I Built a Go-Kart for Abandoned Railroads *Again*

Last year I built a railroad go-kart simply because I wanted to see this 100 year old train bridge that's hidden in the middle of the desert. My go-kart broke on the way there and I sadly never got to see my bridge. I really love bridges for some reason and I was extremely bummed that I didn't get to see it. So yeah, we're gonna try again. Since we only made it a fraction of the way to the bridge in attempt number one, this time we face three new obstacles. Tunnels, turns, and distance. Supposedly there are multiple tunnels that are locked off, along with sharp turns scaling the sides of mountains. So I will have to rebuild the go-kart so it can handle a 10 mile journey full of unknowns. Thank you to Shopify for sponsoring my weird dream of seeing this bridge. So here's what we're working with. I left model one in the rain for like two months and we have a rust buffet because of that, which is not good. And I'm trying to upgrade all of these parts and none of them are really coming off, so. We're just gonna rip the whole thing apart and start over. All right. Starting with... Okay. Wait for the cool transition. The wheels! I'm pretty sure my new wheels will not do this. Yeah, this sucker broke during the first journey and was sadly the reason why we didn't make it to the bridge. If you missed that video, let me catch you up to speed. The bridge I want to see is called the Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge. It was built in 1932, abandoned in the 70s, but the bridge still stands today at 200 feet tall, 750 feet wide. Once we realized our broken wheel couldn't get us there, we were shocked to bump into two other people on the abandoned railroad doing the same thing we were. We somehow wobbled the go-kart back to the car while they kept going towards the bridge. We happened to bump into them again one more time on their way back, so I got to ask them... How far did you guys get? We made it as far as the giant rock that fell off the mountain. For context, that's about to right here. The more we talked about what it would take to actually make it to the bridge, he basically alluded to the fact that it would be almost impossible on railkart, which I didn't love hearing. So I changed the subject, asked about his wheels, and went home and bought what I thought were the same ones. They're not. And when I realized this, I did have a little moment of doubt, so I went to the comments and a lot of you guys were saying I need conical wheels. That's a new word for pee-pee here. Conical. After looking into it, it definitely makes sense. But I did just spend 240 clams on these wheels, and they are pretty close to my new friend Austin's wheels, and I'm gonna be honest, he is an inspiration. I wish I could grow a mustache. So yeah, we're gonna go with these, and I feel good about it. Look how thick these are. I welded some new flanges. How about them apples? How about them, huh? These serve as training wheels basically to hold the cart within the tracks. For brakes, we used our feet last time, so I decided to install a more advanced braking system. The design is pretty complex. I call it Foot 2.0. On top of that, I bought some wider axles. Basically just in case we derail. It also started raining, so Katie helped me move the go-kart under our patio roof. Shout out to these sawhorse legs. Terrible reviews online, but they've been great. And then it was time for a paint job. I picked red because I think it adds like five horsepower. Red. I painted it, then took a shower while I waited for the paint to dry. I just got out of the shower. Wait, I think I know why. These plastic legs of mine. They just gave out because they cost $13.99. Wait, I think I know why. These plastic legs of mine. They just gave out because they cost $13.99. I also don't know why I buy cheap things online that have bad reviews and still believe they will work just fine. This is my punishment. My cart is so broken. No way this ascension never starts or even runs again. It's destiny, folks. I'm supposed to see this bridge. There was a torrential downpour, but the rain couldn't get me down because I had a date with an old girl named Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge. Round two, baby. I picked up Mo. We drove from LA to right outside of San Diego. We formed the plan. Stay in a motel close to the tracks and then wake up early. That's it. It's actually a really simple plan. I feel like I'm playing a video game and I have gotten to like level two every time and today I'm going to like level six, you know? It's like I'm logging in. I'm doing the thing like we've done this before, but today we're leveling up. Hopefully by the time we get back here, these eyes and those eyes have actually seen the bridge in real life. We had an actual marathon ahead of us, so it was time to prep. We started with checking to see if the new cart fit on the tracks. It did. We checked to see if it ran. It did. We checked if the brakes worked. They kind of did. We tightened the chain. We tightened the flanges. We mounted the chairs. We prepped the headlights. But most importantly, we triple checked our most valuable carry-on. An enormous toolbox full of every single tool imaginable. We got gas, cooler, power for the lights, power for the horn. Drill, driver, angle grinder, two spare wheels, shovel, crowbar, and Tony Stark stuff. Pressure up! So we broke down pretty immediately. But thanks to my wide array of tools on hand, it was a pretty quick repair. That's where the wheel broke the first time! I've never seen anything. Put the wheel in here! Put on the other wheel! What are we doing? That felt really good. Really satisfying. But also not satisfying, because I only have so many wheels to spare and there is a huge turn coming up ahead. And this turn is like way sharper than I thought it was going to be. So the fear is it's so sharp that it takes out another wheel and we can't have that. It's also making me wonder if I should have just figured out the whole conical wheel thing from the get-go. As we know, these thick boys are not. And I'll be honest, I wasn't feeling super confident in them. But to our disbelief, they were kind of working. We made it all the way around the turn, which had us feeling really excited, until we saw this. Tunnel number one. There's going to be a few of these before the bridge. I've read that some are locked off and some are weeks away from collapsing internally. And this is the way to the bridge, so there's kind of a lot riding on this moment. Oh wait, stop, stop. But yeah, this tunnel seemed great. Sorry for the music, I just love a little drama. All right, go for it. We'd have to make it through five tunnels today, with the bridge being right on the other side of the fifth one, which made getting through the first one pretty exciting. Until we broke down seconds later. But I repaired it all just in time for my favorite tunnel of the day. What a fun tunnel. I like that tunnel. I'm not sure if Mo liked it as much as my tongue liked getting these drone shots. Does this happen to anyone else? We've covered some ground by this point, but because I built the wheels to be adjustable, the more the tracks are turning, the more this is happening. And then to just add to the drama, we had something waiting for us at tunnel number three. Warning, trespassers will be prosecuted. You've been warned. To avoid legal action, all individuals must watch the video attached to the QR code below a failure to comply with this directive will result in swift and aggressive legal measures. I debated including any of this, but I am showing you because I just don't want anyone to get in trouble if they try doing this after me. I don't... We can't stop. We have to. I just don't want to break the law. This is the video that was attached to the warning. Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform that not only gives users access to safe tunnels in the desert, but it's also a place for Preston to become a better businessman. It's called Shopify Academy, Shopify Academy, where you can take a course and learn all the business strategies. Shopify Academy, Shopify Academy, I learned a ton taking Intro to Marketing. This is not real. I asked ChadGBT to write this. Not as believable as Shopify magic, the perfect product description with only one click. So if you have a business idea that you've always thought was a little too hard, try using Shopify. Start your free trial today at Shopify.com. The actual tunnel we headed down next was hands down the longest one of the day. So I went to turn the lights on and it also turned the horn on. The fact that these lights were working in general was a pretty exciting thing to me, but there were two things waiting for us at the end of the tunnel. Number one, a completely new landscape. I mean, these mountains, love them. And number two, we were met with just a good old-fashioned... I say that, but what I didn't realize in this moment is that the turns are slowly starting to misalign the wheels. Would that happen to conical wheels? Hard to say. And since we're in the canyon now, we're going to have way more turns, as well as a few enormous obstacles. So last year when Austin said... I'm going to assume it's this one. That means this was the point where he decided it was responsible to turn around. Meanwhile, all I'm thinking is... Look at us move around this real big boulder. This weighs a lot, but we keep our composure. I can't wait till this lift is finally over. This was not it. It was both exciting and confusing seeing bridges in general. These mini trestle bridges hug the canyon walls as we pushed deeper into the canyon. It felt like our bridge was on the other side of every turn, but it never was. Oh, that was terrifying. Whoa. Spooky. We could feel this subtle shake as we walked around the bridge. Something bad happened to us right now. It would be like really bad. Which is why I'm watching this cart like a hawk, trying to figure out how to limit the amount of breakdowns. But after getting off the bridge, the situation sadly got worse. The turning started pushing each wheel out of place pretty consistently now. I'd like to take this moment and formally apologize to every single person suggesting conical wheels. You were right. I'm sorry. Each time we stopped, it took about 30 minutes for me to basically rebuild each wheel. We'd ride for a bit and then do it again. It's all falling apart. Foot 2.0 sadly got in the way. At this point, we just have no idea how much further we have until the bridge. They really don't want us to win. We have zero phone service. That's an avalanche. So I just start walking in hopes of getting some sort of idea how much further we have. After a while of not seeing anything, I just kind of turn around. We set sail at 942. It is now 317. Sunset is at 544. And this is my first moment of sincere doubt. I just walked out there and I'm just getting nervous, dude. It's far and the rail cart is falling apart. We are too. I know. I'm like losing energy. This is a little more than I would have expected. The further we go, the harder the journey back is going to be. And I'm just starting to question if seeing a bridge is even worth it at all. Eating a gas station ham and cheese with nasty grease hands probably isn't helping either. But Mo, he's one of those guys who knows exactly what to say when his friends are down. And you, my friend, have no ceiling. We're going to push through this. We're going to get to that bridge. Yeah. You think so? I think this moment is us deciding that we're doing it. This is like whenever it looks bad, you just keep going. Yeah, baby. We continued into the canyon with no cell service so we couldn't see where we were exactly, but we knew the bridge was at the end of the fifth tunnel. So at this point, we just had two more to go with no idea where they were. So much is going wrong, but somehow we made it to the fourth tunnel. Great tunnel. That also meant there was only one more till we hit the bridge. This wreck destroyed the go-kart, the chain fell off, and I have no idea how I got it back on. After that, it felt like hours of ride, derail, fix, push. And then we saw it. This was it. And it was already kind of starting to set in. I love you. It's been a heck of a ride. I've never had a light at the end of the tunnel moment in real life before. Let me tell you, crazy feeling. As we limped our way to the finish line, I just couldn't look away. But there was definitely a moment in the midst of all this where I realized that the only reason I'm about to fulfill this weird dream of mine is because of how many of you guys watched the first video. So if this Preston had the ability to speak in this moment, he'd say thanks. Because to get to make videos like this is a true gift. When you try your best, but you don't succeed. When you get what you want, but not what you need. When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep. Gonna be honest, don't love this part of the video. Basically, I'm explaining that every map I used to plan out our route said that the Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge would be right here on the other side of this tunnel. And yeah, that's not a bridge. It is also interesting now watching this version of me kind of just over explaining the situation. Because in my head in this moment, I am just so mad at myself. Mad that I dragged my friend into this whole train wreck of a situation, no pun intended. Mad I didn't plan better. The whole mission just kind of feels silly now and I'm ready to pack it up. But we've come too far for that. I wanted a bird's eye view of the area to understand where we are, but the drone stops itself immediately because of some height limitation. So with no idea how much further we have, we start walking. This whole weird experience has been such a reminder for me just how easy it is to give up on things. And sometimes right on the other side of almost giving up is the thing you've been working toward the whole time. So if you've got something you're pretty close to giving up on, maybe it's a dream, maybe it's God, maybe it's a person or just something important to you. I'd really encourage you to keep going because what you're searching for may actually be closer than you think.