Rail Bike makes playing on abandoned rail tracks fun again

With the decline of railways as the preferred mode of commute for the regular public, railroads have been relegated to being neglected relics of a bygone era that are put to use as pedestrian paths or bike paths along the lesser traveled routes in towns and cities. This BikeHacks.com reader identified simply as Will had the brilliant idea of using unused railroads in towns and cities as a track for traveling via bicycles. Not the most traffic-efficient idea in the history of personal mobility ever, the Rail Bike however is good for a joyride along an abandoned railroad in a town devoid of modern recreational activities like cinemas, pool bars and bowling alleys.

The Rail bike basically consists of a regular bike that has been given an additional support structure to enable it to travel along a rail road. The front wheel of the rail bike comes fitted with a mechanism that is ensures that the bike stays on course along the track while an outrigger fitted to the frame provides support to the bike and helps it stay upright along the rails. The entire bike is constructed using retaining pins, bolts, nuts, washers, bits of aluminum and steel, one bike fork and cut up scooter parts.

However, if you plan on recreating Will’s Rail Bike idea for a homegrown bike of your own, you might wanna check out whether the rail routes along which you plan on taking plan and ensure that they ate not in use as active tracks and that you won’t run the risk of being on the same path as a train. Also, the designer has not specified how the bike can be detached from the rail road in case of an emergency which can be dangerous.

Via: Bike Hacks