Great job on the rail cart, ingenious design. Maybe someday you will engineer a product that could be manufactured in a new factory on the site of the old Ford facility? Ya never know. Keep inventing, keep designing, keep building, this is what we need in this country right now.
It’s a shame they had to tear down the Ford factory, it had been producing automobiles since the era of the Model T and was also a great spot to watch trains.
Nice railcar, just love it ... One remark though : You must reduce t,he depth of the flanges on the wheels, you wont keep hitting the fishfplates (railjoiners) anymore ....
@@mcw8900 Usually when we rip the rails up in the UK its usually replaced with something like housing or other forms of infrastructure. But near me there are still abandoned rails but they're usually fenced off from the public.
In the US rails are usually left in place just in case they decide to re-open them. Railroads retain their right-of-way as long as the rails are there.
True. Fun little excursion. One might be surprise surprised what action an abandoned line sees? I have found sections of abandoned lines or where rail traffic isn't as heavy as it once was and all but one line was removed. Also, is fun to see when the rail was made. 👍🏻😉
How Cool... A Unique, Progressive, Professional, Productive Video from a Unique, Progressive, Professional, Productive and Positively Assertive Proper Sublick.. Choo Choo !!!!! 👌💯👍😜
Very cool! My dad and I used to be in a railroad club waaaay back in the 80’s. He had built a speeder and it was always a really fun time. I’ve been thinking about doing a bike myself. Much love to you guys and be careful in your explorations.
1:31 At the FROG, your previous wheel jumping was shown to be "a too wide a wheel flange gauge", meaning the flanges of your wheels were "hugging" both rail heads, such that any deviation or tighter (track) gauge -was forcing your wheels to ride the rail top. At the frog, a slightly different effect occurs, in that the wheel flanges Keep to both rails (the one diverging at the frog being followed too tightly) - meaning your wheel gauge was larger than track gauge - result - the wheels JUMPED atop the frog and derailed you (which is precisely why you deleted / edited that bit out, but NOT before I spotted the left wheel riding above the rail-top of the frog.
This reminds me of Cambodian Norries (“Bamboo trains”). Basically a flat bamboo platform resting on two axles with flanged wheels, with a belt connecting one of the axles to a rudimentary gasoline engine. Pretty cool stuff.
Quite an interesting journey. Milwaukee had some great industrial spurs but they are sadly torn up. Take that yard and triple the size and that's how the hump yard here looked. Possibly that little pine trée was the Charlie Brown Curse!
Your kidneys will look like they went into a boxing match after a day of riding. Awesome video and I think it wouldn't be too hard to throw a little suspension under that rig......just looking to reduce the spinal shock ya know.......with ya in spirit
You what would be fun? Making a diesel-electric "speeder". Find a small diesel generator--use it to drive two motors on the back wheels. Then it would be architecturally like one of those big locomotives :)
When you hit a rock (as in railroad ballast) do you know how any teeth of your chain saw you will, on average, dull before you can release the trigger? All of them.
Carl must love peddling, kind of like the 'Forrest Gump' of rail cycling. No problem the dude can appreciate the great outdoors...respect. It's a testament to the rail engineering of old when your 'rail speeder' can navigate still perfectly aligned tracks after so many years of no maintenance on them.
Hey, again ! Another option ! You need old mini tractor with lawn mower covert to rail track wheels. If you want to build it. You will happy about it. I’m from Australia 🇦🇺
Don't forget put in a headlight as well so people can see you in the dark bright fluorescent clothes and they can see you my friend and please be careful and safe travels my friend from Gabriella Rivas from Roslyn heights long island near New York City and have fun as well my friend
You mentioned wheel diameter needs tweaking. Yeah, there's a bit too much flange. Maybe brake rotors with a small diameter tire tread wrapped around the hub section. The lug nuts could be used to fasten a plate to keep the rubber tread from coming off. The hub, axle and bearing assembly might be of use as well.
How about brake drums instead? You have a flange then. No need for tread as metal wheels are what trains are all about! They used to do this with Model T's - take the wheels off and run on the drums.
@@lenmarinaccio3262 You do need the tread because a train has several hundred tons of weight pressing it to the rails. A human body on a sheet of plywood does not. You will not be going anywhere.
