I gave my significant other a birthday present that consisted of a round-trip tour of Aquidneck Island ... which is where Newport, Rhode Island is located. The tour follows the Old Colony RR right of way that currently goes from Newport to Portsmouth, RI. The railroad line formerly ran further north into Fall River, Mass (ultimately making connections for Boston or Providence), but a bridge that crosses a large river into Tiverton, RI no longer exists. The Old Colony was owned and operated by the New Haven RR.
These rail car tours are conducted using pedal cars, which are like hand cars, but with bike pedals. We pedaled about 10-11 miles on Saturday and it was fantastic. The cars are geared to make it easy and, because it's steel-on-steel, it's far easier than riding a bicycle. More info can be seen at:
The people who run the facility and their staff are unbelievably helpful and the views are stunning. Unlike other abandoned or semi-abandoned rights of way, many of the former passing sidings, rail yards, etc. are still in place so there were many interesting train-related things to look at. I have posted some photos and videos below.
We had a ball -- I'm a lucky guy that I'm blessed to be with with a woman who indulges my hobby -- and we will be returning at least one more time this year to do it again. We'll be doing it as an outing for my college's alumni group and, time permitting, we'll likely do it again on a peak foliage weekend in October.
If you live within driving (or Amtrak) distance of Rhode Island and you're able-bodied*, you should consider doing this. You'll really enjoy the day.
Photos below.
Steven J. Serenska
* If you are able to walk the halls at York, you are in good enough shape to enjoy this trip...
Photos/Videos
At the start....
The pedal cars are clean, new, and easy to operate.
Here's a video of us just getting underway. I'm the goofball feigning fear at 0:04 of the video. This is not welded rail, so you can hear the good, old fashioned "clickety clack" as the pedal car passes over the rail joints.
Not too far from the start.
We passed some Budd Cars in for maintenance also near the start. These cars are used for the "Newport Ice Cream Train."
Views like these are going to be fantastic during foliage season...
Another action shot...
It was a gray day and, while it didn't help our photos, the breeze made everything nice and cool. That's Narragansett Bay in front of the camera. The green island across the water is Prudence Island, RI.
Around the time of the photo below, I came to realize how relatively limited others' knowledge of railroad terms can be. I asked my partner to "take a picture of this siding coming up and, if possible, capture both the Yard Limit sign and the yard itself." She replied, "You have to remember that not everyone knows railroad terms. I could see the Yard Limit sign, but I had to deduce what a 'yard' was ... but I think I got it."
When you're rolling along at 5-10 mph, some of the sights actually come into and out of view faster than you'd realize and it makes it can make it difficult to get a photo of everything. For the record, GPS told us our max speed was 12 mph.
Below is a closer view of the turnout. The siding in the photo leads to nowhere, but the track was in remarkably good condition for something abandoned so long ago...
Below is a passing siding that's fully intact. If there wasn't a lock on the switch machine, I would have been tempted to throw the switch "just to see"...
There's a stopping point about 2/3rds of the way through the trip for a photo opp at the foot of the Mt. Hope Bridge. We will be adding a model of this bridge to the layout we're building. (This pic is about 2 miles from our home.)
Shortly after the Mt. Hope Bridge, we passed by an older bridge over an inlet where the ties are widely spaced on steel girders. We tried to walk this section of track a few months ago with our dog, but she (and my girlfriend) were both unwilling to step out on the ties over the swift current. I grew up walking the tracks so I was able to make it ... but I will admit that walking the ties over the fast-moving current was quite unnerving.
The video appears to slow down as we pass over the water. The planks you can see running parallel to the rails are boards laid across the ties to allow people to cross the bridge. They are flimsy as hell and I did a "1-2-3-...push" test on each one before putting my full weight down. The slow motion effect was done with video editing trickery so viewers could more easily see the water under the bridge. It looks like we slowed way down but, in reality, we kept a constant speed throughout.
As we approached the end of the first leg (we did a round trip), the wind really picked up and there were whitecaps on the water. The image below is shortly after the bridge.
This video was taken a few moments later. It's hard to depict just how roiled the sea was...
At the end of the line, the cars are turned around on a small turntable for the return trip. There's a bus available for those who only want to pedal in one direction. Of the 60 people who made the trip, we were one of two parties who pedaled in both directions.
On the return trip, we asked to ride in the first car so that we didn't run up behind slower riders. Going back without slowpokes in front of us was like a breeze.
It's a great trip. Do it if you can.
SJS
