Route Review: Rail Explorers Rhode Island Division
Sharing track with the Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad, Rail Explorers Rhode Island Division runs two separate routes from their Portsmouth Grove station near the historic, seaside city of Newport, Rhode Island. Both rides run along bays on northern Aquindeck Island and offer their own, unique experiences. I pedalled both of these routes in July of 2017, so some of the details might have changed since then. The 2019 season launched on May 11 and is running five to seven days per week.
The Routes
The Northern Ramble is a 6-mile (9.7 km) one-way ride through varying scenery and terrain, from trestles over New England bogs to coastal forest canopy along the Narragansett and Mount Hope bays. At one point, it feels as if the rails are being engulfed by a golf course, at the next riders pedal under the majesty of the Mount Hope Bridge. I pedalled this route in both directions to enjoy the scenery from each perspective and highly recommend this to anyone up for 12 miles (19.3 kms) of railbiking.
The Southern Circuit is a six-mile (9.7 km) round-trip along the Weaver Cove and East Passage of the Narraganset Bay. The picnic area at the Bayside Station turning point is ideal for special event tours, such as the Fireside Friday, Sunday Brunch with mimosas, and enjoying the sunset over the bay.
Rail Explorers Rhode Island Division runs on track used by the Newport & Narragansett Bay Railroad Co., which has been running excursion and dinner trains since 2014. Former heritage railroads along the route included the Newport Dinner Train founded in 1997 and the Old Colony and Newport Scenic Railway founded in 1979. The line originally ran from Fall River, Massachusetts, ending scheduled passenger service as early as 1938 and freight service before 1973. A barge collided with the Sakonnet River rail bridge in 1988, resulting in the removal of the bridge in 2006, which then isolated the remaining section on Aquindeck Island from the national network.
Coincidentally, our AirBnB host told us that he was a member of a coalition dedicated to the conversion of the line to a rails-to-trails mixed-use path. I haven’t been able to find much evidence of such a coalition online, although there is a proposed plan from 2016 supporting this idea. However, per Rail Explorers founders Mary Joy Lu and Alex Catchpoole, the Rhode DOT has dominion over the use of the line and have given multi-year track use commitments to Rail Explorers and the Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad.
This blogger fully supports rails-to-trail projects on disused railroads.
The Vehicles
The railbikes are the same steel frame and wheel models described in posts about the Rail Explorers Catskill Mountain and Las Vegas divisions shown here in Las Vegas in the Rail Explorers Instagram feed.
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A post shared by Rail Explorers USA (@railexplorersusa) on Dec 16, 2018 at 2:28pm PST
Travel Notes
When the ferries are running in the summer, there are many alternative routes for reaching Newport. On the outward journey, we took Amtrak from Penn Station to Providence where we transferred to the ferry to Newport. We returned by taking the morning ferry to Block Island, after touring the island taking the ferry to New London, CT, and then returning to NY by Amtrak.
Other potential routes include a combination of Long Island Rail Road to Greenport and ferry to Block Island or New London, Long Island Rail Road to Montauk and ferry to Block Island or New London, or the ferry from Jamestown.
Any of these journeys includes lighthouses, oysters, and arrival at the ferry terminal in Newport, where bicycle rentals can be found steps away at Hooley. The ride to Rail Explorer’s starting point is an easy 8.5 miles (13.7 kms) away.
Last note: Newport is a tourist town and full of top-notch dining options, so many restaurants fill up on summer weekends. Reservations are strongly recommended.
