Cost To Haul A Private Car

Does anyone have an idea of what it costs to have a private railcar transported by an Amtrak train. Just curious

Memphisdoug said:

Does anyone have an idea of what it costs to have a private railcar transported by an Amtrak train. Just curious

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It's all on Amtrak's website, details of what stations you can travel from/to by private car and detailed costs (by following the link to the tariff, which is a downloadable PDF). There are a lot of variables.

At a base rate of $2.10 per mile per car it doesn't seem all that expensive ($1000 minimum).

Probably a relative drop in the bucket compared to keeping a private car in Amtrak condition and other costs such as storage etc.

I used to be involved in chartering Greyhound about 20 years ago and I think we were paying $1 a mile then.

Rumpled said:

At a base rate of $2.10 per mile per car it doesn't seem all that expensive ($1000 minimum).Probably a relative drop in the bucket compared to keeping a private car in Amtrak condition and other costs such as storage etc.

I used to be involved in chartering Greyhound about 20 years ago and I think we were paying $1 a mile then.

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The mileage does add up... but so do the other costs.

Say you own a car that you use to travel between Chicago and Los Angeles. (Eg, pretend you're Dan Ackroyd.) You like to use it about once a month, going back and forth. That's 2,256 miles 12 times a year (six in each direction), times $2.10/mile is $56,851. Then you've got to store the car, at the monthly rate, twelve times. That's $2,000/month times 12 is $24,000. Figure you want to get the waste dumped each time. That's $75 times 12 is $900.

Insurance is probably huge -- another $20,000/year at least, I would guess? Upkeep, maintenance, and inspections are on your dime. And this is just assuming a very simple travel schedule where the car is sitting idle for about 26 days in a row twelve times a year. If the car gets used every two weeks, for instance, your costs go way up because you'll be paying more for shorter-term parking. (If you use the car a lot less, your costs go down a bit, but then of course you're not using the car, so why have it?) Figure $10,000 in maintenance per year, on average?

I would guess you're looking at a minimum of $100,000/year to own, maintain, and use a private car (not counting the cost of buying it in the first place, plus any major work you have to do to get it from purchasing condition to operating condition if you buy a "fixer-upper").

That's why private car rental, or seats in private cars on excursion trips, are expensive! Figure an operator charges $250 for a dome seat in his dome-lounge car and has forty dome seats in a car, maybe? That's $10,000 from the dome seats, and if there's alcohol or food in the lounge, that's additional profit. But you're probably paying two car attendants at least, and you've got additional liability insurance for that many passengers. Make twelve of those trips a year (like the above Dan Ackroyd plan), and you're taking in $120,000 but spending close to that (maybe the attendant costs get balanced by the food sales? I don't know). $10-20,000 profit isn't bad, simply from owning the car, assuming you actually make that much, but weigh it against purchase and renovation costs, plus any overhead for advertising, etc. It takes a while to recoup your investment. And any "personal trips" you take don't generate revenue for you but have significant costs.

I can see how it's a money-making operation, but I don't think the margins are tremendously high.

EDIT: Hmm, just noticed, my guestimates for the dome car excursion operator make no sense, because an LAX-CHI ticket would be a lot more than $250, or the mileage for a $250 dome-car excursion would be a lot less. So, the numbers would be different there, but in the end I would be surprised to learn that a private car operator makes more than $20,000 net profit per private car per year, against which capital costs and long-term upkeep must be balanced.

Don't forget to add the switching fees at each terminals.

For a list of private cars available for charter on Amtrak check out http://www.aaprco.com/Cars/car_type_index.html

A private car company that lists sample costs is also available here: http://www.cincinnatirailway.com/samplerates.php

Private Car Rates vary greatly depending on the specific route and equipment you want/need. If you can be flexible, you can get some pretty good rates if you book a car that is based out of a particular city, for instance if the car is based at LAX (which some are) it will be alot cheaper to charter that car for a roundtrip from LAX then to have a car brought to you on a "deadhead move"

I once quoted for a charter train rental from Amtrak from MIA (Miami, FL) to WBG (Williamsburg, VA) for a private weekend class reunion at Busch Gardens.

Amtrak gave me:

1 PD450 Locomotive

1 Baggage Car

1 Lounge Car

5 Amfleet II cars (at least 400 passengers)

One way trip cost at $98,000 or $142,000 roundtrip. They say we would have a stop in Florence, SC for crew change and refueling. They say I am allowed to make 3 stops anywhere on the route for breaks like smoking as long I want but a one hour break will do.

This would be interesting how the run would be (ie: smooth ride, no delays, all that)

$355 a passenger? Not bad.

Memphisdoug said:

Does anyone have an idea of what it costs to have a private railcar transported by an Amtrak train. Just curious

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If you have to ask you can't afford it.

