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Try a private Pullman car
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April 17, 1998: 2:15 p.m. ET
Not just for the rich and famous, private railroad cars are coming back
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NEW YORK (Biztravel.com) - The private railroad car, once reserved for America's monied elite and frequented by such prestigious families as the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers, may be in for a populist comeback.
Ranked 38th (behind Ghana) in the investment in its passenger rail system, the United States has long neglected this mode of transport. But Frederick Seibold and the 501 members of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) are determined to change that.
"The private railroad car was the corporate jet of the 1920s," says Seibold, representative of AAPRCO. "Many people don't realize that in the 1920s there were more people in Pullman cars than in hotels."
Founded in 1977 as a non-profit body of private car owners and enthusiasts, AAPRCO acts as an advocate for owners in their dealings with Amtrak and other rail entities, and aims to expand the operation of private rail cars in the U.S. It publishes its own bimonthly magazine, Private Varnish, and coordinates a charter referral directory through its offices in Washington, D.C.
There currently are 160 "active" car owners in the association and 341 "associate" members who pay annual dues of $90. The association also stages a yearly convention, organizing a special train of private cars through some of America's most scenic routes.
This September, the tour will take many members from Chicago through Montreal and into parts of northern New Hampshire. Past trips have routed the cars west across the Rockies through Pueblo, Colo., and Kansas City; another took members from downtown Denver through a gauntlet of 20 mountain tunnels and into Steamboat Springs, Colo.
The rules for operating a private car on Amtrak lines are stringent. Owners must have their cars taken apart and inspected for safety. Cars must be outfitted to run with head-end power (HEP), or as Seibold puts it, "a 480-volt, three-phase extension cord." The cost for bringing a car up to Amtrak standards alone can run well into tens of thousands of dollars.
"It's not easy to own, operate and maintain a private car," says Seibold, "and [therefore] it takes a person who thrives on the challenge of doing something very difficult."
Seibold's own car, the Central Plateau, is a prime example. Seibold bought the 1926 open-platform observation car 20 years ago, and is "only in the middle of restoring it." Searching for authentic parts and interiors from other cars he's scavenged, Seibold has so far restored much of its mahogany interior and period fittings.
Similar care was put into the restoration of Bennett Levin's car, the Pennsylvania 120, the Pennsylvania Railroad funeral car that transported Robert Kennedy's body to Arlington National Cemetery in 1968. Levin, the former president of AAPRCO, purchased the car from the original owner back in the 1970s and gave it a top-to-bottom restoration using original engineering drawings he purchased from the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The five-year restoration cost well into "six-figures," he concedes. Today, Levin regularly charters the Pennsylvania 120 to companies such as IBM for rail tours, or as a "static" meeting site.
"The advantages [for business] are many," insists Levin. "There's a high level of privacy and security. It's a wonderful opportunity to get away from phones and from other distractions. And, of course, there's the unique ambiance of a private car."
"Private cars can go essentially anywhere Amtrak goes," says Seibold. And, if Clark Johnson is an example, well beyond that. The owner of Caritas, a 1948 Pullman car, he took it as far north and as far south as any private car has ever gone -- from Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories in Canada south into Guatemala. For Johnson, the allure of private car travel is simple: "To sit on my back platform, sipping a Sapphire gin martini."
Clark also charters his car out occasionally, and says corporations like using it for client meetings because "quite simply, they have a captive audience."
The costs of chartering a car varies, depending on route and type of car chartered, but a good rule of thumb is about $1,000 to $3,000 per day for up to 20 people. Charters generally include a cook and a porter/waiter; any "extras" are negotiated with the individual owner. The AAPRCO guide lists a variety of cars available.
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