Rail Explorers

Rail Explorers is a railbike tour company that started the commercial railbike tourism industry in the USA in 2015 and is recognized as the industry leader in the railbike attraction market. It was started by Mary Joy Lu and her husband Alex Catchpoole, inspired by a railbike seen in a Korean soap opera. The company launched operations on July 3, 2015 in New York's Adirondack Mountains in partnership with the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. Its tours use railbikes equipped with the custom-built 'REX Propulsion System' electric assist motor.

The inspiration to start Rail Explorers came from a scene in a Korean soap opera. In September 2012, Mary Joy Lu, who started Rail Explorers with her husband Alex Catchpoole, saw a railbike being pedalled along railroad tracks in a K-Drama and within 10 days flew to South Korea to meet with the designer and manufacturer of the vehicles. Although pedal powered rail vehicles had existed since the 1850s, recreational use of railbikes was popularised in South Korea in the early 2000s. Mary Joy and Alex built a business model to bring the experience to the United States for the first time, and it was 3 years before they sold their first ticket. On July 3, 2015, Rail Explorers launched operations in New York's Adirondack Mountains in partnership with the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. The Adirondack Division welcomed over 30,000 riders before being forced to close at the end of 2016, when NY State began work on a rails-to-trails conversion and the railroad reactivated by Rail Explorers was destroyed.

Industry leader in the railbike attraction market; the only railbike tour operator in the United States with a fleet of vehicles specifically built for large scale commercial operations focused on rider safety, comfort and ease of use.

• railbike tours

• REX Propulsion System

1. 1Rail Explorers | America's Premier Railbike Experiencerailexplorers.net
2. 2About Rail Explorers | Rail Explorers USArailexplorers.net
3. 3Rail Explorerswikidata.org