abqdave
Train Attendant
A small train of private cars in Albuquerque today.
http://picasaweb.google.com/abqdave/Amtrak...erqueJune32010#
http://picasaweb.google.com/abqdave/Amtrak...erqueJune32010#
Private train cars
- Thread starter abqdave
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Nice shots; guessing phonecam. Any details, e.g. car names, RRs? Difficult to tell.
sunchaser
Conductor
Looks like it might be the Silver California Zephyr Cars.
There are dozens if not hundreds of privately owned railroad cars that are used by their owners and/or rented for private charter excursions. They range from the old Varnish heavyweights to early streamliners. There are a surprising number of sleepers and luxurious president style cars that are for lease. I've seen some renovated to look like apartments with queen sized beds in the bedrooms and even one that featured a fireplace in the living room/dining area. These private cars are strictly for the well to do and are always pulled by an Amtrak locomotive at a fee of something like $2.00 per mile.
If you have interest in reading about private RR cars there is (maybe was) a magazine called "Private Varnish" that lists a bunch of them, their locations, and has pictures of them. I found this magazine at a train show a while back.
Try this link: http://www.aaprco.com/Private_Varnish/varnish.html
If you have interest in reading about private RR cars there is (maybe was) a magazine called "Private Varnish" that lists a bunch of them, their locations, and has pictures of them. I found this magazine at a train show a while back.
Try this link: http://www.aaprco.com/Private_Varnish/varnish.html
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I used to subscribe to that magazine. Anyone can; you don't have to be associated with a private car. The AAPRCO has a convention every year with dozens of cars in attendance and one or more special trains of only private cars. The last one was in Savannah.
While the idea of traveling in a private car is very appealing, its probably way above the affordability point of the members of this forum. We will just have to be happy riding in a private Amtrak bedroom w bath enjoy the meals, the scenery and leave it at that. Our Chicago trip this month on the CL ran us $600 round trip. In a private railcar that same trip would cost us about $5000-$6000, maybe even more. Thats quite a bit of sheckles!
printman2000
Engineer
Found this on another forum posted 6/2/2010...
sunchaser
Conductor
So I was partially right. The Solarium & Rapids are owned by California Zephyr Railcar Charters. I can't remember off the top of my head who owns the Silver Palm.
Ryan
Court Jester
It's been discussed here before, but it's possible to charter a car on the cheap. For example, if you catch a positioning move it can be quite affordable. Of course with that the drawback is you've got to be lucky with times and destinations for it to work.
Ryan is correct! When I rode the Cardinal to PHL on NTD in May we picked up three private cars in Cinnci being moved to WAS! The staff told me that the fare including meals was $300, which was less than the highbucket roomette I had on #50! If I'd known I would have cancelled, ridden coach to Cinnci, then taken the private varnish for sure! (It was a sleeper, dome and business car in great shape, looked like new!)
sunchaser
Conductor
The California Zephyr Railcar Charters will be doing just that- October 7-8: Vista-dome sleeper from Denver to Emeryville. Positioning move! From $799/person. A bit pricey, but for some it may be worth it.
Blasphemy! That is Gathering dates!
The rates for riding in a private rail car for positioning sound interesting but I would think that these are not well publicized or the high rollers that use them might complain. I've seen private rail cars on the rear of the CL (which we will be on this month) but its seems that if you don't know about the availability of the positioning move you are S.O.L.
Ryan
Court Jester
The high rollers usually skip the positioning move, which is why they can be had for so cheap - just need to know where to look...
I signed up for emails for a couple of the private cars in LA. They were open at train day last year and had a signup list. There have been some incredible bargains but never yet when I've had time to take them. Some are full service, but the real deals are repositioning where you bring your own food and make your own bed. LARail.com has several cars. Google for private cars based near you to find ones that will add you to their list. AAPRCO also probably has a list on their website.
had8ley
Engineer
In addition to draining your bank account Amtrak presents more paper work than there is in ten trees. Liability insurance in high $$$ is an absolute must and any mechanical failure is totally on you. Sometimes I wondered if I was selling my first born !
Devil's Advocate
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I know I'm still new to the group, but maybe we could charter our own car at some point in the future.
We'd pick the locations, dates and times and have an AU party in the car(s). So maybe it costs us a grand or two each to schedule a ride, which is admittedly steep, but it would be a once-in-a-lifetime event for many of us that might be worth saving for. I always kind of regretted never riding the Concorde before they were all decommissioned, but it simply didn't work out for me. Riding a private rail car is thankfully still possible and probably cheaper than a trans-Atlantic Concorde flight.
Anyone else game?
We'd pick the locations, dates and times and have an AU party in the car(s). So maybe it costs us a grand or two each to schedule a ride, which is admittedly steep, but it would be a once-in-a-lifetime event for many of us that might be worth saving for. I always kind of regretted never riding the Concorde before they were all decommissioned, but it simply didn't work out for me. Riding a private rail car is thankfully still possible and probably cheaper than a trans-Atlantic Concorde flight.
Anyone else game?
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had8ley
Engineer
Great idea but how about this? At the next AU Gathering we all make advance reservations for the following year in the same car on the same LD train and let Amtrak worry about the rest
Devil's Advocate
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I'm sure there's a lot more to renting a private car than meets the eye, so it might not be possible right away (if ever) but it sure sounds like fun if we could find a way to ensure nobody had to take on more than their own ticket's worth of financial responsibility.
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