I'm finishing up the rail bike this week. Should be pretty close to being able to test drive it this weekend - of course there's no telling what else will show up in the shop before Friday. The photos show the guide that keeps the front wheel of the bicycle centered on the rail. It still needs a little welding and grinding but I'll take care of that when I add the arms that fasten it to the bicycle fork. I'll still need to make the pivot rod off the handlebars but that can come later. The pivot rod will allow me to raise the front guide up if I come to a switch or a some other break in the tracks but I might as well see if the whole rig stays on the tracks before I try to engineer that.
We're also making a glove dryer for the gym. Things get pretty sweaty and stanky if you don't keep the air circulating. Jimmy made one out of pvc but it's not holding up too well. This one should be hell for strong. It's designed to fit into a corner so it won't take up too much floor space. It should last forever or as long as the fan holds out. Good job for a high school kid to fab up. Because the pieces are galvanized, we're brazing everything together. Not a whole lot of call for brazing any more but it's a good skill too have. If you've got a set of tanks and can gas weld and braze, you can fix and fab all kinds of stuff. I'll post some photos as the job progresses.
7 comments:
I get a google alert anytime someone mentions rail bike on the internet. Every time I ride my bike across some tracks I stop and think hmmm. I've been dreaming of a railbike camping trip. I've heard that there are more than 30,000 miles of unused track in the usa and that the grade is never more than 3%. It sounds like a bikers dream. and best of all no cars, just you and your own personal track. I've also heard of a guy that rigged a sail to his railbike and when the wind was in his favor he just kicked back and enjoyed the ride. Please post more on this project as it progresses, the web has little to offer on this topic.
Thanks, James
I do a lot of cycling myself, including several long distance camping trips. It would be nice to be able to travel on the railbike. If you have any leads as to suitable trips I would love to hear about them.
As I finish my project up I'll post a few more photos and maybe get a video clip up as well. I'll throw railbike up in the title again so you'll get an alert.
Thanks for stopping by.
Glove dryer? Couldn't you rig something up on that dryer in the basement that I won?
I'm curious to know if weeds growing through the tracks are going to be a problem. If trains use the tracks regularly then it shouldn't be an issue (though the trains may be) I've noticed the abandoned tracks around my house seems pretty weedy. You might need to create the world's first rail mower.
citizen55555: When I first looked into making the railbike, one of the sites mentioned the weed problem so I made the outrigger braces about a foot off the ground.
You have to be careful mentioning things like a railbike mower to me because that's how I end up making goofy things like railbikes in the first place.
Can you build the guide in the photo for me?
Just the platform with wheels, I can make my own front fork mount.
I'll give you my email or you can give me yours or somehow we'll get in touch?
I can pay you good money to build it and ship it to me :)
Please please please help me out with your design, email@jcpoppe@live.com, cal or text@ 541-786-1144
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