Just a thought but you could shrink the size of your "cabin" put gokart or lawnmower tires on the inside add steering that you could lock once on the tracks keeping the same gauge and have a multiuse electric vehicle for getting into and out of those rougher areas where the ruffage is a little too thick to pass easily great video and it being semi modular makes it an even more cool project almost looks like it'd be possible to copy with a metal bed frame
they jave turned those into bile paths in my area. Rumor is they have to keep the weight capacity the same if they replace any sections incase they need to lay rail line in times of nation emergency. Not sure if thats true or not and sadly I doubt we could even make rail in the states anymore on a significant amount to fulfill that need.
That line was once the EL's main line to Chicago. Now it's the Marion Tallgrass Trail, and if you find it with Google maps and switch to satellite you can follow the right of way.
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan Also, the value of industrial land is higher if it has rail access. Keeping the track there prevents it from becoming something else. Perhaps the railroad hopes a new industry will locate there.
@@lenmarinaccio3262 RRs can keep ownership if they run the tracks just once a year. They usually do it in an adapted truck. I think it's good to have all the track you can in your portfolio. Thus, they keep it and don't use it.
It be wonderful if a trucking company CEO SEES YOUR WONDERFUL VIDEOS AND YOUR GREAT JOB OF SHOWCASING THIS YARD AND LINE AS A FUTURE RAIL TO TRUCK SHIPPERS TRANSLOADS FACILITIES ......CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW "TRANSLOADS FACILITIES scouting electric car .it be cool if you put a 1936 fiberglass autobody on your beautiful cart
I noticed that it would hop up sometimes I think from hitting weeds maybe add a sorta plow maybe a than sheet of metal that goes in front of the wheels and the cart to help push them out of the way like trains do or maybe add a sorta damper for the front wheels like rubber or a spring to help with the bounces The carts amazing and I exited too see wat else you are going to do
Part of the bouncing was from my wheel flanges being too big, they hit the fish plates between track sections. I've modified it slightly so hopefully won't do that as badly next time.
I haven't had much luck with any of my old gas engines. I've about given up on internal combustion for small projects, electric is so much more reliable!
Dang I would love to build my rail kart, probably with a stronger motor to go a bit faster, not like dangerous speeds that I could derail but an improvement like a roof and some lights in case someone is on a dark area
This is the site of the old St. Paul Ford assembly plant. The tracks are the Ford Plant spur of the Milwaukee Road Railroad, later the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
I would appreciate a better examination of Carl's 3 wheel design. I actually like both of your concepts. My initial concept was a 3 wheeled (actually 5 wheels) 2 side wheels for off road/ on road and on tracks an 1 wheel for extension to the other track while the other 2 wheels are for off/on road only. I did not have proof of concept for the 3 wheel train track but YOU & Carl provided that, Cheers! SUBSCRIBED!
I think Carl based his off the Bentley Railbike, which you can buy plans for online. I always prefer to just bodge things together and learn as I go :-)
Maybe you could get the CNC/CAD software, Fusion 360, to make a video how to use the software to design the next cart with CNC'd aluminum/steel four lug wheels, etc
Very cool video... and really I love all your videos! Just one thing.. Be CAREFUL! Just because the tracks are abandoned, does not mean you can't still get in trouble for trespassing.. Someone owns that property, even the railroad may still own it. Unless you know FOR SURE its been turned over to county, city or state for public use.
If you find Marion, Ohio on Google Earth on its west side you'll see a large switchyard. Out of its far west side you'll see the remnants of a solo line that once ran all the way to Chicago. It's an old Erie Lackawanna line. It was already long abandoned when I started visiting Lima in 1987. How long? Coming out of Lima on Route 117 you could see an ancient semaphore type signal, built by Union Switch and Signal. Now, that ride, from Lima to Marion, would have been epic. I used to be able to find the right of way on the sat maps but everything is grown over now. They tore up the tracks in the mid 90s.
Do you ever have safety issues with other people? There are areas in Ashtabula Oh. around the train yards where I would not go without my friendly gun & a few other friends!
