BOONE, Iowa—The official Grand Opening and ribbon cutting for Rail Explorers® was held right on time Thursday at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad in Boone, Iowa. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds took part in the event and even took in a short ride to try out the pedal-assisted railbikes. Rail Explorers: Boone IA Division is unlike any project previously developed by Rail Explorers® according to the company’s CEO Mary Joy Lu. Lu says they are excited about being in Boone because of the trip is unlike any offered elsewhere. She says they’ve invested almost $1 million already.
Alex Catchpoole said they first learned about the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad from General Manager Travis Stevenson at a Heritage Railroad Alliance Conference in Savannah, Georgia in November 2016. He said Stevenson expressed an interest in railbike but when they learned there was a 2% grade returning to the station it didn’t seem like it would work. Since then, he said they developed a custom-built electric motor, the REX Propulsion System on each railbike and that took care of the grade concern.
Stevenson says were in contact last year and made some trial runs in October. He said the current train schedule will allow for Rail Explorers® to operate around the Boone and Scenic Valley schedule. He also says he expects that there may be additional adjustments moving forward.
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