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Few things carry the romantic nostalgia of trains, from the earliest woodburners to the high-tech Amtrak trains of today. This truth was brought home to David Thebodo in 1989 when he purchased Anderson Steel, a scrap yard next to the old Rock Island freight yard in Fairfield. He was buying scrap from the railroads, and he decided a renovated caboose would make the perfect office for his small company. Besides, saving this charming piece of the past was much better than selling it for scrap to the Dexter foundry across the street.
"These cars are full of history," David says. "I realized that once they are gone, they are gone forever." It occurred to him that others might feel the same affection for these cars and cabooses, too. An ad placed in a trade publication brought a quick response, and he sold his caboose for a small profit. Soon he had bought and sold a few more, and by then he was hooked.
Today, David's company rescues old railroad cars and cabooses from all over the country and locates buyers for them all over the world. They generally sell from $6,500 to $20,000, depending on their size and condition. He also started another division, Rail Merchants International, to broker luxury rail cars known as "private varnish"--beautifully and expensively refurbished vintage cars that can be linked to modern carriers for private business or vacation travel. The cost of these cars ranges anywhere from $100,000 up to $1.5 million.
Caboose to B&B
To find old railroad cars, you have to go where the trains are. David purchases passenger cars, box cars, and flat cars as well as cabooses from railroad carriers like Amtrak and other big railroad companies. He also travels to scrap yards and depots around the country to find cars that are about to be destroyed or abandoned. Sometimes he gets them from museums or individuals who no longer want them. Since a passenger car can weigh up to 100 tons and not every car is trackworthy, David stores them at inventory sites all over the U.S.
When they're purchased, David also helps to set them up. If a car has functional wheels, David contracts with a railroad company to transport it as close as possible to its final destination. Cars that can't ride the rails have to be transported on huge trucks, then moved to their final location by massive cranes.
"That can be quite adventurous," David says. "Once, a caboose was on its way to Taos, New Mexico, and I was only 12 hours ahead of it. I had to hire people, find the tracks and ties, and put them together before the caboose arrived. The lady wanted to use it for a gift shop."
Besides all sorts of shops, some of these cabooses and cars will end up as children's playhouses or vacation lodging. In Glacier Park, for example, Walton Inn offers a choice of four cabooses, each from a different railroad, as overnight housing for cross-country skiers. Sometimes people purchase cabooses purely for nostalgic reasons, such as having an older family member who worked for the railroads.
But most of the cars in this category are not meant to ride the rails again. For that, railroad aficionados look to "private varnish."
Private Varnish
At the turn of the century, fleets of elegantly appointed railroad cars were owned by wealthy families like the Vanderbilts, who used them for personal travel. The cars, which would be linked to regular carriers, had varnished wood-paneled interiors. Today, private varnish means the ultimate in luxury train travel, the five-star hotels of the rails. Companies have purchased them to use as business cars for entertaining clients. One restaurateur with establishments around the country lives and travels in his private car all year round. Sometime families buy one as a sort of mobile home, paying Amtrak to pull them all over the United States in grand style. The Union Pacific Railroad Company owns a whole fleet of rail cars.
"These cars might be old, but nowadays they get beautifully refurbished and rebuilt and become traveling luxury cars," explains Terry Ann Haubenhofer, David's wife and business partner.
At the company's Web site, <www. railmerchantsintl.com>, you'll find a two-story domed car available for $1.5 million. It has a main section that could be a lounge or bedroom. A flight of stairs takes you upstairs to a lovely seating area with a panoramic dome whose glass has to be specially bent.
"It's an incredible experience when you travel on such a train in the mountains or forested areas," says Terry Ann. "It's as though you are above everything else."
Owners of these luxury business cars have their own national organization which negotiates with Amtrak to pull their cars. It costs about $1.50 to $3.00 per mile to pull a private car--not much for someone who can afford to own one.
But if it's beyond your budget to afford such a luxury, you can always buy a ticket to ride in a private car. For somewhere around $1,000 and up, you'll get sumptuous accommodations and gourmet meals, in addition to riding to your destination in style. Terry Ann points out that if someone is interested in purchasing a car, they suggest chartering the car for a family trip first. "It's the uniqueness of a car that sells it," she says.
Historic Village
David has clients all over the country, and now that they're on the Internet, he's getting inquiries from Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia. But back at his home base, David has been thinking of other ways to use these historic rail cars and cabooses. "We are very interested in preserving the industrial and transportation history of Jefferson County and Fairfield," he says. "We are doing it completely on our own at this point, but we welcome other people to help us."
On a small parcel of land off of Highway 34, David plans to build a modestly sized historic village. He already owns an old jail from Kalona and he's looking for a small post office and one-room schoolhouse. Throughout the site, David wants to install different concessions in renovated cabooses and rail cars.
The Charm of the Rails
Whether as bed & breakfasts, gift shops, offices, playhouses, or other functions, many rugged old rail cars and cabooses are being recycled into new lives. Some of the finest vintage rail cars are being restored to their former glory, and a few even surpass their original elegance. As David says, it's all a matter of putting them into the right hands.