Interesting video! Just a (not so) minor quibble: While these tracks might be unused, that does not mean they are abandoned! Railroad abandonment is a purely legal process where the rails have to be removed and the right of way returned to the land owners, if on an easement. That means that the line can no longer function as a rail road. What you have is an "Out of service" rail line, and perhaps owned by a defunct railroad. So yea, you are operating on someone else's property... Be careful out there and have fun!
them rails aint seen a car for years, prob made em happy to see sombody.
Train?? 🥺
Yes traincar. As in how many cars are being pulled by the train. Dang I'm not that goofy bro. Glad to amuse.
@@1683clifton lmao i meant it as in the rails reaction to seeing some action 💀. I guess u missed it.
R/woosh
Indeed friend
Now go listen to "long train runnin" by the doobie brothers ok?
Great job on the rail cart, ingenious design. Maybe someday you will engineer a product that could be manufactured in a new factory on the site of the old Ford facility? Ya never know. Keep inventing, keep designing, keep building, this is what we need in this country right now.
It’s a shame they had to tear down the Ford factory, it had been producing automobiles since the era of the Model T and was also a great spot to watch trains.
Thanks for mentioning .
Is this at River Rouge?
I need to check this out sometime I live 90 minutes away .
Nice railcar, just love it ... One remark though : You must reduce t,he depth of the flanges on the wheels, you wont keep hitting the fishfplates (railjoiners) anymore ....
Not everyone has access to the necessary machinery. If he doesn't follow your suggestion he may be willing to live with the current dimension.
@@joewoodchuck3824 WOW. YOU ARE DEEP.
@@dontherealartist so are his flanges apparently!!
@@nojhampton zing!
Excellent
Looks like a fun time. You need a horn. Like a big plastic stadium horns. The kind you BLOW through.
vuvuzela i think
@@baconeater312 Correct.
I want to ride it. Cool video
Silence would be infinitely better than this "soundtrack" (no pun intended).
There's a talking heads reference in that scene where the factory is gone and now there's nothing but trees and wildflowers
You are lucky the abandoned railways are left intact. I've seen similar in France. But here in the UK the track is often lifted soon after closure
Same in the Netherlands, everything is lifted when taken out of service
I was gonna say just this. Abandoned Railways in the UK seem to have tracks ripped up pretty quick
@@mcw8900 Usually when we rip the rails up in the UK its usually replaced with something like housing or other forms of infrastructure. But near me there are still abandoned rails but they're usually fenced off from the public.
The rail usually gets ripped up in the states, too.
In the US rails are usually left in place just in case they decide to re-open them. Railroads retain their right-of-way as long as the rails are there.
That is so cool. And the way you made a rail cart. Awesome. Keep up the great work. And your buddy with the rail bike. Neat.
The watch out for trains sign was cool.
Suprised its still there and know ones jacked it yet ..lol
True. Fun little excursion. One might be surprise surprised what action an abandoned line sees? I have found sections of abandoned lines or where rail traffic isn't as heavy as it once was and all but one line was removed. Also, is fun to see when the rail was made. 👍🏻😉
What a great way to ride.
I was just there last fall. It's good to see some of the history was/is still there.
One of those be great for stealth camp/living eh! Great ideas man!
How Cool... A Unique, Progressive, Professional, Productive Video from a Unique, Progressive, Professional, Productive and Positively Assertive Proper Sublick.. Choo Choo !!!!! 👌💯👍😜
Very cool! My dad and I used to be in a railroad club waaaay back in the 80’s. He had built a speeder and it was always a really fun time. I’ve been thinking about doing a bike myself. Much love to you guys and be careful in your explorations.
During the late 40’s and early 50’s my father,sister and I watched the evolution from steam to diesel electric from the hillside above.
1:31 At the FROG, your previous wheel jumping was shown to be "a too wide a wheel flange gauge", meaning the flanges of your wheels were "hugging" both rail heads, such that any deviation or tighter (track) gauge -was forcing your wheels to ride the rail top.
At the frog, a slightly different effect occurs, in that the wheel flanges Keep to both rails (the one diverging at the frog being followed too tightly) - meaning your wheel gauge was larger than track gauge - result - the wheels JUMPED atop the frog and derailed you (which is precisely why you deleted / edited that bit out, but NOT before I spotted the left wheel riding above the rail-top of the frog.
