Coaches Rent Out for $3,000 a Day : Private Railroad Car Travel Is ‘Only Way to Go’

Bliss for John Owen is sipping champagne from a Lenox crystal goblet on the brass platform of his private railroad car as it rolls through a Rocky Mountain gorge or across the Great Plains.

“It’s the only way to go,” said Owen, 62, a retired employee of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Pittsburgh. “It’s like a year-round Christmas gift. It’s a big toy.

“There’s nothing like sitting back in the lounge watching the world go by. It costs some money, but what the heck. It may sound ridiculous, but there’s nothing more elegant than this.”

Frills and extravagance are mandatory for roaming in private cars, most of which were originally built to pamper railroad executives and plutocrats. The affluent call it land cruising, the peak of chic in status.

Not a Cheap Item

A refurbished car today costs from $300,000 to several million dollars, or you can rent one for $3,000 a day, gourmet meals and choice wine included.

To haul private cars on its rails, Amtrak charges $1 to $2.60 per mile, depending on the length of the trip. The fee for the 3,155-mile trip from New York to Los Angeles is $4,101.50. Fees to switch cars from one track to another are extra, and it could cost $75 a day in parking when the car is standing still.

A gussied-up coach will have wall-to-wall carpeting, mahogany paneling, crushed velour seats, a fireplace, stained-glass windows and a stainless steel kitchen equipped to serve such breakfasts as baby quail and eggs. Telephones and other amenities can be added.

Enthusiasm Grows

Despite the costs, a national romance is blossoming with “private varnish”--the name given private cars by railroaders. In the old days, plush private cars were called “varnish” because of the amount of shellac on the furniture.

There are 175 owners who have 500 to 800 private cars, according to the American Assn. of Private Rail Car Owners. When it was formed nine years ago, members of the association owned 20 private cars.

Amtrak expects to make $2 million in private car fees this year, double the amount from last year.

“There’s been a tremendous upswing in the usage of private cars this year,” said Amtrak spokesman Clifford Black. “More people are buying, refurbishing and running them. It’s a popular way to entertain, do business or take a vacation.”

Just Pick Your Place

Private cars usually are put at the end of the train, and owners can go anywhere they want on 10 days’ notice.

“I don’t think there’s any better way to travel, including an ocean liner,” Black said. “On the ocean, all you see is the water and the horizon. By rail, you can see all kinds of unfolding American countryside. It’s an intimate look at something you can get no other way.”

Rail car owners share a common goal of preserving bygone opulence. And they love their cars with the fervor of wide-eyed kids cherishing their first model train.

“It’s the most fun thing I’ve ever done,” said Roy Thorpe, 50, an entrepreneur from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and one of the founders of the rail car association.

Fun at 80 m.p.h.

“A private car is like a mobile home. You can go anyplace in the country in your own home, sit on the back porch and watch the countryside go by without having to drive. You can take a shower and have dinner the way you want it served. And you do all this at 80 m.p.h.”

Thorpe, who owns six railroad cars, recoups some of his expenses with charters. The rental fee plus operating costs come to $21,000 for a week’s business trip.

Thorpe also uses the car to entertain clients. With the package comes a chef and a waiter who serves as bartender, housecleaner, bed-maker and steward.

“The advantage is your clients respond to your invitation. If we invite people to a cocktail party, they all come because it’s aboard a private railroad car. If you take a client for a ride, you have a captive audience. He’s going to pay attention. He can’t get away.”

Fixed Supply of Cars

Private cars appreciate in value. No new cars are being made, and the demand exceeds the supply.

But car owners say theirs is an investment for personal delight.

William Quattro, 50, of Houston, Pa., an industrial engineer, said: “Railroading is my fantasy. It’s a lot of hard work. But the pleasure of the train is riding in style and comfort.”

Fifteen years ago, Quattro and John Owen bought a stainless steel lunch counter-tavern car built in 1952 by the Budd Co.

In 1983, they bought a second one--an 83-foot-long passenger coach built by Pullman in 1923. It was rebuilt in 1952 into a business car for executives of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. The two cars average about 25,000 miles a year.

Lots of Amenities

The coach has four staterooms that sleep 10, crews’ quarters that sleep two more, and two full baths with showers and ceramic tile. The self-contained, all-electric car has a kitchen with a garbage disposal and a teakwood floor.

The dining area features three sets of china, sterling flatware and two silver candelabra. The air-conditioned car has a stereo system. North Carolina Gov. James G. Martin chartered it in 1985 for his election victory tour.

Donald Magee, a 61-year-old dentist from Ellwood City, Pa., is a one-third owner--with Quattro and Owen--in the coach car.