I Rebuilt This Wrecked Rail Car to Explore Abandoned Railroads!

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]This puppy right here is my electric rail car, and three years ago, I wrecked it on an abandoned railroad. So, in today's video, we're bringing it back to life. I'll be making new wheels, building custom axles, and once it's finished, we're going to bring it out into the mountains on this abandoned railroad. Thank you Squarespace for sponsoring today's video. Let's get right into the action. If you've never seen this machine, I'll give you the quick rundown. So, the front end is made out of foam, and they made that out of foam to make it safer in case you hit a pedestrian. This is the website, word for word. I would like to think that if I accidentally ran over my little girl that she would live without much harm.

[00:00:38]That is a crazy thing to say. When I smashed the rock in the middle of the railroad tracks, I ripped the frame back here. So, first things first, all of this has to go. The Spyro is going to work so much better after I ditch these old hub motors. Look how bent this thing is. So, not only are the hub motors bent from the crash, but they're also rusted solid because I left the spyro sitting outside. So, the first step is to disconnect the motors from the battery.

[00:01:07]Now that I've got the wires disconnected, I can start working on cutting the swing arms off. There's a bottom one and a top one on both sides.

[00:01:16]The new motor setup is going to be way simpler, so I won't even need a swing arm.

[00:01:27]Whoa. Got the old hub motors and the suspension cut off. That setup is heavy and broken. It does not work anymore.

[00:01:35]And I'm replacing all of that with this.

[00:01:38]This is a 5000 W electric motor off Amazon. And this should be plenty of power. Now I just need an axle to hook it up with. So we got to go to my graveyard and see what we can find. All right. Welcome to the graveyard. I've never showed this. This is where all the projects go when I have no room for them. This is the Hayabusa with the motorcycle front end. And back here in the corner, I should have took that to the dump a long time ago. This buggy is unbelievably dangerous. So, we're going to rob parts off of it. When I built this motorized buggy, basically the only thing I did correctly was the axle. So, I'm glad it's going to go to good use with the Spyra.

[00:02:20]Check this out. This thing is huge.

[00:02:24]This axle is going to work great. This is from a racing go-kart, so it's really high quality. I need to get these wheels off, start fitting it up to the car.

[00:02:34]It's hard to believe that these wheels never came off the buggy. I had a 450 dirt bike hooked up to this thing. It was insane. I crashed it into a guardrail and got reasonably injured.

[00:02:46]All right, story time's over. Let's get these wheels off.

[00:02:54]Woo! Got the axle. This thing is sweet.

[00:02:58]Double layered, super strong. Time to install it onto the car. Mounting this axle should be super easy. It's a very basic design with only two bearings. So, all I need to do is figure out where I want the axle and then drill some holes through the aluminum frame so I can bolt the axle directly to it.

[00:03:18]And just like that, I've got an axle that should be perfect for the rails.

[00:03:23]This new axle is sweet. It is so much more legit than the old setup. Now, I need a way to spin it. That's where this little puppy comes in. To mount it, I need to figure out where the bolt holes are going to be. So, I'm just spray painting the engine to make a template.

[00:03:39]Now that I've got my template, I just need to drill a few holes.

[00:03:44]Motor's in. Next step is the sprocket.

[00:03:48]So, this is the old sprocket off the buggy. I would love to reuse it, but it won't work. It's the wrong size. So, I need to make a new one. To do that, I'm going to cut it out on the water jet.

[00:03:58]So, I need to quickly sketch up a new sprocket and get it cut out. Check out the new sprocket. So, I've got it on Wazer Cam. This is Wazer's own software.

[00:04:07]It makes using the water jet so easy.

[00:04:12]This Wazer water jet is insane, and I'm able to use this because of you guys watching. So, thank you so much. All right, let's get this thing set up and make a sprocket.

[00:04:35]Just like that, we've got a sprocket.

[00:04:38]Oh, that's so cool.

[00:04:42]That is unreal. Now that I've got my new sprocket, I'm TIG welding nuts to the backside so I can reuse the old sprocket carrier from the buggy. So everything should just bolt together.

[00:05:00]Motor's mounted, axle's on, and I've got the sprocket connected. Let's see if this works. I had to rewire everything.

[00:05:09]I didn't record any of the wiring because it was so boring. I wired in a new BMS battery management system, new controller, and then I connected all of that to my old battery pack. That took me 2 days to figure out because I've never done this before. I should be able to turn the key and give it throttle.

[00:05:28]So, let's see if it spins.

[00:05:39]It spins, but something just broke.

[00:05:42]Oh no. Hopefully that was just the chain coming off.

[00:05:47]I forgot to bolt the sprocket down, so the chain fell off. Sweet. Everything worked. Now I need to test out reverse.

[00:05:54]Then that's my reverse button.