Checked the comments to say the same thing! He thought he could be sneaky with his edits... but he wasn't sneaky enough. 😉
Love the rail creations! I would love to learn how to make the bike one haha, have fun and reminds me of Half Life!
This reminds me of Cambodian Norries (“Bamboo trains”). Basically a flat bamboo platform resting on two axles with flanged wheels, with a belt connecting one of the axles to a rudimentary gasoline engine. Pretty cool stuff.
Quite an interesting journey. Milwaukee had some great industrial spurs but they are sadly torn up. Take that yard and triple the size and that's how the hump yard here looked. Possibly that little pine trée was the Charlie Brown
Curse!
Looks like fun . The tracks look like they in good shape
It jumps every time you pass over a rail joint. Your wheel flanges are too deep.
Brilliant lads, such fun.
This is really cool! We sadly don’t have abandoned rail lines to this degree where I live. Would love to visit this one day!
Your kidneys will look like they went into a boxing match after a day of riding. Awesome video and I think it wouldn't be too hard to throw a little suspension under that rig......just looking to reduce the spinal shock ya know.......with ya in spirit
That rail go-kart is so cool!
I loved that rail cart!! and even that bicycle system too! subscribed and thumb up! Best Regards.
You what would be fun? Making a diesel-electric "speeder". Find a small diesel generator--use it to drive two motors on the back wheels. Then it would be architecturally like one of those big locomotives :)
When you hit a rock (as in railroad ballast) do you know how any teeth of your chain saw you will, on average, dull before you can release the trigger? All of them.
Chainsaws work great for cutting out tunnels in sandstone... for about 10 minutes, and then the chain is just a smooth polished surface 😆
I like the railway cart, pretty cool. Sad to see the factory and abandoned spur. Jobs lost forever.
This looks like a lot of fun.
As soon as I saw the wheels I knew the flanges were too big. I bet you hit every nut and bolt, not to mention trouble with switches and crossings.
A rail bike just like the movie The Quest. Cool!
need a lawn chair mounted for more comfortable regal ride and maybe a weed-eater for track maintenance along the way - good build
and a chain saw or just a saw
@@-watermelonking Electric saw, gas too loud, gets maybe unwanted attention.
I like that bicycle contraption!
Good idea, you can make a petrol powered lawnmower wagon , for cut weeds on long rail tracks. You get two old lawn mowers together to wagon .
Carl must love peddling, kind of like the 'Forrest Gump' of rail cycling. No problem the dude can appreciate the great outdoors...respect. It's a testament to the rail engineering of old when your 'rail speeder' can navigate still perfectly aligned tracks after so many years of no maintenance on them.
Congratulations my friend. I knew you can do it. Now change the sign to Watch out for Rail Carts. Liked the scenery.
Very cool. Gotta get me one of those!
They need to start rehabbing the rails so that in the future we can travel more than one or two hundred miles away f
rom our home charging stations!
Hey, again ! Another option ! You need old mini tractor with lawn mower covert to rail track wheels. If you want to build it. You will happy about it. I’m from Australia 🇦🇺
The switches are pulled up so they can be used in other places because, switches are hard to make, they use pre-made switches
Don't forget put in a headlight as well so people can see you in the dark bright fluorescent clothes and they can see you my friend and please be careful and safe travels my friend from Gabriella Rivas from Roslyn heights long island near New York City and have fun as well my friend
You're a Champion.
Cool channel buddy 🤘🏻
This is great! I love stuff like this!
Man this is so awesome.
Another battery for headlights + a REAL TRAIN HORN!! That's what you need. And paint it in C&NW colors!
You mentioned wheel diameter needs tweaking. Yeah, there's a bit too much flange. Maybe brake rotors with a small diameter tire tread wrapped around the hub section. The lug nuts could be used to fasten a plate to keep the rubber tread from coming off. The hub, axle and bearing assembly might be of use as well.
How about brake drums instead? You have a flange then. No need for tread as metal wheels are what trains are all about! They used to do this with Model T's - take the wheels off and run on the drums.
