Debra Ryono
01/01/2005
Patrick Henry confers with George Lewis, his private railcar’s on-board chef, who has just returned from cooking for George and Barbara Bush. The two deliberate over the menu in the car’s small, but thoroughly modern, kitchen. Henry is wrapping up a trip down the California coast in which he wooed clients, stopping to entertain prospects in San Francisco before heading south for a series of other encounters.
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| PATRICK HENRY'S car has a formal dining room that doubles as a conference room. |
Private railcars, often called private varnish because of the opulent, highly polished interiors many of them boasted in their heyday a century ago, are relatively rare in the United States. Collectors estimate that there may be as few as 150 still in service. But, while some may see them as atavistic logistical and financial burdens, these land yachts attract their share of enthusiasts.
Henry, who founded a food and beverage promotion company, is the son of a railroad worker, and he spent summers during his youth riding the tracks with his father. In his early days as an entrepreneur, he courted prospective customers by taking them on short trips in chartered private cars. The novelty of these outings resulted in a stunning increase in his business, he says. (On his swing through California, Henry stopped in San Francisco to bring aboard representatives of a Napa Valley winery. “After one hour, we sold them,” he exults.)
In January 2004, he finally decided to invest in his own cars—a dome, dubbed the Warren R. Henry in honor of his father, and a sleeper, the Evelyn Henry, named for his mother. He and his fiancée, Rhonda Coolures, spent three months refurbishing them. They now use them for both personal and business occasions.
At Home on the Rails
MEALS USUALLY are served in the dome where views can be spectacular.
Private varnish cars lack little in the way of accoutrements. Guests enter Henry’s three-level dome car from the rear platform and walk into a mahogany-lined living room sporting satellite TV, Internet access and a wet bar. A dining room on the lower level is furnished with china and crystal for formal dinners for 10; it easily converts to a conference room. The kitchen is located a step up from the dining room, at the front of the car. The glass dome dominates the top floor. Swivel chairs enable guests to gaze at the passing scenery without craning their necks. Henry and his companions usually dine at the three small tables beneath the dome, eschewing the high style of the formal dining room in order to enjoy the panoramic views.
The sleeper car, with room for 12, boasts a master bedroom and six small rooms that convert into three suites. The crew generally consists of two: the chef and a steward, whom a traveler can summon from the dome or the bedrooms with the press of a button. The luxuries of private rail travel are quite clear to train enthusiasts. “What’s not to like?” asks Stan Garner, who once owned a small rail line between the Southern California communities of Santa Paula and Fillmore. He now owns cars for personal use, as well as for renting to the film industry. “It’s a very relaxing environment. You’re not going through metal detectors. You get a little bit of peace and quiet.”
However, private rail travel, no matter how luxurious and relaxing, is not the transportation of choice for those with demanding timetables. The cars make their way to destinations by tagging along on the rear of regularly scheduled passenger trains run by Amtrak and Via Rail Canada. Not only is lead time required for scheduling a run (a minimum of 10 days; ideally a month), but passenger trains are often sidetracked while waiting for freight traffic to clear. In fact, in August 2004 only 63 percent of Amtrak trains ran on schedule.
Private rail aficionados, however, say the mise-en-scène mitigates the tedium of trackside lingering. “If you don’t have to get somewhere at any specific time, it’s the most pleasant way to travel,” explains Phil Sheridan, a private varnish owner who also flies on business several times a week. “With your own car, you get to sleep in a bed when you want, you have food when you want, you carry what you want. You don’t just sit there.” Garner concurs: “You’re not traveling in order to get someplace at a particular time. You’re traveling for the pleasure of the journey.”
