Railbiking Is Catching On Across the Nation--Here's Where to Try It Yourself

Sit back, relax and pedal your way along historic railroad tracks

Sarah Kuta
Daily Correspondent

June 17, 2024 7:30 a.m.



Located in Noblesville, Indiana, on the outskirts of Indianapolis, Nickel Plate Express offers both train rides and railbike tours. Nickel Plate Express


In the 1860s, early settlers discovered a thick vein of coal in north-central Colorado. They set to work mining the valuable fuel and, not long after, officially incorporated their little town, which they named Erie.

Encouraged by Erie’s burgeoning coal industry, in 1871, Union Pacific Railroad agreed to build a spur off its main line, which ran between Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming. That spur, which became known as the Denver and Boulder Valley Railroad, connected Brighton to the east with Boulder to the west, with a stop in Erie along the way.

For decades, the train transported coal and passengers until, one by one, the Erie mines began to close. In 2002, Union Pacific stopped using the tracks altogether and later sold them to Colorado’s regional public transportation agency.

Now, more than 150 years since the tracks were laid, wheels are once again rolling down them in Erie—only, this time, they’re not attached to a heavy locomotive. Rather, they’re part of a new human-powered contraption called a “railbike.”

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/railbiking-is-catching-on-across-the-nationheres-where-to-try-it-yourself-180984554/