Rail bikes due in Ulster are a hit in Rhode Island
The company that plans to start offering rail bike rides next year on train tracks between Boiceville and Phoenicia in Ulster County has launched its service beside picturesque Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island.
Rail Explorers Corp. opened in Portsmouth, R.I., in April as part of the Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad. On a gorgeous summer day in July, the site was teeming with people looking to spend a fun day outside and families seeking a kid-friendly activity.
Friends John McClements and Andrew Karn said they’ve been to the area before, but riding a “rail explorer” let them see it in a new way. McClements said he came away from it “awesomely impressed.”
“The view the whole way was incredible,” said McClements, 63, of Natick, Mass. “The bay, the golf courses, wooded areas, mansions. There was nice scenery the entire time.”
Owners Mary Joy Lu and Alex Catchpoole, who are from Sydney, Australia, first saw rail bikes being used in South Korea. Lu worked with a designer there to come up with rail explorer vehicles that could be used on U.S. railroad tracks.
The couple introduced the concept in 2015 in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and spent two months in Delaware last year before moving to Rhode Island. The company can change locations since it’s mobile. They said they have a fiveyear permit in Rhode Island.
In Ulster County, Rail Explorers was awarded a five-year contract in 2016 to run its rail bike operation on the western portion of the countyowned Ulster & Delaware rail corridor starting this year. But the plan for riders to dismount near Cold Brook Road in Boiceville and be taken by shuttle bus back to Phoenicia drew some heat from Boiceville residents upset about the shuttle bus traffic on Cold Brook Road, so the start-up date was pushed back. Rail Explorers now hopes to launch in Ulster County in 2018.
Under a revised plan, Rail Explorers will have the Ulster County ride terminate at milepost 23.3, near Cold Brook Road, and install a turntable that will turn the bikes around and allow riders to pedal back to Mount Tremper, where they will dismount and board a shuttle bus.
But because the ride from mile post 23.3 to Mount Tremper has an uphill grade, Rail Explorers must work with the bike manufacturer to have an electric-assist system installed. And that retrofit is going to take both time and money.
The Ulster County service is to be available seven days a week from spring through fall.
The rail bikes have four steel wheels, brakes and pedals for each seat. With steel wheels on steel rails, the vehicles glide along with easy pedaling and no steering. In Rhode Island, a tandem explorer for two people rents for $75 and a quad explorer for $125, though it doesn’t take all four people to power the quad vehicle.
“It’s the high-end version of very old technology at a level of engineering that makes it fun and safe for people of all ages and abilities,” Catchpoole said. “We didn’t want to create a product that was exclusive to a fitness level or an age demographic.”
Tracie Crowley described it as “a little work” after she finished riding a tandem vehicle with her friend Carol Amico, of North Haven, Conn. They signed up for it because they like to be active.
“We’d recommend it,” said Crowley, 61, of West Barnstable, Mass. “We’re talking about bringing our husbands for a night out.”
Each tour begins with a safety briefing. The company coordinates its schedule with the railroad so riders aren’t on the tracks when trains pass.
The 6-mile route in Rhode Island is along tracks that once were part of the Old Colony Railroad, which operated in the 1800s. It winds through coastal woodland and golf courses, past luxury residences along the bay and through preservation land popular for bird watching.
Riders spend about an hour pedaling, with a short stop to admire the view by the Mount Hope Bridge. They can either take a bus back to the station, or start the trip riding the bus to the end point and pedal back to the station.
In Ulster County, the rail bikes will ride on a section of track that formerly was used for scenic train rides provided by the Catskill Mountain Railroad. The railroad’s 25-year contract with the county expired last May, and Rail Explorers was chosen to replace the train rides. The Catskill Mountain Railroad still offers train rides on tracks in the city of Kingston and town of Ulster.
Rail Explorers will pay Ulster County $20,000 per year. The railroad will pay $50,000 per year.
In Rhode Island, more than 7,500 people have pedaled the rails so far, and many weekend tours are sold out.