Private Railroad Cars - Why The Hell Not?

I could swear I did a blog post on private railroad cars a few months ago, but looked back and couldn't find any trace of it. I am hoping that if I can't find it, you can't either, and so am going with that topic today.  And it is especially relevant now that Donald Trump will soon be president.  He promises large tax cuts for the wealthy and for large corporations, and they will need to figure out how to spend all that excess wealth.  I definitely recommend going the private railroad car route.

Last summer I was walking from the bookstore where I work on East Colfax Avenue here in Denver to Union Station, where I catch the light rail train home.  As I headed toward the southbound line, I noticed a number of old-time railroad cars parked in front of the station.  I wasn't sure why they were there, but took a number of photographs, and a few days later did a little bit of research on the internet (always a reliable source).  It turns out that 21 cars were being assembled for a trip from Denver to Spokane, Washington, and was sponsored by the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners as part of  their 2016 convention.  In other words, not only are there people with private railroad cars, and not only can they hire Amtrak to haul them across the country, but there are enough of them that they have conventions and their own non-profit organization. Wow!  Is that an amazing fact or what?

Not only does this organization sponsor trips around the country for people with private railroad cars, they also offer vacations trips to the general public and the opportunity to rent these historic cars.  When I found about this, I immediately thought of my friend and former University of Denver Bookstore co-worker Wally and his wife Linda. They have a daughter getting married this year, and I suggested to them that this would be just the ticket for the wedding reception.  They could park the car on a siding at Denver's Union Station, have the guests board the train, and then let the champagne flow.  That evening the car could be secretly hooked up to the nightly Amtrak train to Chicago, and when the reception ended (keep the champagne flowing till dawn, I say) the guests would find themselves in Chicago, that toddling town.  And how do the guests get home, you might ask?  That is, of course, their problem.  Is that a great idea or what? And for all you "one percenters" (rich people) out there, check out the American Association of  Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) website at http://www.aaprco.com/.