@@lenmarinaccio3262 You do need the tread because a train has several hundred tons of weight pressing it to the rails. A human body on a sheet of plywood does not. You will not be going anywhere.
Ok I wondered how you kept front bike tire on the rail. Now I see
Interesting bro love from india🇮🇳
Just wondering what railroad owns this yard, and how long has it been abandoned? Thanks
Just a thought but you could shrink the size of your "cabin" put gokart or lawnmower tires on the inside add steering that you could lock once on the tracks keeping the same gauge and have a multiuse electric vehicle for getting into and out of those rougher areas where the ruffage is a little too thick to pass easily great video and it being semi modular makes it an even more cool project almost looks like it'd be possible to copy with a metal bed frame
Multi-modal 👍
Have you done any more up grades on the cart?...Like the Video.................Thanks.............JB.
I'm in Minnesota, so we don't really have grades or hills :-P
@@saveitforparts>>> Sounds like where I was born and raised: _"Florida"_ 😉
Tree: Let's grow here, no one is gonna hurt me on an abandoned railway
Tree: 3:12
😄
Choices: destroy a healthy tree vs lift cart past obstruction.
F
Id make one of those just to get around
This music is awesome!
Would a 5ft long hedge trimmer mounted across the front work for trimming the weeds?
Maybe! I'll have to try that at some point
Just love it bro 👍😉saves walking hello from Australia 🦘🍻🦘🍻
Reminds me of a Canadian car with square wheels from South Park - que Primus outro
I'd like to ride on one of those rail carts sometime!
they jave turned those into bile paths in my area. Rumor is they have to keep the weight capacity the same if they replace any sections incase they need to lay rail line in times of nation emergency. Not sure if thats true or not and sadly I doubt we could even make rail in the states anymore on a significant amount to fulfill that need.
Is this in the twin cities? Take me along on these adventures on the rails!!
That line was once the EL's main line to Chicago. Now it's the Marion Tallgrass Trail, and if you find it with Google maps and switch to satellite you can follow the right of way.
Now that looks like fun.
its strange that the rails have not been pulled up for scrap.
Value of abandoned rails is often lower than the cost to remove it.
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan Also, the value of industrial land is higher if it has rail access. Keeping the track there prevents it from becoming something else. Perhaps the railroad hopes a new industry will locate there.
@@lenmarinaccio3262 RRs can keep ownership if they run the tracks just once a year. They usually do it in an adapted truck. I think it's good to have all the track you can in your portfolio. Thus, they keep it and don't use it.
It be wonderful if a trucking company CEO SEES YOUR WONDERFUL VIDEOS AND YOUR GREAT JOB OF SHOWCASING THIS YARD AND LINE AS A FUTURE RAIL TO TRUCK SHIPPERS TRANSLOADS FACILITIES ......CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW "TRANSLOADS FACILITIES scouting electric car .it be cool if you put a 1936 fiberglass autobody on your beautiful cart
We own a speeder. We bought it a few years ago and have yet to take it for a ride.
It's a lot of fun! I'm still working on mine and might re-do the wheels yet again :-)
I noticed that it would hop up sometimes
I think from hitting weeds maybe add a sorta plow maybe a than sheet of metal that goes in front of the wheels and the cart to help push them out of the way like trains do or maybe add a sorta damper for the front wheels like rubber or a spring to help with the bounces
The carts amazing and I exited too see wat else you are going to do
Part of the bouncing was from my wheel flanges being too big, they hit the fish plates between track sections. I've modified it slightly so hopefully won't do that as badly next time.
@@saveitforparts I noticed that it might be the rubber or odd shaped part of the wheel that was catching and good luck!
Looks like fun, thanks for sharing !!!!
Ever thought about making a gas powered version? And a lightweight brush guard for the front. Maybe a flashing hazard light as well?
I haven't had much luck with any of my old gas engines. I've about given up on internal combustion for small projects, electric is so much more reliable!
Enjoyed the ride! Your music fit perfectly 👌 and gives your vid a Wes Anderson vibe.
There was a part around 6 minutes where machine and music blended nicely.
As always, an awesome video! I am really loving this rail cart series!
I am looking for old wooden railway ties for my garden. I live in Vancouver, B.C. Anyone have any ideas for that? Thanks. I really enjoyed this video.