[00:06:00]That's a major success. Now it's time for the best part, the wheels. With that new motor, the Spyra is definitely the fastest thing I've ever put on the rails. So I need some legit wheels.

[00:06:10]Check out what I've been making. If you watch the rail bike build video, I 3D printed a mold and then made these wheels and they work good, but they've got a major flaw. So, the only thing holding on the hub is a little bit of JB Weld and those tiny screws. That is very sketchy. So, I'm going to 3D print the new mold and we're going to pour some new wheels. These new wheels should be so much better than the old ones. So, not only do they mount differently, but I've also changed the angle of the wheel. So hopefully they'll steer quite a bit better down the tracks and ride smoother. While the 3D printers run, I need to sketch out some new hubs.

[00:06:48]There's half of the new hub. So the big improvement of this wheel is there's going to be two hubs. They're going to sandwich the wheel just like a lot of you guys commented that I should do. So that's what I'm doing.

[00:07:02]Got to prep the water jet. So I just need to empty out the old abrasive.

[00:07:10]Next, I need to clean the filters.

[00:07:13]There's one. There's the other one.

[00:07:16]Inside these filters is a magnet, and it just catches all the little pieces of metal.

[00:07:25]Stuff is crazy.

[00:07:42]Check that. It looks perfect. Let's see if it fits.

[00:07:48]Nice.

[00:07:49]>> That's just half the hub. There's another piece that's going to bolt to the wheel. It will all make sense once the new wheels are poured. Let's go check on the 3D print.

[00:07:59]We got it. Here's my six 3D printed pieces. Let's put them together and see if we've got a mold.

[00:08:06]Okay, I'm taping up the seams because I learned the lesson the hard way. If you don't tape the seams, bubbles will get in and it will ruin the wheel. So, tap in the seams.

[00:08:21]Got my two-part polyurethane. And I have made a giant mistake. I ordered the wrong mix. So, this is Flexit 40. This is meant for like fishing lures, like really soft rubber. I was supposed to order Flex at 90 for hard compound and I can't get Flex at 90 for another week.

[00:08:40]So, I need to figure out how to make this work. So, I'm literally going to pour this into the wheel and add a ton of fiberglass.

[00:08:49]Hopefully, the fiberglass will strengthen it and make a strong part.

[00:08:58]I've got all my cut up fiberglass.

[00:09:01]Let's see if this works.

[00:09:04]That a shake.

[00:09:08]Pour in the A. Mix, mix, mix.

[00:09:14]Check this out.

[00:09:16]Holy moly, that is a mess. That will definitely not work. Rats. I really wanted to make new wheels with this sweet new mold. This thing took me like 2 weeks to design.

[00:09:30]But I don't have the right chemicals.

[00:09:32]So, we'll be able to make these old rail wheels work. I just need to modify the hub so they can fit with the new axle.

[00:09:39]Well, rats. I guess the old wheels will have to do for now. To make them work, I just need to drill three holes so I can bolt them to the axle.

[00:09:49]Now that I've got my three holes, it's time to bolt them up and start putting the axle together. This right here is a keyway. And the nice thing about using a racing go-kart axle is all of this fun stuff was already put into it. So, I don't need to make anything. All I have to do is assemble.

[00:10:10]Wheels are on. This is not my best work with the wheels. I hope they hang in there. When I get more of the resin, I'll pour new wheels and they'll be so much stronger. So, now that we've got the wheels, I just need to mount some brakes to slow down the wheels. So, I've got this piece of aluminum and I'm going to weld it to the axle block.

[00:10:43]Wow.

[00:10:45]Wow. Wow.

[00:10:49]Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

[00:10:54]Brake works. Rear end is done. It's time to go to the front and see what kind of damage I'm working with.

[00:11:05]The axle is destroyed.

[00:11:08]I'm going to cut that bent axle out and we'll go from there.

[00:11:16]Although the axle is completely destroyed, luckily I'm going to be able to reuse those pillow block bearings.

[00:11:26]Got the old axle off. I had to cut it into three pieces because it was so bent when I hit the rock in the Spirra. The axle is what took most of the damage.

[00:11:36]All right, let's put a new one on. For the front axle, I'm just using a 1 in solid piece of metal because solid bar stock is about half the cost as a pre-made axle.

[00:11:52]And just like that, the Spyra is done.

[00:11:54]Before we test it out, a quick word from today's sponsor. Today's video is sponsored by Squarespace. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform that lets anyone build a professional website. Some of you know I've started to come up with merch, and my current website is very basic. So, I'm building a new and improved one. And to do that, I'm using Squarespace. The thought of building a website is scary, especially when you're like me and know very little about actually building a website. Well, that's where Squarespace comes in. I've been very impressed with how simple the design tools make it. You can get a professional website in just a few steps with their AI enhanced website builder.

