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On an abandoned railway surrounded by dense forest, Matt Spears advanced with an electric mini camper on tracks, encountered old wooden bridges, trees blocking the path, and even had to improvise repairs after a battery failure
The YouTuber Matt Spears transformed an old abandoned railway in the mountains into the setting for an unusual expedition.
In a video published on June 1, 2026, he showcased a multi-day journey aboard a small electric vehicle on tracks, adapted with railway wheels and a pop-up camper built by himself.
The proposal was simple in the script but complex in practice: advance through an isolated line, camp, cook, fish, explore old bridges, and discover how far those tracks could still take him.
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The result was an adventure marked by breathtaking landscapes, mechanical failures, unexpected encounters, and moments of tension on old wooden structures.
A night before the big bridge
The journey began after a long trip to the remote area. Matt explained that it took practically the entire day to reach the starting point of the exploration. Aboard the electric mini rail car, he followed the tracks until he found a large railway bridge, known as a trestle, late in the afternoon.
With the light fading, he decided not to cross the structure at that moment. The bridge, surrounded by darkness and the smell of wet wood after the rain, seemed too dangerous to cross at night.
To avoid any risk of the vehicle accidentally moving towards the bridge, Matt backed the small camper on the tracks and set up improvised lighting.
He used two LED strips powered by a Hercules battery. The YouTuber himself admitted that the system was a bit improvised, but it worked well enough to transform the small interior space into an illuminated shelter. That night, dinner was simple: pad thai heated in hot water inside a plastic bag.
Inside the camper, with steam in the air and the dark bridge just ahead, Matt prepared the bed using an inflatable mattress bought at Walmart and a sleeping bag.
The plan for the next day was ambitious: cross the bridge and try to overcome an area he called the “jungle,” a sequence of fallen trees that had already blocked his advances in previous videos.
Smell of Wood, Tar, and Breakfast on the Tracks
At dawn, the bridge revealed an impressive view. Before crossing it, Matt decided to go down to the base to check the structure.
He commented on the strong smell of old wood and tar, explaining that many planks seemed to have been treated with this material.
A concern caught his attention: a large accumulation of logs stuck to the bridge, formed by trees dragged by the river. For him, over time, this pressure could pose a threat to the structure. Even so, the bridge seemed to be in good condition for crossing.
Before continuing the journey, Matt tried fishing in the river below the bridge. He hoped to find trout but only had a small nibble, insufficient to guarantee breakfast.
As an alternative, he prepared instant oatmeal on the bridge, with plenty of honey produced by his own bees. The setting, according to him, was one of the most impressive places he had ever had a meal.
Electrical Failure Threatens to End the Adventure
After breakfast, Matt resumed the journey with the mini rail car, which he calls Spyra. The vehicle seemed to run well until suddenly it lost all power. Lights, engine, and controls shut down at the same time.
The first suspicion was a severe battery failure or emergency shutdown system issue. He tried swapping breakers between the circuit sides, but nothing changed. Upon closer inspection, he found the problem: one of the battery cells had broken at the top. According to Matt, the cell’s laser weld failed.
The battery pack was made up of 24 smaller cells, and the twentieth had failed. To continue, he needed to reconfigure the electrical connection, remove the problem from the circuit, and reprogram the system. After the makeshift repair, the vehicle started working again.
The relief was immediate. Matt celebrated when he turned the key and saw signs of power returning. The journey, which seemed about to end there, could continue.
The “Bridge Railway” and the Advance Beyond the Blocked Area
With Spyra back on the tracks, Matt continued to the area where he had previously stopped because of fallen trees. To his surprise, part of the path had been cleared. Someone had cut the logs blocking the passage.
From there, the exploration entered new territory. The YouTuber passed by rock walls, sections alongside the river, and an impressive sequence of railway bridges. At one point, he saw three bridges close together, one after the other. Shortly after, he encountered another large structure.
The number of bridges caught so much attention that Matt joked saying it seemed to be the “trestle railway,” with more bridges than regular tracks. Before crossing some of them, he got off to check the condition of the wood and the base.
At one of the stops, he took the opportunity to fish again. This time, he got bites with a fly fishing rod. One of the fish was a bull trout, a species he highlighted as special and that should be released. Since the fish were small and couldn’t be a meal, Matt resorted to another plan: he prepared a salmon fillet he had caught in Alaska the previous year, accompanied by peppers and rice.
Meeting with Two Men Who Cleared the Way on the Tracks
One of the most curious moments of the adventure happened when Matt met two older men who were also traveling along the railway in an improvised vehicle on tracks. They were the ones who had cut the vegetation and cleared the passage through the area that previously blocked the way.
According to the two, the work took two days and consumed a lot of chainsaw fuel. Their vehicle was eye-catching: it used a Predator 212 engine, belt transmission, and adapted wheels. They claimed to have reached nearly 40 miles per hour, even without helmets or seatbelts, in a casual conversation recorded on video.
The two also showed Matt an old railway exchange area, where trains could be maneuvered and loaded in the past. According to them, part of the structure was probably removed in the 1980s. Along the way, they also found morel mushrooms, which Matt collected after receiving permission from the men.
Before returning, they also pointed out an old cabin near the tracks. Matt stopped to film the construction, which, according to the account, was used by a man who spent summers there.
Derailments, Bent Axle, and Storm on the Return
On the way back, the adventure encountered new problems. Just before a large bridge, the Spyra derailed with a loud noise. Matt inspected the front and rear of the vehicle and initially found no serious damage. He put the car back on the tracks and tried to continue.
But the derailment happened again. He noticed that a section of the tracks was unevenly worn, with one side apparently thinner than the other. To avoid another problem on the bridge, he decided to manually push the vehicle across the structure.
Later, the chain of the system also came off, probably due to the excess of weeds on the tracks. Matt put the chain back on, proceeded slowly, and noticed another problem: the axle was bent. Even so, the vehicle continued to move forward, although at a slower pace and with quite irregular handling.
With a storm approaching and the wind increasing, he managed to cross the last bridges and return to the truck. The journey ended with a sense of mission accomplished: Matt had discovered new bridges, fished, cooked, met other railway explorers, and advanced through an area that previously seemed blocked.
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