[chiph]

This is my "if I won the lottery" dream. Which it would have to be, since everything about it isn't cheap. Purchasing a Pullman car then upgrading it to Amtrak standards will cost at least $300k. Any interior upgrades are on top of that (renovating the galley with modern appliances, adding central air since some cars used block ice for cooling). Amtrak requires you add 480v head-end power (but you will likely want a diesel generator too), door control/communication wiring, and to upgrade the braking system.

Once you have your car and you have passed your annual inspection, you will need somewhere to park it, which usually means finding a short-line railroad or commercial business with a siding near you, and paying them a fee. Getting the car from there to the nearest Amtrak station will require you to hire a locomotive with crew (some tracks require a second car coupled to the locomotive so crossings & signals work correctly). Amtrak then has a whole schedule of fees they will charge you, from $4.09 per mile, overnight parking, fresh & wastewater servicing, transponder tags, and parking fees.

You will want to hire a chef to prepare your meals and perhaps also a steward to serve the meals, make drinks, and take care of the staterooms. I'm not sure if they need to belong to the union since they would be your employees, not the railroads (but probably).

For the less than 100 private cars in operation in America, why does Amtrak even offer this service? Like the first class section on an airliner, it's effectively all profit for them since the train was going there anyway and the extra fuel to haul it & supply power is minimal. Personally I wonder why Amtrak doesn't offer a "Presidential" fare, where 6 or so people can book a private car and get truly top tier service.

Here's what a restored Pullman car can look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdroQ4JqlYQ

[Kon-Peki]

You seem to know what you’re talking about, so…

I’ve heard that occasionally (rarely) they need to put some “public” cars behind the private ones. And if that happens, you are not allowed to prevent the public passengers from walking through your private car to get between the public sections.

Is that the case?

[chiph]

Yes that's true. They try to put private cars at the front or rear of a train, but sometimes they aren't able to. So you may have the public walking through as you eat dinner. Comes with the territory {shrug}.

Train crew (conductors) always have the right to walk through the car. If your train goes into Tampa Florida for example, the train has to reverse out of the station to a wye so it can turn around. If you are the end car, the conductor will be there watching for problems, manning the emergency brake, and communicating with the engineer on their radio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wye_(rail)

The new trainsets that Amtrak just ordered from Siemens Mobility come with cab cars, so the crew can use that to control the train and not be out in the weather (and have full gauges, etc.) The cab cars are part economy seating so if your private car is on that train, you will probably end up sandwiched between the cab car and the rest of the train and have people walking through.

[fabioborellini]

Railroad companies having cab cars in Europe do sometimes run them in the middle of trains. It is not impossible, it just voids the benefits of having a cab car for the particular train and schedule. Sometimes it is acceptable in the greater scheme of scheduling and planning.

One example that comes to my mind is prisoner transports. I have seen a prisoner car (which cannot be passed through by passengers or crew, it has no doors at the ends) in front of cab car. In that sense, the cab car is being used as a normal passenger car, of course in the rear end of the train.

So, if Amtrak values private cars and privacy in such cars enough I think they can find a solution without people passing through. If the schedules require faster turnarounds, one low-tech solution is not selling tickets to the cab car.

[adriand]

I feel like for people with the means to have one of these, having the plebeians pass through your car is a feature, not a bug.

[chiph]

I shall have to acquire a smoking jacket, a monocle, and a brandy snifter for those occasions. ;)

[btbuildem]

I don't follow, why would you want the rabble to pass through your private space?

[gambiting]

Well for the exact same reason why it's so fun to drive a very expensive very flashy sports car through a crowded area - you get a lot of attention and everyone thinks "wow this person must be loaded". If that's your thing of course.

Same reason why rich people open up their gardens and dining halls and art collections to the public from time to time - to show off.

[itronitron]

That would really need to be taken into account by the person running the murder mystery game.

[worthless-trash]

It made my day that this still happens, and that it exists.. so very cool.

[iancmceachern]

Yeah, and it makes me happy this commenter knows so much about it all

[wahern]

> The new trainsets that Amtrak just ordered from Siemens Mobility come with cab cars, so the crew can use that to control the train and not be out in the weather

So basically a caboose? Albeit more sophisticated.

[throwaheyy]

No, it is a passenger car with a full driving cab hooked into the multiple unit control lines to operate the locomotive at the other end.