There was a private car at the back of the CS heading s/b the Sunday before last. I had just parked my truck at GAC getting ready to go on a 'lunch run' when the CS went by. Some lucky SOB was even standing outside on the platform in back no doubt enjoying the fresh morning air and the view.

gercohen said:

Memphisdoug said:

Does anyone have an idea of what it costs to have a private railcar transported by an Amtrak train. Just curious

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If you have to ask you can't afford it.

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This is not true... the cost of a private rail car rental is within the budget of a majority of members on this forum (especially if it was to be split between multiple passengers). I think most people automatically think of "Cross Country Month Long Private Rail Car Trip with full time Waiter, and Chef" and forget that these cars can also be rented for a one day trip from say LA to San Diego and back with "Bare Bones" service that costs little more than Business Class on the Surfliner when evened out among 15 people.

It's a very legitimate question.

Ive read lots about this topic through the years and have noticed that most "Private car" trips seem to be very pricey but perhaps this is when they are run by a profit making company! Perhaps the non-profit/all volunteer rail operations can run them cheaper, use their trains for fund raising and operation/maintaince expense! (I know steamers cost quite a bit more to operate/maintain,on the Texas Stare Railroad you pay a premium for the steamer trains but it's worth it IMHO!

There may be something to this idea of getting a large enough group of train buffs together (AU anyone?) to share a LD trip (LAX-San Diego would be ideal as the previous poster said!)IF the cost wasnt prohibitive! (I seem to remember the steamer from PDX-Michigan last summer was very pricey, even for short legs?) I for one wouldnt mind paying a comprable fare or even a little more to ride in some private varnish, especially a dome or lounge car!

Most of the trips Ive seen are for wealthy "LandCruise" types, perhaps if the cost was more reasonable, and some of the "perks" were eliminated more of us could ride these gems!

I never thought I would be able to afford a private car trip- but I had the opportunity to do so about three years ago. The only reason I could afford it- and it was very reasonable- was that it was a "positioning" move where they were transporting the car to another city for a group that wanted a one way trip. I rode on the 10-6 sleeper "Pacific Union" from STL to CHI to NOL. I had to be flexible with my schedule, but I got FOUR nights onboard, and there was only one other small group onboard, so it really was a "private" car experience. Very fun being on the end of the Amtrak trains being able to be outside on the back vestibule or open the doors and stick my head out all I wanted to. We were parked in the coach yards in Chicago for a night so that was a neat perspective to see as well. For those interested, be flexible and look for positioning or reverse moves advertised on the internet or through AAPRCO.

jimhudson said:

Ive read lots about this topic through the years and have noticed that most "Private car" trips seem to be very pricey but perhaps this is when they are run by a profit making company! Perhaps the non-profit/all volunteer rail operations can run them cheaper, use their trains for fund raising and operation/maintaince expense! (I know steamers cost quite a bit more to operate/maintain,on the Texas Stare Railroad you pay a premium for the steamer trains but it's worth it IMHO!
There may be something to this idea of getting a large enough group of train buffs together (AU anyone?) to share a LD trip (LAX-San Diego would be ideal as the previous poster said!)IF the cost wasnt prohibitive! (I seem to remember the steamer from PDX-Michigan last summer was very pricey, even for short legs?) I for one wouldnt mind paying a comprable fare or even a little more to ride in some private varnish, especially a dome or lounge car!

Most of the trips Ive seen are for wealthy "LandCruise" types, perhaps if the cost was more reasonable, and some of the "perks" were eliminated more of us could ride these gems!

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This is the one I've been interested in- http://www.calzephyrrailcar.com/Site/Welcome.html -some of the pricing isn't too expensive!

I clicked through the AAPRCO link and ended up at 261.com. They are offering a MSP-CHI trip for $99 per direction with a light food service. That is cheaper than some of the higher coach buckets on Amtrak on this routing.

Exiled in Express said:

I clicked through the AAPRCO link and ended up at 261.com. They are offering a MSP-CHI trip for $99 per direction with a light food service. That is cheaper than some of the higher coach buckets on Amtrak on this routing.

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Was that in one of the coach cars though? If thats what they were charging for the super dome or the sky-top lounge then that was a deal!

wayman said:

Memphisdoug said:

Does anyone have an idea of what it costs to have a private railcar transported by an Amtrak train. Just curious

Click to expand...

It's all on Amtrak's website, details of what stations you can travel from/to by private car and detailed costs (by following the link to the tariff, which is a downloadable PDF). There are a lot of variables.

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I'm surprised that Philadelphia 30th Street is not on the list of stations you can travel from/to. Anyone have any ideas/thoughts as to why?

ExtonFlyer said:

I'm surprised that Philadelphia 30th Street is not on the list of stations you can travel from/to. Anyone have any ideas/thoughts as to why?

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And it amuses me - particularly now you've said that - that back-and-beyond little city Huntington, WV is one of the 40 or so!