[00:12:32]Head to squarespace.com/matspear for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code Matt Spears for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com/mattspear.

[00:12:46]And when you're ready to launch, use code Matt Spears for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Thank you so much Squarespace for sponsoring today's video. Let's test out the Spyra.

[00:13:08]Time for the maiden voyage. So, it's the next day. It took me a really long time to get back here. It's a long drive. I'm in the middle of nowhere. Ooh, and I brought the big chainsaw today. Let's power this thing up. I hope it works. I do not trust my wiring abilities. Plus, the wheels are sketchy. The front ones are from the crash hovercraft and the back ones are from the mail bike.

[00:13:33]All right. I just want to keep it in one piece today. This is just a test ride.

[00:13:39]Whoa.

[00:13:43]Whoa.

[00:13:47]If you saw the mil camping video, this was the first log that I had to cut. I cut this with a handsaw cuz I broke the chainsaw, but it fell into the tracks, so I need to cut it again. Also, there's a big log right up there.

[00:14:06]Chainsaws are so much fun. Well, there's another tree up there, so I'm just going to put the chainsaw in the roof.

[00:14:13]All right, the spider is way better than the mail bike. This thing is sick.

[00:14:19]Oh, that was the chainsaw. I just ran over my chainsaw.

[00:14:27]That was a bad idea putting it on the roof.

[00:14:30]Hopefully, it's fine.

[00:14:37]I got really lucky. The chainsaw is fine. Not going to put it on the roof again.

[00:14:47]Cut this up in a couple pieces. No problem.

[00:14:57]Well, my chainsaw stopped running. Just bogged out like it was out of gas. But it's got a full tank. Maybe I did bust it.

[00:15:07]H. Everything looks fine.

[00:15:14]It's running out of gas. Yeah, somehow it's not getting fuel. Well, I got to take this thing apart. Shoot. I need to have a chainsaw. I got to keep going.

[00:15:29]I can feel got a lot of gas in my mouth.

[00:15:33]I can feel that the diaphragm in here is stuck, so it's not allowing any fuel to get in. H never had this happen with this saw. I'm hopeful that this is fixable.

[00:15:45]That looks clean.

[00:15:49]So fuel goes in right there. Then right here there's a spring and at a certain pop off pressure it lets the fuel in and it's just not letting the fuel in at all. I'm guessing something is in there blocking it. Be so easy to lose a little part right now. This should be done on a clean workbench.

[00:16:08]So that's our pop off spring. Okay.

[00:16:11]Needle looks good.

[00:16:16]See if it flows freely now.

[00:16:19]There's something in there. I'm guessing there was something in my gas jug and a little piece of dirt got stuck in here.

[00:16:27]Oh my gosh. There it is. Ha. That is our problem.

[00:16:33]See that chunk of dirt? There's our problem. Oh my goodness. Wow.

[00:16:40]It's disgusting in there.

[00:16:43]Well, I definitely had some dirt in my gas can. That is my bad.

[00:16:54]That is spotless. Now, now it's just whether or not I can put everything back correctly. So, that's the needle that lets all the fuel get in. That goes right in its seat. You probably can't see any of this on camera. Everything is so small with chainsaws.

[00:17:18]Hopefully this works.

[00:17:23]All right, let's see if that was it.

[00:17:36]Yes.

[00:17:38]About time for a new air filter. It'll be all right for today.

[00:17:45]My whole right leg is totally asleep.

[00:17:48]I got to wait a second before I can cut.

[00:17:51]All I needed was this Icon screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

[00:17:55]It's a pretty easy fix. Glad I didn't lose any parts.

[00:18:02]Yuck.

[00:18:05]Let's run this saw.

[00:18:35]Nothing will make you feel like a man like red at a chainsaw. Okay, I'm not going to put the saw in the roof this time.

[00:18:43]My main goal for today, I just want to make it to the big trestle.

[00:19:00]I want to just pin it, but I also don't want to break the spir.

[00:19:05]Yeah, let's do a top speed run on the way back. That way, if it breaks, it's not a big deal.

[00:19:22]Oh my goodness. I think we already made it to the trestle.

[00:19:27]Wow.

[00:19:33]I'm going to get out and inspect it.

[00:19:37]Ooh. Uh-oh.

[00:19:40]Something is going on with the trestle.

[00:19:43]I don't think it was like this last time. Can you guys see the dip in the track right there?

[00:19:50]Oh man, that is seriously not good. The track goes down like that. Trestle should be pretty flat. I am not trying to fall off a 100T trestle. I'm going to go from the bottom. Make sure everything is still somewhat intact.

[00:20:06]Wow. Look at this thing.

[00:20:11]Unreal.

[00:20:13]I've been warned there's some serious bears back here. Look at all this stuff.