[HWR_14]

So you have to worry about the actual sleeping room doors being locked, and cannot leave a laptop just lying out in the dining room?

[chiph]

Trains are actually pretty safe, but I wouldn't leave a pricey item out where someone could take it. So far as locking your stateroom door - I'd do that at night just to keep curious teens who are exploring the train out.

[nkrisc]

If you’ve got a private rail car on an Amtrak train in the first place, I’m sure you can afford enough staff for a night watch shift if you really were concerned.

[Kon-Peki]

Are these new trains different from the Siemens locomotives that Amtrak have been using in the Midwest for the last ~10 years? I don’t recall ever seeing anything on the back of those trains.

[chiph]

They've been running the Siemens Charger locomotives for a little while, and are phasing out the GE Genesis locomotives (which are at end-of-life) as new Chargers are delivered.

The new trainsets are the Siemens Venture cars. Brightline in Florida is already running a version of them - their cars are set up for high platforms only (all their stations have high platforms). The Amtrak cars will work with both high & low platforms, as the older stations on their network still have low platforms (passengers need to step up into the cars)

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/first-look...

[HankB99]

I wonder if it's like the double-decker passenger cars used for Metra in Chicago. These trains never change direction (like Amtrak) but just run forward (IIRC) into the city and reverse back out to the suburbs. The car on the end has a small cab where the engineer sits and controls the train when it is running reversed. From the outside the difference between that and a passenger car is pretty subtle.

[Kon-Peki]

Ha! I’ve always thought that all the Metra cars were identical and each one had a cab for when the train is heading into the city (Metra always configures trains so they “back into” the Chicago terminal (Union Station/Ogilvie/LaSalle).

Like the CTA (and the South Shore) trains - every single pair could be be the lead. They all have a spot for a driver (engineer?)

[bluGill]

Depending on personality you might enjoy a conversation with random strangers walking through.

See I knew there was a plus.

[state_less]

I’ve been riding the Indian rail system the last few weeks and generally don’t mind the other folks in the car. The thing that does get my goat is folks blasting audio out of their devices. Most folks are fine, but it it only takes a few to spoil the fun.

Rail is nice here in that it’s often electric, you don’t need to focus on the road and there is more room to move around than on a plane or a car.

[DonHopkins]

How long have you been traveling on trains with your goat? How does he enjoy it, as long as folks aren't irritating him by blasting audio?

[paledot]

It's been great, but the wolf and chickens can be a pain sometimes when you have to go to the bathroom in the next car.

[DonHopkins]

Is it as bad as what happens when you mix two birds and a dog on a train?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m6aomlQLjE

[Waterluvian]

My billionaire dream is to make a 2/1 scale model railway. These little ride-on hobby railways are very cool. But I want everything twice as big as the real thing. Impractical, but conceptually hilarious IMO.

[euroderf]

If you can design an appropriate 12V DC power system you're halfway there.

[shepherdjerred]

Oh this would be hilarious. Let's get a kickstarter going

[jandrese]

Would it be possible to instead buy an Amtrak car and then just do the interior upgrades? Seems like it would save a lot of work on upgrades. I have to assume that Amtrak eventually retires the cars at some point. Or heck, if you're rich just buy an unfinished car from whatever company makes Amtrak cars and then finish it yourself.

[rchowe]

Many of the private railcars in existence today are ex-Amtrak, because when Amtrak was formed on May 1, 1971, they assumed most of the passenger rolling stock of the railroads that discharged passenger service.

Supposedly the biggest cost associated with refurbishing a car is passing the Amtrak inspection of the bogies, axles, and wheels -- I believe they have to be completely replaced at 40 years of age. When a railroad retires a car, this equipment may be close to end-of-life.

Many freight railroads still have "office-car specials" -- passenger equipment for the executives to use. Those would probably be the easiest to get up to Amtrak specs.

Trivia: Amtrak will only run trains with private railcars at a maximum speed of 110 mph. On the Northeast Corridor, private railcars are only allowed to be added to the overnight Northeast Regional train which normally travels at 125 mph -- but there's enough padding in the schedule that they can slow it down to 110 without affecting the timetable.

[Cupertino95014]

Thinking entrepreneurially here:

Why not lease a car for a month, or a year? All those inspection, maintenance, parking, and labor costs are rolled into your fee, except the railroad can handle them much better than you can.

