Just after dawn, the Amtrak Empire The Builder passenger train arrives at the Whitefish, Montana, station every day on its transcontinental journey from Seattle to Chicago. The train usually consists of two locomotives and a string of utility passenger cars. On this morning, however, two passenger cars directly behind the locomotive disrupt its familiar regularity.
Unlike regular Amtrak trains, these cars look exactly as they did decades ago; one is polished stainless steel, the other a deep brown and orange color with a yellow stripe. Named the “Blue Ridge Club” and “Pacific Home,” the cars predate the others by decades, back when rail cars were named instead of numbered. They're among dozens of privately owned vintage cars that still run on the tracks, offering a lucky, dedicated, or wealthy few the chance to experience rail travel from a bygone era. On this day, a group that boarded the train in Seattle the night before disembarks to explore nearby Glacier National Park. When they do, people like Lou Capwell and Laura Stantz spring into action, preparing the vintage cars for the next group of passengers a few stops down the road.
Capwell and Stantz are among a handful of people who continue to run these vintage cars and the first-class experience they aim to provide, decades after this type of travel began to disappear in the United States. As the train heads east along the southern edge of Glacier National Park, Capwell quickly changes beds, stocks the bar, and cleans the common areas, while Stantz gets to work in what can only be described as a tiny mobile kitchen. Outside of that tiny kitchen, the car is outfitted with all the comforts of home. At the rear of the car, near the large windows, there's a plush couch. Towards the center, near the bar, there are leather seats and tables where you can eat or play games. At the other end of the car are small private rooms where passengers can sit and take in the views during the day or sleep at night (the seats double as beds).
In the 20th century, and especially in the decade following World War II, railroads were not only one of the most streamlined ways to travel the country (as they were before the war), but also one of the most elegant. Lounge cars offered plush window seats where passengers could enjoy the scenery as it passed by. Sleeping cars offered a comfortable place to rest during the long journey. Dining cars served meals that were a far cry from airline fare of today; in fact, some of them rivaled those served in the nation's finest restaurants. The golden age of luxury rail travel was short-lived. As the Interstate Highway System expanded and commercial air travel began, passenger rail service overall began to decline, with the more luxurious forms being the first to fall victim. In 1971, what was left of the system was taken over by a quasi-public agency called Amtrak.
Though some thought Amtrak was merely delaying the inevitable demise of passenger trains, half a century later it continues to carry millions of passengers each year, but the amenities that once turned getting from point A to point B into an adventure and a vacation in itself have been greatly diminished, replaced by a more utilitarian experience.
But railfans were passionate and weren't happy to part with their pre-Amtrak experience. As facilities were modernized in the 1970s and 1980s, enthusiasts purchased old railcars and restored them to their original grandeur. Among them was Bill Gray, a now-retired flight instructor from North Carolina. He purchased his first railcar in 1990 and now owns and operates the Blue Ridge Club. Built in 1950 by the famed Pullman Company, the Blue Ridge Club features three double bedrooms, a master suite with a lounge area with a sofa, a dining area and a bar. In the 1950s, the car was used on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad's premier train, the George Washington, which connected Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky, with Washington, DC.
Gray offers his vehicles for private charters around the country each year, mostly in the summer and fall, and hires people like Capwell and Stantz to run them through their company, Aboard A Train. Capwell first got involved with organizing private vehicle tours about 10 years ago while working in marketing for a railroad museum. He enjoyed the work and decided to make it his career. He was soon joined by his wife, Stantz, a master chef who loves digging through old railroad cookbooks.
Capwell works with car owners to prepare the logistics of every trip: Amtrak trains that add cars need to be pulled by something, how to stockpile food and supplies, where to stop for maintenance, etc. Stantz works on the guest experience, planning menus and making sure there are always extra meals on board for passengers in case a train is delayed.
Most private train kitchens are small and space is at a premium, so Stantz can't just buy a box of avocados if he's not going to use them – they'll just take up space – and he needs to be able to respond quickly if he realizes he's forgotten something mid-trip.
“It's always a quandary – inevitably I'll forget something like mayonnaise so I have to figure out how to make it from scratch because I can't just run to the store to buy more when I'm on the train,” she says.
Luckily for her, dining car chefs have a long history of improvisation: Stantz's French dressing, for example, comes from an old railroad recipe and uses simple pantry ingredients, including tiny ingredients that roll down the tracks at 79 miles per hour.
Cooking quickly may also be one of Stantz's biggest challenges: “I'm good with a knife, but sometimes your skill is meaningless when you hit a bumpy road,” she says with a laugh, adding that she has cut herself many times while working in the ship's kitchen.
Some of Stantz's trips span multiple states and regions, so she strives to create menus that incorporate local cuisine and recipes with history on specific railroad lines. During her trips through Iowa, she made sure to serve white chocolate popcorn, a favorite at the local state fair, and Hatch chili is popular in the Southwest.
Of course, such top-notch service comes at a price. Chartering a private vintage railcar is expensive, but not just because of the service. Owning and maintaining these mobile historic cars can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, mainly because they need to be maintained to the highest standards set by Amtrak to travel long distances at high speeds (routes such as the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. can exceed 100 mph). Gray says his cars are due to travel more than 41,000 miles in 2022 alone, which can mean a lot of wear and tear on a 70-year-old railcar.
But there's at least one opportunity to ride a train in style and affordability: the Hudson River Railroad Excursion, which runs between New York City and Albany and is organized by the nonprofit New Jersey Railway Historical Society. The excursion features a regular Amtrak train with two historic New York Central Railroad cars added to it, running through the Hudson River Valley along the exact same route that ran in the 1950s as part of the “20th Century Limited,” one of the most famous passenger trains in the United States. The two cars have been restored inside and out to their original 1950s appearance, complete with midcentury furnishings. And just like the original train, a red carpet (literally) is always rolled out for guests boarding at Penn Station.
“This is rail travel at its finest,” says Kevin Fallon, executive director of the United Railroad Historical Society. “The New York Central Railroad's 20th Century Limited was the best. … The only thing missing from the original trip is the smell” (when luxury rail cars smelled of burning tobacco).
The Hudson River Railroad Excursion launched in 2021, and the idea was so well received that tickets sold out within 60 seconds. Fallon said organizers quickly added more trips, which also sold out. In 2023, the train will run 48 times, and a special trip to Chicago is scheduled for this fall. This time, the trip to Albany is also sold out, and tickets for the overnight trip to Chicago have not yet gone on sale, but more than 3,000 people have expressed interest in the 30 seats.
Tickets for the Hudson River Railroad Excursions range from $150 to $380 depending on the level of service and the day of the week. (A regular Amtrak train ride costs between $45 and $60.) Fallon said being able to share the experience of traveling aboard these historic railcars is important to his organization.
“We're trying to democratize the experience, and we're really proud of that,” he says.
Capwell says taking a train trip on one of these vintage passenger cars, whether it's just a day trip up the Hudson River to Albany or a trip across the country, is something everyone should experience at least once, which is why people like him are so dedicated to preserving the railroads.
“In the old days, just arriving at a destination was part of the travel experience, and we think it's really important to preserve that experience,” he says. “It's rare these days, but it's really special.”