[00:20:22]Barrels. Barrels.

[00:20:24]An old tire. All right, let's go inspect the trestle. Getting distracted.

[00:20:30]Hopefully this thing isn't about to fall over.

[00:20:35]It looks perfect from the bottom.

[00:20:37]Nothing's broken or missing.

[00:20:40]Everything is there. There is a giant log jam. Look at all of those logs piled up underneath the trestle.

[00:20:48]It's definitely putting a lot of pressure on it. I'm just psyching myself out. That's all.

[00:20:56]Looks awesome.

[00:21:00]I'm glad Bigfoot didn't run off with my Spyra.

[00:21:03]Still there.

[00:21:13]I somehow just derailed the Spyra. I hit something totally off the tracks. Time to get the jack out.

[00:21:44]This trestle is unreal.

[00:21:48]Oh, wow. Look how crystal clear the water is.

[00:21:57]I was really sick last night. I think I got food poisoned. So, this literally feels like a dream cuz I'm running on only maybe 1 or 2 hours of sleep. If you've been following the Flying Hovercraft rebuild, there hasn't been a video because there hasn't been a whole lot of progress. I'm waiting on a bunch of supplies to show up. So, there should be an update video soon as long as all the supplies show up. All right, let's get to the other side of this bridge.

[00:22:28]I told myself I was going to turn around after the trestle, but I want to keep going. So, let's hammer down.

[00:22:38]Whoa, there's a mudslide. Oh, man.

[00:22:42]Reverse.

[00:22:44]Wow, there's some flooding onto the tracks.

[00:22:48]Look at the flooding. Holy moly.

[00:22:52]Check out those wolf prints. Yeah, that is a very big wolf. And those are fresh.

[00:22:59]Oh, look at all these. Nice.

[00:23:06]So, that wolf came through here, walked through the mud. See how the footprints are really close together? It looks like the wolf came right over here to get a little drink right there and then it ran that way.

[00:23:18]Check out the prints. So, they're way further apart.

[00:23:23]It'd be insane to see a wolf out here.

[00:23:38]That worked great.

[00:23:42]Man, this thing's fast.

[00:23:47]It's crazy how much distance we've already covered.

[00:23:55]Making so much progress. I'm just going to keep going.

[00:24:05]We've gone so far in this fire. I am very impressed.

[00:24:11]Just got stuck on something. Whoa.

[00:24:28]back. Making some progress. I know that big log jam is coming up.

[00:24:36]This is as far as I've ever made it. So, from here on out, exploration.

[00:24:41]I need to start cutting these trees out.

[00:24:43]Oh man.

[00:25:08]All that cutting is making me hungry.

[00:25:11]The problem is I didn't bring any food.

[00:25:13]So, I need to check the battery. See how the batter is doing. Rats. I've got one battery cell that is much lower than the rest. H. I did do all the wiring myself.

[00:25:26]So, I definitely could have messed something up. I am so far out in the middle of nowhere with no cell service.

[00:25:33]I'm hours from cell service. I'm going to turn this thing around and play it safe for once. And I got a long way to drive tonight. Oh man, I do want to keep going though. This was just supposed to be a test and I've gotten myself all the way back here, the furthest I've ever been. I've got a new technique to turn it around that I'm going to try. So, I have a piece of metal on the bottom of the car and then the jack jacked up into it. And that's about where the center of gravity is. So, hopefully I can just spin this whole car lickety split. If it works that way, I will be so pumped.

[00:26:12]Oh, that didn't work very good. I didn't put it exactly in the center. Rat.

[00:26:27]That worked insanely well. Wow. A lot of people have commented to do that. It's a good idea. Thank you.

[00:26:43]All right, we're going to slow it down.

[00:27:06]The reverse works great.

[00:27:15]I've got my speed tester out. Let's see how fast I can get this thing going.

[00:27:24]Whoa.

[00:27:30]This thing rips.

[00:27:33]My phone fell down, so I'm not exactly sure how fast that was. Max 81 miles per hour. There's no way. That must have been in my truck. There's no way. I just went 81 miles an hour. There's no way. I don't even think I went 81 in my truck.

[00:27:48]Okay, let's try that again.

[00:27:50]I don't know if I want to try I'm not going to try that again. Nope. I'm going to cruise back to the truck. That was so fast. I don't want to do that again.

[00:28:00]I'm doing it again.

[00:28:02]Okay. Okay. All right. All right. All right. So, that's now I think one of the old wheels has bent.

[00:28:12]Uh, this thing's so fast.

[00:28:35]Thank you guys so much for liking.

[00:28:36]Thanks for subscribing. If you like this video, I have tons of other videos and you may like those even more than you like this video. So, go check them out.

[00:28:44]All right, I'll see you guys in the next