Go carts on railroad tracks

[enzo1]

[Porsche-O-Phile]

That's actually kind of cool. I kept waiting for the one errant locomotive to come whipping around the bend and get them head-on though, even though it looks like those tracks haven't seen action in about 75 years.

The CA desert is just an awesome place. I spent a lot of time out there in my flying days.

And WTF is with the nose ring? Jeez. Are you an ox?

[Heel n Toe]

I guess it must be a crime (literally) if they were to do that on anything but a line that is not in current use, right?

[slodave]

There are numerous, unmaintained (abandoned) tracks in the SW. There are clubs that travel them all the time. They have customized small 2/4 person "trains".

Looks like fun.

[Geoz1]

Very cool.

[masraum]

Interesting. The cart is cool too. I bet it corners like it's on rails!

I could see how that might be a passing fancy that might get boring.

[redstrosekNic]

I would love to visit an area like that someday. There is something cool about the open space...

[ODDJOB UNO]

look up either chocolate mtn railroad or eagle mtn mine. owned by kaiser steel.


lots of history here. last train rain in 1986.


lots of movies filmed here.


wayyyyyyyyyyy cool place to go dirty biking /jeeping.


notice when they had to stop because of tracks gone from flash flood? 10 miles washed out due to (2) flash floods.



wayyy cool place to watch pooloads of various usaf jets bomb the living hell out of chocolate mtn gunnery range. lots of low level action samo as gila bend gunnery range. a-10's are incredible to watch at either chocolate mtns or highway btwn gila bend az and ajo az on their low level attack passes.


ask me how i know.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

I guess it must be a crime (literally) if they were to do that on anything but a line that is not in current use, right?

It might still be a crime. In many areas, the tracks and right-of-way are still owned by the rail company. I think this could be called unlawful trespass.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by slodave

There are numerous, unmaintained (abandoned) tracks in the SW. There are clubs that travel them all the time. They have customized small 2/4 person "trains".

Looks like fun.

I think youre talking about rail speeders. They are old inspection cars that the railroads used to use. We have a local club around here. I helped a bud restore one of his. (Another thing I plan on getting one day.) Yopu can pick them up fairly cheap. tons of old abandoned track they run on around here. also sometimes they get permission to run on active tracks when they are not being used.

[Zeke]

Well, I guess after a couple of passes there, they will be looking for more tracks, and then more tracks. Given the title, I thought someone had converted a kart (read fast). I don't think that would produce much dopamine for me.

[ODDJOB UNO]

heres a lil lowdown on railroads. ever since the "sons of gestapo/hyder" train wreck caused by some azzhole that feeked with the tracks outside gila bend, arizona and totally feeked up a hauling azz AMTRAK killing a few people.........and 9/11 in new york.


YOU HAD BETTER WATCH YER AZZ AROUND RAILROADS!


burlington northern sante fe and southern pacific have their very own PO-PO dept. and they is FEDERALIZED! and they carry BIG GUNS! and they DO PATROL THE LINES! and they HAVE CAMERAS in REMOTE AREAS!

granted this line they ran on is defunct, but its still owned by kaiser steel.


so heres a little more info re: choo's choo's.....................


generally the railroad(any) OWN 1 MILE on EITHER SIDE OF TRACKS! basically this happened back in 1860's and still in some places its still is in place.


anywhere there is track access, there will be a sign unless shot to hell or stolen stating PRIVATE PROPERTY! owned by BNSF or SP or UP!


now since the "salad bowl express" chi town to l.a. double track mainline runs right thru our happy hunting grounds, we know alot about their operations.


one day while hunting in typical camo WITH A LEGAL AZ ELK TAG, i was minding my own biz sitting up on a cut outside PERRIN,AZ. middle of freeking NOWHERE, gazing thru my steiner binos looking for elk.

in the eastern distance i see/hear a white bronco roaring up. no big deal figured more hunters. NOPE! BNSF RAILROAD COPS that get out with M-16's and pistoles, and the very 1st words were "YA BETTER HAVE AN ELK TAG!" holy poo?

they ask for my elk tag, give me the drill, tell me i am trespassing but since i have an elk tag, i can stay as long as i stay away from trains and NOT FEEK WITH THEM!(duh!).

but in my infinite wizdumb , me being me.............i ask "have ya seen any elk road(rail) kill?" and they reply, "at mile marker blah blah we did." and thats where i went looking for elk crossing tracks. and sure as hell found a bunch of cow elk that got nailed at 95mph with a 175 car train.


so................if hunting along any active railway.................ask the "gandy dancers"(look it up) or the track PO-PO's in their pick-ups checking track where the critters are. as they see them all the time. very useful info you can gleam from them re: where critters are and where they aint.



