Once you have your car and you have passed your annual inspection, you will need somewhere to park it, which usually means finding a short-line railroad or commercial business with a siding near you, and paying them a fee. Getting the car from there to the nearest Amtrak station will require you to hire a locomotive with crew (some tracks require a second car coupled to the locomotive so crossings & signals work correctly). Amtrak then has a whole schedule of fees they will charge you, from $4.09 per mile, overnight parking, fresh & wastewater servicing, transponder tags, and parking fees.
You will want to hire a chef to prepare your meals and perhaps also a steward to serve the meals, make drinks, and take care of the staterooms. I'm not sure if they need to belong to the union since they would be your employees, not the railroads (but probably).
For the less than 100 private cars in operation in America, why does Amtrak even offer this service? Like the first class section on an airliner, it's effectively all profit for them since the train was going there anyway and the extra fuel to haul it & supply power is minimal. Personally I wonder why Amtrak doesn't offer a "Presidential" fare, where 6 or so people can book a private car and get truly top tier service.
Here's what a restored Pullman car can look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdroQ4JqlYQ
I’ve heard that occasionally (rarely) they need to put some “public” cars behind the private ones. And if that happens, you are not allowed to prevent the public passengers from walking through your private car to get between the public sections.
Is that the case?
Train crew (conductors) always have the right to walk through the car. If your train goes into Tampa Florida for example, the train has to reverse out of the station to a wye so it can turn around. If you are the end car, the conductor will be there watching for problems, manning the emergency brake, and communicating with the engineer on their radio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wye_(rail)
The new trainsets that Amtrak just ordered from Siemens Mobility come with cab cars, so the crew can use that to control the train and not be out in the weather (and have full gauges, etc.) The cab cars are part economy seating so if your private car is on that train, you will probably end up sandwiched between the cab car and the rest of the train and have people walking through.
See I knew there was a plus.
Supposedly the biggest cost associated with refurbishing a car is passing the Amtrak inspection of the bogies, axles, and wheels -- I believe they have to be completely replaced at 40 years of age. When a railroad retires a car, this equipment may be close to end-of-life.
Many freight railroads still have "office-car specials" -- passenger equipment for the executives to use. Those would probably be the easiest to get up to Amtrak specs.
Trivia: Amtrak will only run trains with private railcars at a maximum speed of 110 mph. On the Northeast Corridor, private railcars are only allowed to be added to the overnight Northeast Regional train which normally travels at 125 mph -- but there's enough padding in the schedule that they can slow it down to 110 without affecting the timetable.
Why not lease a car for a month, or a year? All those inspection, maintenance, parking, and labor costs are rolled into your fee, except the railroad can handle them much better than you can.
If it's "your" car, only people you approve of can sit in it. It's a rolling party!
Amtrak.com suggests rooms from Seattle to LA are ~$700 each. https://www.craigmashburn.com/amtrakcardiagrams.html says a Superliner sleeper car has 20 rooms. So you could rent out an entire car for about $14,000. Complementary meals included!
These guys claim $2500 a day for a charter. Not sure if it is legit or if there are other fees. (I assume you then also pay all the Amtrak fees). But I do have this on my back burner to try sometime. Since they offer some 4 bedroom coaches. Would be fun to get a group together to split the cost.
> For the less than 100 private cars in operation in America, why does Amtrak even offer this service?
Probably same situation as in Europe, they're legally mandated to give access to people and companies to their service under FRAND conditions. If you're interested, the fee tables are for nets and stations [0][1].
[0] https://www.deutschebahn.com/de/geschaefte/infrastruktur/bah...
[1] https://fahrweg.dbnetze.com/fahrweg-de/kunden/leistungen/tra...
What are you trying to ask? Don’t you answer this question, below?
>Like the first class section on an airliner, it's effectively all profit for them since the train was going there anyway and the extra fuel to haul it & supply power is minimal.
Or are you saying, there’s only 100 private cars, why not allow a Presidential fare from a fleet Amtrak cars?
My answer would be “ Like the first class section on an airliner, it's effectively all profit for them” this isn’t actually true. First class sections on planes were until recently mostly filled with frequent fliers that got free upgrades [1]. Those first class seats eat up a lot of space that could be directed to revenue-generating economy seats.