If it's "your" car, only people you approve of can sit in it. It's a rolling party!

[runarberg]

I’ve had similar thoughts, not as a entrepreneur, but as a way to squander the lottery money on one epic party, that starts in Seattle and ends 32 hours later in LA.

[kotaKat]

I've considered chartering a transit bus from my local transit authority for a birthday party before just to tool around town in for a few hours. They only want ~$600 CAD for 3 hours ($200/hr after), and you get to choose what type of bus from their fleet you want -- a 40 foot, a 60' artic, or a double decker (with routing approval). Not a bad way to do a bar crawl or otherwise.

[Cupertino95014]

This is actually a great idea. No need for anyone to be the designated driver, and you can go to places not within walking distance.

A really enterprising transit agency (an oxymoron there) would create The Party Bus and promote the hell out of it. Rip out all the seats and put in couches. Special lighting. Use your imagination.

[MandieD]

Nürnberg’s city transit service has a fleet of historic (“Oldtimer”) streetcars and busses that can be rented for events - here are the streetcars: https://event.vag.de/event-flotte/oldtimer-strassenbahnflott...

Edited to add: you can, of course, also rent the modern busses and streetcars. And even subway cars!

[Symbiote]

Buses like this drive around Copenhagen.

It's pretty much only young people that hire them.

https://copenhagenpartybus.dk/

[dzhiurgis]

What? Party buses are all over the place.

[lupire]

You've seen Snowpiercer, right?

[club_tropical]

Hope you can make this happen.

[sbierwagen]

Unless you used the car routinely, a hackier solution would be just to buy out a block of rooms in the sleeper car.

Amtrak.com suggests rooms from Seattle to LA are ~$700 each. https://www.craigmashburn.com/amtrakcardiagrams.html says a Superliner sleeper car has 20 rooms. So you could rent out an entire car for about $14,000. Complementary meals included!

[hn_user2]

Or just rent a Pullman car. I have not actually reserved one, but I always find myself searching around for charter companies when I see these types of articles.

These guys claim $2500 a day for a charter. Not sure if it is legit or if there are other fees. (I assume you then also pay all the Amtrak fees). But I do have this on my back burner to try sometime. Since they offer some 4 bedroom coaches. Would be fun to get a group together to split the cost.

https://www.pullmans.com

[spc476]

I got to ride a private car for a few hours [1] thanks to a friend who rented one for a family vacation/birthday gift. The car went from Jacksonville, FL (where the private car resides), to Miami, then to Chicago via Washington, D.C. (or New York, I don't recall) then back to Jacksonville, FL. Even though he got a good price (he knows the owner), and he never mentioned the price, it wouldn't surprise me if the week vacation cost over the price of a new car (the price did cover the two "employees" that came with the car, a chef and a porter).

[1] http://boston.conman.org/2015/08/05.4

[jbeales]

The American Association of Private Railcar Owners has a page on their website listing cars available for charter: https://www.aaprco.com/travel/cars-for-charter/

[mschuster91]

> Amtrak then has a whole schedule of fees they will charge you, from $4.09 per mile, overnight parking, fresh & wastewater servicing, transponder tags, and parking fees.

> For the less than 100 private cars in operation in America, why does Amtrak even offer this service?

Probably same situation as in Europe, they're legally mandated to give access to people and companies to their service under FRAND conditions. If you're interested, the fee tables are for nets and stations [0][1].

[0] https://www.deutschebahn.com/de/geschaefte/infrastruktur/bah...

[1] https://fahrweg.dbnetze.com/fahrweg-de/kunden/leistungen/tra...

[cebert]

I have a similar, but more attainable train goal of riding the Amtrak Empire Builder route from Chicago to Spokane. The route looks beautiful and has a few nice stops along the way.

[kortilla]

If you want a shorter version that cuts out all of the flatlands, fly to Great Falls, rent a car and drop it/board at East Glacier and then ride it to Spokane.

[kylehotchkiss]

Do it before they shut down the long hauls! I can’t see it being feasible for Amtrak to keep running those for decades to come.

[runarberg]

I don’t see them shutting down all the long haul routes in the next decade or two. They would have to keep servicing the segments with shorter routes, which probably means they’d have to invest in some infrastructure, and I don’t see them getting the funding for that anytime soon. And even if that happens, they would probably save a couple of long haul routes for historic or cultural reasons. And given how popular the Empire Builder is, and how sparsely populated areas it goes through—meaning it is harder to justify the infrastructure that enables shorter routes—the Empire Builder will probably be the last long haul route to go.

