Private car? Check
Decorative fireplace? Check
Small round wooden table? Check
Top hat? Check
Monocle? Check
If “between specified locations” includes your oil wells and silver mines, enjoy.
Seems more affordable than a private jet
Safer and more fun too!
Buy cheap carriage.
Paint with radiation symbols and rainbow flags.
Write “GAY-diation distribution system” on the side.
Send it on a tour of red states and enjoy the freak-outs.
Label it as a mobile abortion clinic
Alternative plan: do the same with unattended freight cars for pennies on the dollar.
Top Gear did something similar with cars. It turned out as you would expect. https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=pKcJ-0bAHB4
I would donate to this godundme
The thing I haven’t read in this thread: how do you get your personal trail car to the station, and how do you move it about on your destination?
It sounds cool but very inflexible.
It feels like the last time this service was used, everyone would have giant top hats, and their own personal railway spur to their houses.
I worked with someone that had some Great Aunt or whatever that did this. The lady just didn’t like planes, so she would travel like this. Basically, you get all the amenities of an RV, water tank fill up, power hook up, plus you can walk up to the admittedly gross food car. She said it looked like an RV apartment combo, and that the Aunt was old money, so the Mr. Monopoly vibe is accurate.
I’m with Great Aunt whomever. Flying sucks.
Plus, you could make it an event or party car. Imagine a traveling bachelorette party with a murder mystery dinner, karaoke, no flying, no driving, and you end up somewhere cool and can nap on the way back.
(100% of the pre-wedding parties I’ve been to have had karaoke and a murder mystery dinner. Sample set of one.)
Coworker said that time is the luxury item. Unless your car is following exactly a regular Amtrak route, at some point you get decoupled in a yard and passed off to another train, which can take hours. Basically a layover. So it sounds like it can easily become a multi-day thing to get somewhere you can get in like 5 hours by air.
But yeah, if you have the time and inclination, it seems like a pleasant way to go.
in certain they’d tell you where that would happen… if the destination is less important that simply going, you could just go to whatever random city, have a night out, come back
This is so much more baller than a private jet
“I am rich but I don’t need to rush around the country to keep being rich”
I’m gonna take my time and enjoy the ride. If you need me, come meet me on my train. I’m pulling into Kansas City tomorrow. See you there. Meanwhile I’m gonna have a cocktail and play some video games.
If I had to choose one, it would be the private rail car for sure.
Am I the only person without a personal train car? Am I surrounded by people in top hats and just don’t know?
I started a conversation the other day with some friends about if I ever ran for President and needed to travel the country, what impact would there be if I decided to go super old-school and get a Presidential train car.
Side conversation; Airforce 1 is the Airliner the Pres flies on. Marine 1 is the helicoper. What would be the train designation?
Choochoo McTrainFace 1
I read that in Ringo Star’s voice.
US-CAR 1 or uscar 1. We’ve had several before so it’s not particularly an abstract.
They’re all named after great explorers, Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan etc.
So theoretically if we got a new president who was into using trains to get around we could have a high speed uscar1 named Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin? Though I assume astronauts wouldn’t be considered explorers and would be reserved for spacecraft the president is on
Correct though it’s unlikely any president will travel by train again given the best security is people simply not knowing where you are going or when. Being trapped in one direction is a big no no.
You KNOW that they’d have a fleet of helicopters, AWACS, fighter jets and vehicle escorts just hanging around the side of the running train.
imagine getting to be late for school because your bus got stuck at a Presidential Train Crossing, and being able to see the copters and jets fly over.
Was it McCain who said that he’d campaign in every state but was said to have regretted it because the time to travel to Hawaii, Alaska and a few other states (Idaho etc) were kid of a waste?
It would be a statement, that’s for sure.
Major problem is that Amtrak has the lowest priority on our rail network. Getting to a campaign rail-stop on time would be almost impossible without greasing some palms. So you’d have to hook up with a cargo rail line or something like that.
Edit: Now, if you had “improve rail transportation” as a major platform plank, showing up late would be a feature, not a bug.
Legally, passenger rail gets the highest priority.
However, the punishment for violating this is a fine which hasn’t been updated in decades. The rail companies realized a long time ago that it’s better to just take the fine instead of actually following the law.
Land Sealion.
I mean Trainforce1 is right there, but Landforce1 sounds good too
Awful for security. Your whereabouts would be known at all times, and the USSS can’t protect every mile of track.
Locomotive 1
Depends on which branch manages the railcar:
http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/other_cars/1private/us_military/us_military.htm
Spaceforce 1
Amtrak 1?
For like 30 seconds I was thinking ‘car’ meant automobile and I was picturing like someone’s SUV hitched to the back of a train.
I should get some coffee.
This one of those hobbies that sounds so cool but so impractical to get into. Like it makes getting a boat sound like a cheap and easy hobby.
Probably not too impractical owing to the fact that you probably aren’t allowed to do jack shit yourself. It’s not like you can tow it from the depot to the station with your f150. Much easier than owning a boat :) presumably just as pricey though and with even less utility
This feels like a holdover from the Teddy Roosevelt/robber baron era!
Why isn’t this sometime of trend or hobby?
I think private rail carriages are slightly more expensive and limited use than vans, which is why vanlife has taken off and carriagelife has not
Only the rich could afford this likely, and a huge subset of the rich are people who value their time too much to spend it on transportation they don’t have direct control over.
