Ride Southern Nevada’s historic railroad in a new way — VIDEO
Ah, the joy of the American railroad.
Wide-open desert, the wind in your hair, the cool glide of steel wheels over steel rails. And the rhythmic propulsion of closed-toe shoes on bicycle pedals.
In Boulder City, Rail Explorers makes it possible to ride the rails in pedal-powered vehicles through Southern Nevada desertscapes.
The bright-red rail vehicles feature two or four bicycle seats atop a heavy sturdy base. Each of the four steel wheels connects to Boulder City’s historic railroad beneath.
Tours take explorers through four and a half miles of railroad —around the Railroad Pass Casino, into a man-made slot canyon and out into a picnic area where everyone boards one of Nevada Southern Railway Museum’s locomotives back uphill to the station.
Guests experience classic railroad hallmarks: departing from a train station, traveling over bridges and summoning the blinking, ringing railroad crossing gates as they descend.
Immersed in the desert, cactus and hills whiz — or just pass by — depending on how quickly you choose to pedal.
The excursion is among just a few of its kind. Co-owner Mary Jo Lu first learned of the rail bikes while running a boutique advertising company in Brooklyn with her husband, Alex Catchpoole.
“I would relax by watching Korean soap operas,” Lu says. “In one episode, the couple goes on a clunky version of a rail bike.”
Fascinated, she searched online for more information about the contraption and found an article written in Korean, which a friend translated.
“I turned to Alex and was like, ‘This is our next job, our next life. This is what we’re doing,’ ” Lu says.
Three months later, Lu was in Korea meeting with the vehicle’s manufacturer.
While similar vehicles exist, Lu says the designs Rail Explorers uses are the first outside of Korea.
“The vehicles take three months to make by hand,” she explains. “For 30 years, people have been making hobby rail bikes with aluminum frames and rubber wheels. But they’re not as safe and not as commercially viable as these. These, you can feel the metal wheel on metal track. It’s cool.”
For three years, Lu and Catchpoole worked to create business plans and navigate the “nightmare” of insurance, regulations, liabilities and politics of putting bikes on American railways.
Catchpoole didn’t ride one until 2015, when they were on their way to the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York for the Rail Explorers opening.
“We just really believed in it,” Catchpoole says. “We put every dime into it.”
Initially, Lu and Catchpoole marketed the excursion to active, outdoorsy people as a fitness activity.
“But we started getting everyone — grandmas, newborns. We started to sell out for weeks in advance,” Catchpoole says. “After two months, we doubled the size of our fleet.”
Rail Explorers then expanded to the Catskills in New York and Rhode Island.
They launched in Boulder City last January and their second season opened this month.
When asked why she wanted to open a location in Southern Nevada, Lu exclaims, “Are you kidding? We had to be here! Rail Explorers Las Vegas Division — how cool is that?”
Tours run an hour and a half and take visitors through Boulder City’s desert. Vehicles are spaced out by about 200 feet to give groups private experiences.
While the vehicles are propelled by pedaling, the steel makes it easy work. Vehicles also feature a motorized pedal assist for those who need it. Children who can’t reach the pedals can ride along and infants can ride if strapped onto parents’ torsos.
Lu and Catchpoole still find themselves in awe of how positively their venture has been received. They have plans in the works to include twilight excursions, uphill cardio events and a 10-mile trip that would include views of the Las Vegas Strip.
“It really lets you experience your environment in a new way,” Catchpoole says. “It’s 360 degrees and you’re low to the ground with wind in your face. You’re not looking out a window. You’re in it.”
Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jannainprogress on Twitter.
If you go
■ What: Rail Explorers
■ Where: 601 Yucca St., Boulder City
■ When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday
■ Tickets: $85 for two riders, $150 for four riders, $45 for single seat
■ Information: railexplorers.net