I think the Empire Builder will still be there in 2040, even if it will only be a weekly run, mostly for tourists.

[mplanchard]

Rode this going the other way (Portland to Chicago) this summer! It’s a gorgeous ride, at least until eastern Montana, which is a whole heck of a lot of nothing for a very long time. Totally worth it for going through the Columbia River Gorge and passing through Glacier National park, though!

[CompleteWalker]

Pay attention to the timing of your ride! I rode this trip once and didn't get to the Rockies until it was too dark to see much of anything out the windows.

[aoetalks]

>For the less than 100 private cars in operation in America, why does Amtrak even offer this service?

What are you trying to ask? Don’t you answer this question, below?

>Like the first class section on an airliner, it's effectively all profit for them since the train was going there anyway and the extra fuel to haul it & supply power is minimal.

Or are you saying, there’s only 100 private cars, why not allow a Presidential fare from a fleet Amtrak cars?

My answer would be “ Like the first class section on an airliner, it's effectively all profit for them” this isn’t actually true. First class sections on planes were until recently mostly filled with frequent fliers that got free upgrades [1]. Those first class seats eat up a lot of space that could be directed to revenue-generating economy seats.

So I would imagine one reason Amtrak doesn’t offer a Presidential fare is because Amtrak would need to retrofit some cars to have that experience, and manage demand of those cars. The penalties of empty cars is less than that of an plane, but still.

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/11/03/why-its-getting-harder-t...

[notpushkin]

I think it was a rhetorical question of sorts.

[pmarreck]

1) buy and renovate a car

2) Establish a veeeery special AirBNB

3) Profit!

[walrus01]

On the scale of people who own their private G650 jet or 250 foot yacht with 10+ full time crew it's probably quite affordable.

[chiph]

Too late to add this to my original post, but a video popped up where an AAPRCO member and car owner allowed a Youtuber to travel on his private car while it and several other cars were being positioned from Chicago to West Virginia for a charter trip. Includes the stunning Cedar Rapids observation car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSkysFOkupI

[saiya-jin]

A good friend of one of my ex was from india and their family had whole private train, I guess to compensate for bad roads back then. I guess its easier there with enough cash and connections. Great career, but he was/is quite out of touch with reality of how most people live their lives not only due to this.

[Symbiote]

In Britain it's straightforward to charter a private train from anywhere to anywhere else. It's most commonly done by football supporter clubs, so if Liverpool FC are playing at Wembley 500 supporters can travel direct from a station in Liverpool to Wembley Stadium Station in London.

Large business also do this for company events etc.

https://www.trainchartering.com/press/news_wembley.html is one company.

[don_albrecht]

I never wanted one to go anywhere, I've always wanted one for a tiny house / social space on my property. They always struck me as a perfect option for a unique cabin. I know there are old rail car hotels, but I've never seen one that epitomizes the pullman luxury.

[UIUC_06]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Station_(restaurant)

[TrevorJ]

A couple generations ago it was not uncommon for people in rural areas to buy old boxcars from the railroad for this purpose. My grandfather did it.

[mauvehaus]

Prior art: The Boxcar Children.

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

Not to be confused with the yet to be written The Bockscar Children, which would be a bleaker series altogether.

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

[h0l0cube]

> Getting the car from there to the nearest Amtrak station will require you to hire a locomotive with crew

I know long haul battery-electric trains don't make sense [0], but if it's a short distance, would it be feasible to have inbuilt battery + engine just to get the car to the Amtrak and maybe as backup power?

> (some tracks require a second car coupled to the locomotive so crossings & signals work correctly)

Obviously it wouldn't obviate this technicality.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0qcxyyllQ4

[ehnto]

I have to imagine it's a similar scenario to pilots taking over your vessel in certain ports and passages. The job of the pilot (or the Amtrak hired crew) is that they are aligned with the port's goals and understand their scheduling and rules. I can't imagine they would want a private car moving of it's own accord operated by the owner, so you might still have to hire the Amtrak crew, and they might not be willing to operate your personal car since crew have to be trained on the locomotives. I am speculating though, I have no idea.

