| May 21st, 2012 by Admin Railroads have played a vital role in the development of the economy of the United States. For a time they were the main method of transporting passengers and cargo across the country, supplanting travel by rivers and roads. Railways were eventually supplanted by the growth of the Interstate Highway System and the development of commercial aviation, and today trains are mainly used to transport cargo cross-country and across national borders. |
But it is definitely an expensive hobby and limited only to a very few who can afford not just the expense of the initial purchase, but the cost of its upkeep and maintenance. The average cost of buying a car, or of restoring an old car, can run from $35,000 to half a million dollars, while storage and maintenance can run from $10,000 to $50,000 a year. This is why a group of railroad car hobbyists, the American Association of Private Railcar Owners, defer their costs by making their cars available for charter. Average costs of such a trip can run from $2,500 to $7,000 per car per day.
So if you are looking for old railroad cars, you had better own your own bank. Private railroad car owners range from doctors, dentists, corporate executives and at least one airline pilot. And only some ten or so cars change hands every year. There are also other considerations apart from price. Once you’ve bought your car, can you transport it to your home? You may need to make arrangements with a local railway to connect it to their trains, for a fee, or hire a local trucking company to transport your car. But you should heed the lesson learned by a pair of hobbyists who bought a car only to discover the roads leading up to their home couldn’t support the weight of the trucks bringing the car there, and eventually had to sell them it to buyers living in an area with a railroad nearby.
Still, if you are determined to own your own private rail car, old railroad cars can be found for sale in online classified ads and the occasional auction. You can also try buying cars from railroad companies that are retiring old cars for scrap. Just don’t forget to factor in transport costs when you are making up your budget for buying that private railroad car. But if you really can’t afford it, you can still join a chartered trip aboard a private rail car to revisit the feelings of adventure and romance that a train trip once evoked.
