[kposehn]

Ok, you're subscriber number one then. Anyone else? I'm completely serious. Private Varnish (ie: private railcars) have always been something I love. It would be a hoot to live in one with my fam for a year (if I can convince them).

[techdragon]

I'm all on this for actually helping physically do this (even for loose definitions of physical, like run a website haha, but I'd imagine someone on HN restoring a train carriage could manage a Wix/SquareSpace/etc site by themselves)... I've wanted to build a steam engine since I was a kid, I thought it would be amazing to design a stupidly modern steam engine and break the world records with it, and this, while this is not a steam engine, it is honestly the closest I'll probably get to any of that dream given how impractical it is ...

[Symbiote]

People are building steam locomotives, they're are several projects in Britain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotives_of_the_21st_...

[techdragon]

That sort of backs up my point though, the majority (all but one!) of the projects are rebuilding traditional steam engines for heritage/historical reasons. The one advanced/modern project was abandoned for lack of interest and done by a private company.

Also I’m in Western Australia… One of the two Australian projects on that page (based in Victoria) no longer has a functioning web page, which is not a good sign given the cost of a website compared to rent for a workshop big enough for a steam engine. The other project is making slow progress over the last decade building a replica of a late 19th century design which while cool and I hope they eventually finish it, doesn’t stoke the fires of my imagination enough to uproot my entire life to move closer so I can physically help make it happen.

[ehnto]

Plenty of hobby clubs build wooden boats for fun as a group, why not railcars!