[h0l0cube]

Good points. I guess it makes even more sense when considering that the crew also needs to transport themselves to the car from the station

[twobitshifter]

Correct, to drive the train you’d need to have an engineer qualified on the railroad.

[CoastalCoder]

Thanks for the really interesting writeup!

> Personally I wonder why Amtrak doesn't offer a "Presidential" fare, where 6 or so people can book a private car and get truly top tier service.

Could a 3rd-party company offer this? I.e., they own and operate the Presidential-like cars, and are a contractual middle-man between Amtrak and the riders?

[TecoAndJix]

Not the same, but I'm up the road from the Strasburg Railroad and they have some fancy cars you can dine in. I would love something like that from Lancaster to Philly or Philly to NYC https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/

Fun local news fact: someone left their excavator on the tracks and one of the locomotives crashed into it Wednesday !

https://www.wgal.com/article/train-crash-at-strasburg-railro...

[mrapathy2]

There's a company that operates a route between Chicago and New Orleans with a restored Pullman, attached behind a standard Amtrak car. See:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/travel/all-aboard-for-a-t... https://railsnw.com/tours/Pullman/Rail-only-information3.htm

The economics of it are likely difficult, but there's at least precedent.

[CoastalCoder]

They should call it the Precendtial!

[david422]

Maybe like a timeshare. You can have this car reserved for November .

[cultofmetatron]

> Personally I wonder why Amtrak doesn't offer a "Presidential" fare

they should call it "railforce one"

[chiph]

Cool that you made that connection - the Ferdinand Magellan is an armored rail car that was used by various presidents since FDR, and is on display at a museum near Miami. It's name when the president was on board was "U.S. Car No.1"

The famous "Dewey defeats Truman" newspaper photo was taken on it's platform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2NNujJKJL4

[e40]

I didn't know that was my "if I won the lottery" dream, until I read this comment. Seems so cool.

[nordsieck]

> This is my "if I won the lottery" dream.

Could you explain a bit more about why you would want this? This seems strictly inferior to buying a box truck and converting it for "van life".

[chiph]

I like trains. And I wouldn't have to be the one driving - I'd be the one sitting at my dining room table enjoying my postprandial bliss.

Downside is you're limited to where Amtrak goes (or having to hire a locomotive and getting permission from Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, etc. to use their tracks)

If I wanted to go the van-life route, I'd probably order a B-Box from Advanced RV in Cleveland. They have more interior room than a Sprinter and are better insulated. Costs about the same as a railcar and currently has a year-long wait.

[adolph]

  post·pran·di·al | ˌpōs(t)ˈprandēəl |
  adjective
  formal or humorous during or relating to the period after dinner or lunch: we were jolted from our postprandial torpor.
  • Medicine occurring after a meal: an annual postprandial blood glucose test.
  ORIGIN
  early 19th century: from post- ‘after’ + Latin prandium ‘a meal’ + -al.

[rsync]

The very best answer:

“I like trains.”

[euroderf]

One factual reason: trains don't sway and jostle as crudely as motor vehicles, so sleep is infinitely better. Also drinks do not spill.

[missedthecue]

If you're hiring chefs and stuff for your train car, buying a high end motorcoach and hiring a driver seems superior and more affordable in basically every other way.

[jesuscript]

There’s inherent safety built into this dream. Van life in the woods sounds dangerous. Your train is traveling at a certain speed at all times on a route that’s operated by professionals. You are also not utterly alone and there is a company that can provide some customer support. You’ll never have to make a stop at a shady motel or gas station.

Van life is a first class ticket to becoming a tidbit in serial killers life story.

[chrisco255]

I live the RV life. Before this I camped in a rooftop tent mounted to my truck. The woods are among the least dangerous places you can go. But also, shocking as this is, you can take your truck or van to dense urban areas if you desire. There is little need for "customer support" when you are driving your own vehicle. Occasionally you get repair problems but mechanics are readily available in even small towns. Van life is not that dramatic.

[latchkey]

Funny, I own a campervan and have driven all up and down the west coast. The one single time I had something weird happen, it was in the middle of nowhere in a forest in Oregon. Parked on the side of the dirt road in a little side road off the main road. Was sound asleep when I heard a banging on the door. Must have been 3am or something... I got up and peered out the window covers and saw a guy standing there yelling at me to open the door. It was freezing cold out and he was wearing not much clothes for how cold it was. He looked like he had been sleeping in the forest for quite some time (dirty, long hair, beard). I yelled back at him no way that I was going to open the door and he yelled something back at me and stormed off. Didn't hear anything from him again. Grabbed a knife to keep it close and went back to bed. That was one freaky weird experience. I thought about driving off, but didn't want to try to find another place to park in the middle of the night and it seemed like he was gone so I just let it go.