So I would imagine one reason Amtrak doesn’t offer a Presidential fare is because Amtrak would need to retrofit some cars to have that experience, and manage demand of those cars. The penalties of empty cars is less than that of an plane, but still.
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/11/03/why-its-getting-harder-t...
2) Establish a veeeery special AirBNB
3) Profit!
Large business also do this for company events etc.
https://www.trainchartering.com/press/news_wembley.html is one company.
I know long haul battery-electric trains don't make sense [0], but if it's a short distance, would it be feasible to have inbuilt battery + engine just to get the car to the Amtrak and maybe as backup power?
> (some tracks require a second car coupled to the locomotive so crossings & signals work correctly)
Obviously it wouldn't obviate this technicality.
> Personally I wonder why Amtrak doesn't offer a "Presidential" fare, where 6 or so people can book a private car and get truly top tier service.
Could a 3rd-party company offer this? I.e., they own and operate the Presidential-like cars, and are a contractual middle-man between Amtrak and the riders?
Fun local news fact: someone left their excavator on the tracks and one of the locomotives crashed into it Wednesday !
https://www.wgal.com/article/train-crash-at-strasburg-railro...
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/travel/all-aboard-for-a-t... https://railsnw.com/tours/Pullman/Rail-only-information3.htm
The economics of it are likely difficult, but there's at least precedent.
they should call it "railforce one"
The famous "Dewey defeats Truman" newspaper photo was taken on it's platform.
Could you explain a bit more about why you would want this? This seems strictly inferior to buying a box truck and converting it for "van life".
Downside is you're limited to where Amtrak goes (or having to hire a locomotive and getting permission from Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, etc. to use their tracks)
If I wanted to go the van-life route, I'd probably order a B-Box from Advanced RV in Cleveland. They have more interior room than a Sprinter and are better insulated. Costs about the same as a railcar and currently has a year-long wait.
Van life is a first class ticket to becoming a tidbit in serial killers life story.
Also, rail rights of way are ancient, so you land in the center of major cities.
Of course, travel options are significantly broader with an RV since paved roads go everywhere. However you can't take an RV into some cities in the northeast - I know that Washington DC and Baltimore have banned them from their streets. Whereas Amtrak takes you right into the city center.
Basically, there are hobbyists who buy and upgrade these cars, and try to break even on chartering trips on them. They’re clearly never happier than coming along for the journey (you need an official liaison on board anyway to interface with Amtrak staff) and fixing stuff along the way.
And it also depends on whether they find someone to book (some subset of) the return trip that will start within a day or two of your arrival; otherwise you have to cover their Amtrak fee for the dead-head return. I’m told there’s a network of enthusiasts who watch for such possibilities. Rather, two networks, who hate each other for no discernible reason. Or that’s how I understood it, as an outsider getting a glimpse of an obscure but intense sub-culture.
We worked with Amtrak and an amazing team of train enthusiasts to get 3 vintage train cars on The California Zephyr’s route across the US. We started in Vermont and ended in Los Angeles, traveling 3,502 miles over 10 days.
Short documentary: https://youtu.be/2BID8_pGuqA
Planning documents and finances are open source at https://github.com/hackclub/the-hacker-zephyr
For anyone not wanting to read through, I found ~$160,000 in private train car payments, and somewhere around $40,000 in fees and tickets to Amtrak.
The team also really made it happen. It was incredibly difficult to organize, and every person involved went far above and beyond any normal expectation to make the Zephyr so special.
Train museums use these possibilities to run extraordinary trains [1]. Rarely you can see them as replacement trains in regular service[2].
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GujoYkaQf8 [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qoDOXvFwH0
But the railway museum runs a historic train hourly from Utrecht Centraal (I think the largest station in the country) to their museum. That's also a strange sight to see passing by at crossings.
https://www.cruisetrain-sevenstars.jp/english/
Prices start at $4500 per person twin sharing for 4 nights, so not exactly cheap, but still a few orders of magnitude less than kitting out your own. Plus it's Japan, so you get a modern train, incredible service and everything runs like clockwork, none of those being terms you'd use to describe Amtrak.
Fun facts: you're required to wear a tuxedo to dinner, and despite the price tag, the train is enormously popular and they need to use a lottery system to select who gets to ride.
