Blood on the tracks?

Came upon this amazing railway velocipede at pasta and vinegar.

According to the description given in Engineering News of February, 1895:

The wheels have rubber bands 3 ins. wide and 3-16 in. thick on the tread, which make the machine run easily without jar, and also without noise, so that the rider can catch the sound of approaching trains.

Something of a key feature, one feels.

And here, from Montreal's McCord Museum of Canadian History, is another, rather more sturdy-looking, example.