[chrisco255]

That is indeed weird but could even more easily happen in downtown Portland as in the middle of the woods. I definitely think you need to maintain situational awareness and carry protection, but that is true of any kind of travel.

[latchkey]

I also spent 2 years living on a motorbike went 15k km all over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos... some of the most remote places... never once had an issue with anyone.

That said, in this case, I wasn't sleep out in the middle of a forest but I do have friends who do it more camping style and they haven't had issues.

I guess it is all just luck of the draw (or some say, karma).

[codazoda]

Ever use that roof top tent in urban areas? How hard is that?

Where I live you can park on the street for 48 hours. I suspect, however, that you can’t sleep there. You would get a knock at the very least. So, I’ve considered an incognito van that looks like a work truck. But, I wonder if you could just pop up a roof tent and sleep wherever.

I’m mostly talking about city center here. As an example, I’d love to do this in neighborhoods in CA (where locals are already street parking).

[chrisco255]

> Ever use that roof top tent in urban areas? How hard is that?

In a Walmart parking lot, yeah. I generally use Austin as my base, and in Austin, people sleep in normal tents all over the place. Rarely are they kicked out. If you're trying to park in a well-to-do neighborhood, it's possible you'll get called out for it, but quite likely if you're quiet and clean and gone the next day no one will say anything. Often, I see the big recreational vans when I'm traveling. People park them and sleep in them everywhere. As long as you're not staying multiple nights in a row in the same place, you're generally not going to bother anyone (they will usually assume you're just resting from travel).

But honestly, state & national parks are usually the way to go, particularly for tents. Sometimes it's free, sometimes it's a $5 per night honor system deposit envelope, occasionally it's a park ranger registration, depending on the location. And you don't always have to travel far off a main highway to get to a decent campsite, there's tons of spots if you look.

[bluGill]

Unless local law forbids Walmart allows free camping. There are also truck stops all over that will let RVs camp overnight (they might object to a slide out). Of course there are campgrounds all over as well.

You won't find much downtown, but get out just a little and there are options.

[prawn]

I've travelled on a few luxury multi-day train trips* and also lived for months out of a bus, camping in forests, etc. Both have felt very safe to me. People are unnecessarily paranoid about camping in forests! The best aspect of the train trips are catered food/drink, not having to drive and otherwise sitting in your cabin with a book. Obviously you don't have the flexibility of stopping, backtracking or deviating as you wish. The luxury train trips I linked below have excursions via bus to the scenic highlights.

Reading a book in your train cabin or the bar/lounge is nice enough, but so is parking somewhere with a view and the windows open, and lazing around on the bed/couch in your bus/van. e.g., we recently free-camped on the rim of a canyon: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkSY_0IODqd/

The best option IMO is a mid-scale (100pax) expedition cruise like this: https://coralexpeditions.com/au/destinations/the-kimberley/k... You get a larger room, amazing changing scenery often from a private balcony, superior expeditions, catered meals, science lectures, etc. It is superb, if you can justify paying the $1k/night - similar pricepoint to the rail trips.

* https://www.journeybeyondrail.com.au/

[bmsleight_]

How would you compare the luxury multi-day train trips to a (sea) cruise ? I am generally interested in trying out the multi-day train, I done many overnight sleep trains in the UK. I like cruises, (like you said not having to drive siting with a book and watching the next destination get closer).

[prawn]

I haven't done a sea cruise, other than on a freighter from Shanghai to Hong Kong back in the early 90s: not luxury! I've also done overnight trains through Asia/India/etc which are a great experience, but nothing luxury about them (triple storey bunks, people sleeping in the aisles).