I’m sure some enterprising YouTuber/lifestyle blogger could get us started on the private train car home era. I’m here for it.
It takes place aboard the Snowpiercer train as it travels a globe-encircling track, carrying the last remnants of humanity
I don't get it. Houses become so expensive that the last remnants of humanity has to live on a train? Isn't this a "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" situation?
A few years ago, they banned this practice because of these types of issues. If they're reintroducing it, get ready for more delays and more completely unreliable Amtrak service.
From https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-25/can-you-b...
> One year ago, Amtrak issued a policy notice saying it would make drastic cuts in operating charter services run by private owners. “These operations caused significant operational distraction, failed to capture fully allocated profitable margins, and sometimes delayed our paying customers on our scheduled trains,” read the notice from March 2018. “There may be a few narrow exceptions to this policy. ... Otherwise, one-time trips and charters are immediately discontinued.”
The documents in the link that the post is about are from 2021/2022 though. So they must have un-banned it. The "guidelines" document at https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/p... lists 44 Amtrak stations throughout the US where this practice is allowed (and likely to continue to disrupt schedules for regular passengers).
It's infuriating actually. There are plenty of historic railroad societies that own track around the US where people can take their railcars to be driven around. Amtrak has a credibility problem because of its reputation for being unreliable, and this affects public perception of passenger rail transit overall and how worthwhile it is to invest in it.
Effective 3/16/20 move requests will not be accepted via fax. Email your completed form to the Special Moves Team at specialmoves@amtrak.com.
Sometime around 2018 or so, I was looking at renting a private car. Prices were all over the place, from $2k (but you had to provide your own chef (or something like that)) to $5k (chef included) for what I'd consider decent accommodations. I was wanting something big enough to fit 5-10 people to have a hackathon. There were several companies that offered this service and all of them were towed behind amtrak. But right in the middle of trying to figure all this out, amtrak announced some "changes" and that drove the cost up a bit and I think several of these companies simply closed shop or greatly reduced their service area so I dropped the idea. Splitting the charges between 5 or 10 people seemed like a fun idea though.
At one time, it was quite cheap to park a private railroad car at many downtown passenger railroad stations, because they were way underutilized and had much empty track. Not so much any more.
[1] https://www.trainsandtravel.com/2018/03/28/edict-amtrak-wont...
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/p...
You will occasionally see them parked on the siding by Symphony Park when they're playing Las Vegas.
https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=67...
Just found some routes through the rockies, from moab to denver: https://www.rockymountaineer.com/routes_destinations , but a southwest one would be amazing.
Economics are running a cruise, but over land on a train, with some camping and motel options to scale it. Hmm...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-25/can-you-b...
Employees can hop in/out on stations to start/end their shifts.
/s
In Moscow, there's a city train line called MCC (Moscow Central Circle) which you can hop on for around $1 and just sit there all day. There are power sockets and Wi-Fi, and on stations there are vending machines with snacks and coffee. It's cozy and helps concentrate on things (for me at least).
For the train geeks: the trains used there are a regional version of Siemens Desiro, called Lastochka which is Russian for the bird swallow.
You would be comfortable in your own train car and wake up in a new place every day... terribly impractical but still seems cool, haha.
> Typical pricing for a trip is along the lines of a high-end cruise. On average, the all-inclusive costs typically can run between $2,500 and $7,000 or more per car per day. But remember, a rail car may accommodate 6, 8, 10, 20 people or more.
https://www.aaprco.com/travel/where-do-i-start/chartering-a-...
Today they're basically private party trains and rail fan excursions.
Lots of railroad museums will have old private cars, some even road worthy.
How Much Does a New Railcar Cost to Buy?
The cost of a train car varies depending on the type of car and its features.
For example, a passenger train car may cost more than a freight train car. The
cost also depends on the train car’s brand, model, and year. On average, a
train car costs between $100,000 and $200,000.
How Much Does it Cost to Buy an Old Railroad Car?
If you’re interested in purchasing an old rail car, there are a few things you
need to know. First, it’s essential to know how much money you’re willing to
spend. Rail cars can vary significantly in price, depending on their age,
condition, and amenities. For example, an older car might cost less than
$5,000, while a newer model with more features could cost upwards of $50,000.