Originally published at: Watch: man rides DIY two-seater rail cart along deserted railroad tracks - Boing Boing
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Key word here is abandoned. Before engaging in anything of this sort, it would be very well worth the time to verify the abandoned-ness of the tracks in question!
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Also, there seem to be a number of hobbyists doing this. I wonder if they have clubs and places online where they can give each other a heads-up? (Or an app that geo-locates logged-in participants.)
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My dad used to daydream about doing this. Though he’d imagined travelling active lines and quickly dismounting when a train approached.
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What a gem.
Glorious look at a Canada that once was. I vaguely recall the train depot area in Quebec around 4:30. And 13:30 could have been shot today just a few miles from here. Nothing like the Prairie sky.
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I watched several of his videos. They were all rusty and weed grown tracks. Looked pretty reliably abandoned. Plus, even with that little engine by you, in those open spaces, you’d hear a train for miles. That looks like an excellent hobby.
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A woman named Mary Joy Lu started a cool company that lets anyone have similar fun on a personal rail car. Check it out…
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There are some lightweight looking options that appear to be better suited to getting out of the way of trains.
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I remember reading an article in Boy’s Life decades ago about a scout troop that had outfitted their bicycles with a similar arrangement, including a rack in the center to hold additional gear, etc. They did a week long trek along an abandoned rail line in the Pacific NW, camping each night in a different location along the line. It looked like a whole lot of fun.
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That sounds like a proper “adventure holiday” 
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An electric bike pulling “cars” of solar panels could get you somewhere.
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It’s the “no-longer-in-active-use” Carrizo Gorge section of ye olde San Diego & Arizona Eastern rail line. It didn’t make economic sense to keep up repairs on the numerous wooden trestles and tunnels along that stretch.
It’s not legally abandoned, and some entity may patrol the right of way and issue citations. The Gorge section crosses a designated wilderness section of Anza-Borrego State Park, so mountain bikers riding along the tracks down into the desert have received hefty fines from rangers.
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How have I not seen this before? It is exquisite. The colour in the film is lovely.
Not sure where the “Pacific Ocean” was filmed, but I’m guessing White Rock. Not quite the Pacific but the Salish Sea is a good stand in.
ETA
Buster Keaton rides the rails in Canada - NFB Blog.
ETA2 - Hats off to @teknocholer for finding this film that, itself, didn’t seem to make it to the Pacific when I was growing up. Had it done, I would have been inspired to abscond with a Speeder myself.
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