VALUE JUDGEMENT Similar to ocean-going yachts, private railcars provide an almost unmatched level of comfort and luxury. But these vehicles are often expensive to refurbish and must meet stringent safety standards. Moreover, private cars are pulled by commercial railways, leaving travelers vulnerable to scheduling snafus. |
Whistle-Stop Provenance
The affluent traveled in private-car luxury until World War II, when many owners donated them to the military for the war effort. Afterward, as air travel became safe and reliable, the rails lost their luster. Today, provenance plays a role in the desirability of a railcar. Sheridan, the owner of San Francisco-based International Fire Equipment, has four private varnish cars. Two—the Houston and the Los Angeles—he uses primarily for personal expeditions, but he also charters them. The Houston was the favorite car of Lyndon Johnson, he says. Southern Pacific owned the car when Johnson was president, and kept it on call for him. The Los Angeles was the car Robert Kennedy used on his trip down the California coast the day before his death. Ronald Reagan, a railroad buff, frequently dined on the Los Angeles, Sheridan says. Cars once owned by the Vanderbilts and Wrigleys are among those now available for charter.
Basic private railcars can be found on the market for less than $100,000, and owners can expect to spend in the neighborhood of $50,000 in interior furnishings to create a pleasant unit. Some devotees, however, have spent as much as $1 million refurbishing their cars. Owners caution that mechanical work, which can take as long as three years to complete, can increase the cost by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Before a refurbished car meets the rails, exacting specifications for brakes, wheels, power and wastewater must be met. Amtrak regulations require a visual exam before each trip, an annual inspection, a major inspection every 10 years and a rebuild every 40 years, Garner says.
Even after a complete renovation, expenses mount. “It’s not the cost, it’s the upkeep,” Henry notes. “You’re talking about cars built in the ’20s and ’30s, and when you have a part that breaks down, it’s not like you can run to The Home Depot.” The tight network of private car owners can usually provide referrals to mechanics at virtually any stop. Some repairs are refreshingly simple; Henry once spent $15 to fix a leaking dome window.
It Takes a Train
Once a car is in proper operating condition, it can travel on nearly any Amtrak or Via Rail Canada route. The railroads charge private car owners based on mileage, switching and parking. The total operating bill, including crew and miscellaneous charges, can run as high as $5,000 per car, per day. When not in use, cars sit on spurs or in rail yards. Specialized locations that boast amenities also are an option. Hanover Park, operated by the Morristown & Erie Railway on the grounds of the Whippany Railroad Museum in New Jersey, even offers concierge service.
While owners may garner a profit when selling their private cars, those of us primarily seeking a return on our investments should look elsewhere. “Owning a private railcar is something you have to want to do,” Garner says. “You put a lot more into it than you ever get out. You don’t put in $300,000 to $400,000 and at the end of five years get to sell it for 5 percent profit.” However, these cars do offer ancillary benefits, he adds, including tax deductions for allowable business expenses, charter fees and, of course, personal enjoyment.
As with their yacht- and jet-owning brethren, railcar owners find that chartering defrays expenses. “When you use it for charter, the car has a good return on investment,” Sheridan says. John Kirkwood, from whom Henry bought his two cars, started rebuilding private cars 22 years ago. Today he is involved in seven business partnerships spanning a range of industries; Rail Ventures is the business that grew out of his passion for trains. “When you can do what Patrick is doing and tie it into the promotion of a business, it makes great sense financially,” he notes. “It’s a special treat; a novelty for people.”
Rewards—both tangible and intangible—outweigh expenses, Henry maintains. “It’s great for bonding. You watch from the dome and have your cocktails together. You see buffalo in Colorado, deer in Texas and porpoises outside Santa Barbara. It’s a wonderful feeling,” he says with a broad smile. “And nothing is more beautiful than at night. You turn off the lights and see stars while going 70 miles per hour. You can’t even begin to describe it to people.”
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| THESE CARS do offer ancillary benefits, including tax deductions for allowable business expenses, charter fees and, of course, personal enjoyment. |
While some people struggle to get away to their vacation home, Stephensen lives in what he calls “my cabin on the creek.” If he wants a different view, he can hook up to a train and travel the rails. “You buy these as a labor of love,” he adds. “It’s not the type of thing a stuffed-shirt business person should get involved in.”
Photography courtesy Patrick Henry Creative Promotions.