However, I do think there are people out there who’d do this if they found out. Travel YouTubers. The more popular ones have decent income and starting a new niche or getting in on one early can pull a lot of new viewers.
It’s FAR more expensive than vans. For comparison, a fully renovated carriage could cost in the neighborhood of $1M, and Amtrak mileage fees are in the neighborhood of $5/mil. Renting a private car is around $15k per day per car, including mileage fees.
For comparison San Diego to San Francisco is a one day trip by train and about 600 miles. So, you’d be paying in the neighborhood of $2500 for those miles if you own the car, and $15k for charter. You could charter a private turboprop airplane to go that same distance for around $7000. Add in that some private car owners will string multiple cars together, and it can easily exceed the cost of just going by private plane even if you own the cars and charter the plane.
At the end of the day, it’s like having a superyacht—it’s rarely the most affordable or practical route but it is fun and luxurious so rich people do it anyway.
“Hey, jet setters! Today, we’re going to be traveling across the United States in our own private railcar… attached to an Amtrak service!”
-Jeb, probably
But how much is it?
- Short hop (300 miles, 1 car): Mileage = 300×$4.72 = $1,416, but you’ll pay the $2,296 minimum (plus any parking/switching).
- Regional trip (500 miles, 1 car): 500×$4.72 = $2,360 (above the minimum). With one night of standard parking, ~$2,583 before any special switching.
- Overnight long-distance (1,000 miles): ~$4,720 for one car. Two cars on the same request price ~$8,340 (first car $4,720 + second car $3,620) before parking/switching.
Even assuming some passenger limit (otherwise you could sell your own tickets and make a tidy profit) for groups large enough to require a charter bus, this sounds like a reasonable alternative. In fact that might be their target market.
Good god!
Guess I’ll keep flying for the time being.
What advantages does this train have over, say, a motor car – which I could also afford?
You don’t have to drive the train
But what if I want to?
25% discount
You are basically in a moving apartment, with bed, shower, bathroom, fridge, ability to cook…
It’s out of my price range, but I certainly could see the appeal.
The car will be way faster and more open ended in terms of where you start and finish, so it’s far more practical if you just want to get to where you are going.
well, you’ll notice how the private shower provides ample hot water, while … … gently massages your buttocks. well, count jerkface, shall we discuss the …
How much does a rail car cost, and what is maintenance, inspection, etc like? This is still something of the very wealthy.
I have another thread in here talking about cost, but just the mileage fees for a trip on a car you own can be a significant percentage of the cost of chartering a plane. If you rent the car it can cost significantly more.
Owning a private rail car is a bit like owning a superyacht; it’s not a particularly fast or practical form of travel but it can be luxurious and fun so people with money do it anyways.
From some searching, they’re also available for charter. Still not something for a person of average means to do on their own, but maybe a group of upper-middle class people. Some Amtrak routes go through some incredibly scenic areas. The one that comes to mind in my neck of the woods is the Empire Builder. It would be a luxury experience for sure.
Yet slower, and far less convenient than air travel. Sight-seeing aside, I honestly don’t know who this is for.
Maybe there’s a train-enthusiast club out there that has a small fleet of rail-ready cars?
Yet slower, and far less convenient than air travel.
you should be aware there is a non-insignificant population that despise air travel. whether it’s personal issues (fear, stomach problems etc.,) or they really hate the TSA…
Slow, sight seeing and not flying is exactly the point.
I would literally rather eat a bug than fly anywhere, unless i absolutely have to.
Definitely a case of the journey being more important than the destination.
My guess is that this is a holdover from when rich people did have train cars (and sometimes even full trains!).
I would bet there are still a couple of rich people living out their train fantasies.
Because they love the experience. Trains are really a lot of fun.
I would gladly take the train over flying. You have more leg room, there is a dinning car, and way less security theater to deal with.
I’mma be taking so many trains when Rail Baltica gets built
Wait that sounds a bit wrong
Anyway yeah, for short to medium distances, rail is awesome. I haven’t tried super long distance rail yet. I’ve flown twice in my life and it was nice, but the first time was a short flight (3 hours) and the second time I had someone abuse their platinum status to get me one of dem nice emergency exit seats where there’s no limit to your legroom. I imagine if you’re going on like a 2 or 3 week vacation, taking a train or several there and back would be super nice, but if you’re spending a week on another continent because of time constraints, a plane sounds better.
Once shit gets built though, I can take a local train to Tallinn, then take the new slightly faster train to Poland, then from there to Germany. The most ridiculous thing about this is the fact that this train route is going to be a HUGE thing for car enthusiasts, because the biggest used car market in Europe is Germany, and right now you have to fly to Germany to go buy a car if you can’t find what you want closer (also German prices are better). So it’s gonna be a great train route for car enthusiasts (among all the other people of course).
can you ship your purchased cars home by rail easily?
No? You drive back the 2000 km obviously. Part of it is the Autobahn!
You can also skip half the distance with a ferry, but it won’t be saving much time.
bummer. I’m a sucker for cars on trains :D
The German state railway company sells their used trains here: https://www.db-gebrauchtzug.de/
There were articles about people who make a lifestyle of this. Though the practice is apparently under pressure, as allowing random people to attach private carriages to your trains does complicate operating a railway.
