Ride Like a Railroad Baron

摘要

Breakfast is served. We're about an hour out of Union Station in Los Angeles as we sit down to a meal of crab quiche and fresh fruit, laid out on tables bedecked with china, linens, and flowers. Through the wide expanse of windows of our private dome car, the Bella Vista, we can see the skyline giving way to row after row of warehouses, then to modest residential neighborhoods. Soon the Pacific Ocean comes into view on the right. We're hooked on the back of Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, on our way to San Diego. Such is the world of "private varnish," a nickname for any privately owned railroad car. It comes from the high-gloss exterior finish and hand-rubbed wood interiors of the sumptuous cars built for the personal use of railroad barons early in the 20th century. If you're itching to recall the halcyon days of rail travel, there are 100 or so private cars in the U.S. certified to ride on Amtrak or VIA Rail Canada trains, and about half of them are available for hire. But private varnish isn't the way to go if you're in a hurry, or strapped for cash. Prices to charter a car, start at around $3, 000 a day and can easily top $5,000 or $6,000, depending on which car you choose, how far you're going, and how many switches between Amtrak trains you need to get there. The price includes a crew of at least a chef and a steward. For most private cars, what you'll pay per person works out to be comparable to accommodations in a veranda or penthouse stateroom on a high-end cruise.