Train travel used to be so streamlined

By adamg on Sat, 08/27/2016 - 5:03pm

Old passenger car parked at South Station in Boston

Geep9 snapped this old passenger car, the Babbling Brook, parked at South Station today. New England States was the New York Central's flagship train on the Boston-Chicago route.

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Comments

whoa I may know what this is about

By kernelPanic on Sat, 08/27/2016 - 5:07pm.

Was talking to a fairly senior biz friend last week and he said that he knows a local dude who is really into trains and had engaged a private trainset to take a bunch of people from BOS to NYC to celebrate a birthday. I wonder if this is them? If so I'm really regretting not weaseling an invite .. that is a beauty of a car

take me

By geep9 on Sat, 08/27/2016 - 5:16pm.

Take me!

Any group trips offered in well appointed railcars?...

By theszak on Sun, 08/28/2016 - 1:21am.

a) What organizations arrange group trips in well appointed railcars?... not limited to for example, West to Niagara Falls or North to Montreal or to New York City.

b) What forthcoming trips are offered?...

I rode from NY to Boston (via

By leviramsey on Tue, 08/30/2016 - 10:27pm.

I rode from NY to Boston (via Albany; Amtrak only allows private varnish direct between NY and Boston on the overnight train) on Babbling Brook (and a couple of other ex-NY Central cars, but I spent my time in Babbling Brook), which was being moved to Boston back in May for the Trustees of Reservations party in Ipswich. As I remember it was a few hundred dollars per person with two meals and all the booze you can drink.

The group representing owners of private railcars regularly lists which car owners are offering general-public excursions, though none in the Northeast are forthcoming.

Downeaster Dome Car

By dmk on Sun, 08/28/2016 - 10:48am.

The Amtrak Downeaster to Maine is currently running a 1950s era dome car for the next couple of weeks or so. More at: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/08/22/views-from-downeaster-trains-dome-car-are-top-of-the-line/

Private rail care are quite expensive these days to maintain. In order to be moved between cities they must meet current safety standards, and be wired and piped (brakes) so they can be put anywhere in a consist (chain of rail cars). Getting a railroad to add them in and move them often requires months or planning and reservations. It's not like hailing a taxi.

There's still a decent number

By DTP on Mon, 08/29/2016 - 9:40am.

There's still a decent number of private cars roaming the rails. Pretty much only Amtrak and some short line and regional railroads will haul private cars these days (the big freight roads won't touch them), so you're pretty limited on trip options (e.g. PVs are only allowed on the Lake Shore Limited and Regional trains 66/67 out of Boston), and Amtrak's fees are expensive, but if you can afford to own a private car, they're likely just a drop in the bucket.

The MBTA actually hauled a couple of private cars up to Ipswich a few months back for a Trustees of Reservation event.