Check Out This Sneaky Railway Smuggler Tram

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Mike Senese is a content producer with a focus on technology, science, and engineering. He served as Executive Editor of Make: magazine for nearly a decade, and previously was a senior editor at Wired. Mike has also starred in engineering and science shows for Discovery Channel, including Punkin Chunkin, How Stuff Works, and Catch It Keep It.

An avid maker, Mike spends his spare time tinkering with electronics, fixing cars, and attempting to cook the perfect pizza. You might spot him at his local skatepark in the SF Bay Area.

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January 17th, 2018

Somewhere along the Belarus border, guards detected this low-slung, rail-riding contraption shooting down the tracks in the middle of the night. Where was it going? What was it carrying? How would the sender and receiver know when it was nearing arrival? Those questions are still uncertain, but regardless it’s an interesting DIY build using very off-the-shelf components — small car batteries, a small motor, an antenna, and a frame that looks like it was welded with haste. I particularly like the front and rear cargo “gates”.

This goes without saying, but don’t build one of these. It’d be highly illegal and could cause serious injury if it encountered an actual train on the tracks.