Some larger hardware stores sell them around here. They do tend to have a lot of creosote soaked in, so might not be ideal for some uses.
Dang I would love to build my rail kart, probably with a stronger motor to go a bit faster, not like dangerous speeds that I could derail but an improvement like a roof and some lights in case someone is on a dark area
The cart is cool! How far on a charge?
And that bike is sooo cool!
Not sure about max range, I've only gone a few miles and the battery voltage didn't go down much.
Any idea what was on the site? What the future is for the site?
Sign: watch out for trains
The railcar and railed bicycle: are we a joke to you?!
What was that place? At one time it had to be quite a complex with all those tracks?
Former factory that's been torn down and will probably be redeveloped into condos or something.
This is the site of the old St. Paul Ford assembly plant.
The tracks are the Ford Plant spur of the Milwaukee Road Railroad, later the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
www.google.com/maps/search/St.+Paul+Ford+assembly+plant/@44.9107361,-93.189245,294m/data=!3m1!1e3
@saveitforparts >>> Whatever that demolished [industrial plant] was, it must have been QUITE AN OPERATION to have all those rail lines going to it.
If you put a gas motor on it, you could probably do 25 mph or so. Derailing would become epic!
Sounds like a train wreck waiting to happen.
"Derailing would become epic!" That sounds like a good reason not to.
Need to add a cow catcher!🤣
I would appreciate a better examination of Carl's 3 wheel design. I actually like both of your concepts. My initial concept was a 3 wheeled (actually 5 wheels) 2 side wheels for off road/ on road and on tracks an 1 wheel for extension to the other track while the other 2 wheels are for off/on road only. I did not have proof of concept for the 3 wheel train track but YOU & Carl provided that, Cheers! SUBSCRIBED!
I think Carl based his off the Bentley Railbike, which you can buy plans for online. I always prefer to just bodge things together and learn as I go :-)
Maybe you could get the CNC/CAD software, Fusion 360, to make a video how to use the software to design the next cart with CNC'd aluminum/steel four lug wheels, etc
To complete the thing that you are on add some caragese to make it like a real train lol you can store a lot more stuff
Very cool video... and really I love all your videos! Just one thing.. Be CAREFUL! Just because the tracks are abandoned, does not mean you can't still get in trouble for trespassing.. Someone owns that property, even the railroad may still own it. Unless you know FOR SURE its been turned over to county, city or state for public use.
Great video. Reminds me of the areas in Buffalo, NY where Bethlehem Steel used to be before closing up in the early 80s.
Where is this line?
Awesome video! What rail was this? What city/state?
Cool rides.
cool you went across the grass you can make it an all terrain vehicle call it a TTOS vehicle train track of the road street vehicle lol
If you find Marion, Ohio on Google Earth on its west side you'll see a large switchyard. Out of its far west side you'll see the remnants of a solo line that once ran all the way to Chicago. It's an old Erie Lackawanna line. It was already long abandoned when I started visiting Lima in 1987. How long? Coming out of Lima on Route 117 you could see an ancient semaphore type signal, built by Union Switch and Signal. Now, that ride, from Lima to Marion, would have been epic. I used to be able to find the right of way on the sat maps but everything is grown over now. They tore up the tracks in the mid 90s.
Lima? Isn't that where the US Army Tanks are made?
Nice video...🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Do you ever have safety issues with other people? There are areas in Ashtabula Oh. around the train yards where I would not go without my friendly gun & a few other friends!
It is so sad to see these abandoned rail lines . . . Where is this? Thank you.
Trespassing issues?
looks like a lot of fun! you gotta mount a chain saw in front of it and put a lawn chair on it.
Interesting video!
Just a (not so) minor quibble: While these tracks might be unused, that does not mean they are abandoned!
Railroad abandonment is a purely legal process where the rails have to be removed and the right of way returned to the land owners, if on an easement.
That means that the line can no longer function as a rail road.
What you have is an "Out of service" rail line, and perhaps owned by a defunct railroad.
So yea, you are operating on someone else's property...
Be careful out there and have fun!
U should do my state I have a slot of abandon rail road tracks
Where was that yard? I am looking for small switch yards to model.