The train/cruise trips I linked have been free/contra as I'm a photographer, but in each case I've largely had the same experience as a passenger, just without feeling a need to measure my enjoyment against the cost. The Kimberley trip with Coral Expeditions is comfortably at the top - you're in and out of inlets and amongst islands so the views are always interesting and changing, the landings via Zodiacs are to beautiful/historic places. Catered meals, drinks with views, cloudless weather every day, adventurous and interesting people to meet and eat with at meals. The optional afternoon lectures might be about exploration history, indigenous art, animals and environments, by seriously experienced guides. There's more variety in strolling the ship - bridge and engine room tours as well. And 100pax is a great size because you know everyone by name by the end, unless you've tried to avoid it you've had a meal with everyone including the captain, etc.

Of the Journey Beyond trips, Great Southern is the best of the two I've done. Same train as The Ghan, but it's a newer trip so the off-train wine/dine is ramped up and impressive (we photographed the second-ever trip and had the designer of the route/locations along with us). The food and drink is relentless - you eat and drink at wineries, lunch in an old gaol, out beside the beach, amongst mountains, etc. On train, you're typically in the dining carriage (2-4 person tables), the bar/lounge where you can meet other passengers, or in your small room. The base cabin is a couch which turned into a top/bottom bunk; higher class option has a queen murphy bed. On those trains, not a single window in the passenger areas is openable, so it's a bit stuffier.

The cruise rooms were far larger, king-size beds, excellent en suites, a completely comfortable and usable desk, balcony, etc. Lying on the bed with a book or working at the desk with the balcony doors open to the breeze and passing ocean was just serene. At meals, there were tables for 4-10 people and you'd just ask to join any available spots; even for an introvert, you inevitably meet interesting people. The sorts of people who are on a $1k/night expedition cruise are typically well-travelled, have interesting jobs, etc. Over 60 meals, even the dullest people I sat with were a decent, friendly couple who I was happy to talk with.

The rail trips are great, but feel a bit more contained and herded. 2-3 nights feels like it's over quite quickly too. Both formats typically attract older clientele, though there were solo 40-50s on our trips, and I find all ages fun to engage with anyway. Meals on the rail trip were probably better; The Ghan actually does a nice thing where the meals are relevant to the area you're passing through. So as you leave South Australia you're eating seafood but by the time you're in the Northern Territory, it's barramundi, macadamias, mango, buffalo, etc.

[kennedywm]

You’re more likely to die in a train accident than be murdered by a serial killer.

[lazyasciiart]

And many times more likely to die in a road accident than either.

Edit: apparently this comment, or something immediately before, was so objectionable that I got a temp ban. God knows what is going on with that.

[vore]

I feel like there's a very different aesthetic between living in a van and using a private train car.

[jonnybgood]

A private rail car with your own chef and other luxury amenities is inferior to a truck with a bed in it that you have to drive yourself?

[matthewwolfe]

I think the comparison being made is why restrict yourself to a rail line when you can buy a huge bus with a driver and private chef and have them drive you anywhere you want.

[polio]

It really isn't about the destination. If it were, one would just fly. To me, the elegance of rail is in its ability to travel through more secluded areas, to do so quietly, and to afford a person enough space to kick back without the need for a seatbelt.

[lovich]

The view as well. It’s not a requirement of trains vs trucking but due to history train tracks go through many more scenic routes that are built or grown over, and aren’t 3-6 lane highways blasted through nature.

[IgorPartola]

You also don’t stop and go as much. With a bus you stop at every stop light in every suburb you drive through and speed changes all the time. A train makes a few predictable very manageable stops.

[Spooky23]

I had an opportunity to ride one of these. It was like a private jet except you can live out of it in a way. The train experience is pretty awesome.

Also, rail rights of way are ancient, so you land in the center of major cities.

[cma]

You're a lot safer walking around a moving train car than a moving box van, even if you have hired a driver.

[gwbas1c]

How does this compare to traveling in a chauffeured and staffed RV? (The kind of thing that rock stars or movie stars might do.)

[chiph]

You have more room, mostly. A Prevost bus conversion is 45 feet long while a railcar is 80-ish feet long (less a few feet for the vestibule and/or rear platform). The rail car is wider, except when you park your bus and put the slide-outs out.

Of course, travel options are significantly broader with an RV since paved roads go everywhere. However you can't take an RV into some cities in the northeast - I know that Washington DC and Baltimore have banned them from their streets. Whereas Amtrak takes you right into the city center.

[TimMeade]

Thanks for the video. I always wondered about Duke. That put a great 'face' to the name.

[amelius]

Does Amtrak require that other people can pass through your car?

[euroderf]

see comments elsewhere