so yeah.............ya better have a current hunting tag if ya EVEN think of driving on ANY railroad access roads. they are not stoopid and anything involving bridges/steep grades/switches/ANYTHING that can disrupt operations, THEY IS WATCHING!


this lil eagle mtn railroad is NOT the mainline so i highly doubt anybody is gonna bother these guys.


oh and by the way, if ya have never seen a train wreck and the carnage that happens...............well let me put it this way. YOU DONT WANT TO BE ANYWHERE AROUND IT, due to all the HAZMAT cars which if ya look now after me mentioning it, are located in the center of the train in the event of a accident to the front or rear of train.


have a few friends that work for or have worked for BNSF, and its a hell of a GOOD JOB to be in especially if ya enjoy trains like i do.


me? i would love to sit on a front of a train like "T.R" old teddy roosevelt and blast elk deer and buffalo and then PIG OUT EATING THEM!


cant think of anything better than a BOX CAR FULL OF ELK DEER BUFFALO hanging!...............i like to dream alot dont i!


ol T.R. WAS WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY KOOL IN MY BOOK!

[ODDJOB UNO]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

I think youre talking about rail speeders. They are old inspection cars that the railroads used to use. We have a local club around here. I helped a bud restore one of his. (Another thing I plan on getting one day.) Yopu can pick them up fairly cheap. tons of old abandoned track they run on around here. also sometimes they get permission to run on active tracks when they are not being used.

man just think of it.............a big ol ice chest of beer/steaks, some slim jims*Tabasco*, yer spotting scope/some binos/yer rifles/a ghetto blaster blasting out "raped rabbit" calls, and you would be in hunting heaven running the rails!


ME LIKEY!


wanna see some sante fe mainline history ...........look up "johnson canyon tunnel,az." and read about all the history there. been there and its wayyyy KOOL!


back when sante fe in 1963 i think, did the crookton bypass of the tunnel due to fires/accidents steep grades, they bypassed tunnel to present mainline location. this tunnel was GUARDED BY THE U.S. ARMY during WWII because it was and east/west choke point for bad guys. and when built in 1860's, it was a hell hole of death and misery up on top of tunnel where po dunk townsite was established while blasting MALPAIS ROCK. which is impervious to standard methods of tunneling/excavation. real difficult dig, and when completed grade caused lots of accidents with deaths and fire inside tunnel killed a bunch of peoples.
this was the ONLY TUNNEL on mainline btwn mississippi river and los angeles.

i love railroads and the history. metal detector paradise!


note KC DAYLIGHTERS on front of 1st cart. mfg'd here in WILLIAMS,AZ! not 15 miles from JOHNSON TUNNEL sante fe route.

[VINMAN]

Around here the majority of the trackage is owned by CSX/ Norfolk Southern. They have a ROW 50ft either side of track. So anyplace in that area is considered tresspassing. Some areas are heavily enforced, others not so much.

As far as the speeder excursions, I know the local clubs make trips up to New England area, upstate NY/ NJ PA. Some cool areas, but out west has to be the best.

[ODDJOB UNO]

we have ridden from williams az to seligman,az and back on the quads and dirty bikes. from williams az all the way the south rim of the grande canon(grand canyon ) and back. also from tempe,az all the way down to eloy,az along side R.R.tracks with gas trucks in appointed places. ya can ONLY carry (1) prestone bottle full of gas in a pack with ya. 4 strokes get better mileage than 2 strokes even if 2 strokes have a dezert tank. my xr has a 5.3 dez tank on it and thats good for about 171 miles one way. give or take how much beer we bring.LOL!


as far as i am concerned, its all i dream about just about every day.


nothing better than going with outdoor savvy guys and breaking the fun barrier in spades out in the middle of NOWHERE!


this AINT NOVICE POO! its the real deal and if yer stoopid...................and get hurt.............YER GONNA DIE! because YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE and no cell coverage. so ya kind of HAVE TO HAVE YER WITS!


ride the country side, take it high and wide-POCO!

[abisel]

[VINMAN]

I remember in back of Boys Life magazine, there was an ad for plans to convert your bicycle to a "rail bike"

I wonder how many kids got flattened by a GP-38 after buliding one?

[billybek]

This might be just a Canadian thing.
Buster Keaton in The Rairodder. A Canadian Film Board presentation.

[stealthn]

Guess which two guys in the film don't have girlfriends

[mikeesik]

Originally Posted by billybek

This might be just a Canadian thing.
Buster Keaton in The Rairodder. A Canadian Film Board presentation.

Thank-you-Thank-you for that!!

Last time I saw that I was in grade 5 staying at home because of a toothache.

I watched it on the Black and White T.V and had NO idea it was in color.

That day , as I said; I stayed home from school and pulled out my tooth.

That was in 1975 I presume. WOWEEEEEEEEEE!!

Cheers pal.
Life funnels in.