, signal and the guides at the back of the line would come fix the car for us. Well, seeing as we had the vast majority of the line still behind us, and each car trailing a good minute or two behind the car in front of it, it was going to be a while before anyone came to rescue us. We chugged along as best we could when we suddenly turned a corner and were face-to-face with the turn-around point.
We got the car to the end of the growing line and I reported the mechanical problem to the guides waiting for us. They found that a cable wasn’t plugged into a locked into the battery, or something. He fixed it and assured us the ride back should be fine.
Young’s High Bridge
The turnaround point for us was at the eastern end of Young’s High Bridge, a nearly 1,700 foot long bridge, perched 283 feet above the Kentucky River Gorge. There was a chain link fence keeping riders off of the bridge, but the view over the ravine was pretty magnificent.
After about half an hour at the turnaround point, during which we had some snacks, people mingled about and talked a bit, all our cars were turned around and we were ready to make our way back to the museum from where we’d departed.
The Return
Indeed, we didn’t have any issues with the motor on the way back. The route was the same so we saw the same things, but from a different angle.
As we made our way up the line, the sun rose higher in the sky and warmed us more than during our ride out to the halfway point. The rays making their way through the thinning foliage of the trees surrounding us were at a more abrupt angle, shining almost straight down, instead of the long, angled rays we saw on the way out.
Just before 11:00 (eastern time), we found ourselves back at the depot. We stopped our car at the end of the line and got out, thanking our guides as we did.
We stopped at the trailer on our way out and picked up some trinkets to remember our trip by, got back to the truck and made the hour and a half drive back to the AirBnB, pulling in just before noon.
Aftermath
Having predicted it during the ride, it was no surprise that our legs were rubber by the time we got back to the AirBnB and were pretty much useless the following day.
The pain subsided over the subsequent days, finally disappearing entirely on the third day after the ride.
DOMS indicates it was a hell of a workout.
Conclusion
While is was more strenuous than I had anticipated, this was an absolutely fun trip that I can NOT wait to do on the Boone line in Iowa. I think we are going to try to get Hilary and her new beau to double-date with us. We will see how that pans out.
Otherwise, pics from the trip are up on the Photo Diary, many of the pictures there come courtesy of Brandy as I was admonished to not have my phone out while we were riding as I was the Stop/Go guy.
I also got the ol’ GoPro out and bought a headband for it so I captured some footage from the ride as well. I’ve been diving back in to video editing and put together a handful of video that can be seen on my YouTube.
I’m in the process of finishing up my wrap-up post on our time in Cave City, Kentucky, then I’ll put together a quickie post on our time in Albuquerque before we put our massive Summer adventure to rest.
But that doesn’t mean we’re done! Oh, no, we still have a ton of adventures in store.
So, stay tuned!
-Phil
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