I'm working on a book project and need some information as to how private cars were handled by the railroads and how they were staffed. Did Pullman staff those cars under contract, or were they staffed by the owners or lessors? Did the railroads have any restrictions on which trains private cars could be attached? Thanks in advance!

I don't know about the 1930's but I did hear about pre-Amtrak Santa Fe.

There was a route that worked out that they left town early Saturday morning, got to their destination Saturday night, and then came back Sunday arriving at their point of origin Sunday night.

The ATSF required them to make their reservations by Thursday.

These days I believe Amtrak requires 2 weeks.

Pullman would staff cars leased/rented from Pullman, I suppose you could hire crew from Pullman if you did not have your own.

-Hudson

Regarding Pullman Co. involvement, I would contact the Newberry Library in Chicago and ask the Special Collections department if their Pullman Company Archive contains any documents pertinent to your questions. I've spent a fair amount of time in this archive and, while there are many private car construction contracts available, I don't recall seeing any file specific to the operation or staffing of private cars in the finding guide.

As to the second question above, the most famous example was the NYC's ban on private cars on the 20th Century Limited. This ban included company office cars as well.

Lucius Beebe's book "Mansions on Rails: The Folklore of the Private Railway Car", published 1959 by Howell-North Books, is a good source of information. First editions (there may have only been one edition) with dustjacket are readily available on the used book market for $15-$25. See https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?tn=Mansions+Rails. I recollect that the a page near the back of the book lists Lucius Beebe & [partner] Charles Clegg's railroad charges for a 1950s round-the-USA rail cruise on their private car "Virginia City". The railroad cost alone cost was staggering - about the price of a nice house back then. Beebe and Clegg traveled with their own personal chef/porter.

Privately-owned railroad cars were a major status symbol through the 1920s and 1930s. Eventually private luxury airplanes became the new preserve of the ultra-rich.

- Doug Debs

An uncle that worked from the PRR told me the railroad would charge something like the equivalent of 10 full-fare Pullman tickets to haul a private car on a particular train. Can anyone verify this? This would be a hefty fee to haul a car.

Chris.

The information that I recall (back in the 1960s) is that the railroads charged 20 or 22 first class fares for the movement of a private car. This would be the amount of money they would receive for a full sleeping car.

Regarding staffing. If you had the money and traveled enough you might have someone on a retainer/part-time employment to staff the car. Just like you might have someone for the second or third house you owned. The other possibility is that you would hire (often the same people each time) through the "home railroad" of the car or maybe through the Pullman Company.

Think of the private car as a land yacht. And the old line attributed to J. P. Morgan is that "if you have to ask what it costs to own a yacht, you can not afford it."

Another must-read book is "Those Pullman Blues" by David Perata. http://thosepullmanblues.com/. New books are only $17.95. A great resource.

"David D. Perata rode the passenger trains of the Southern Pacific Railroad as a boy in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he first encountered the African-American waiters and porters who worked on those trains. He formed a special bond with them that lasted until his own employment as a porter with Amtrak in 1980.

Working side-by-side with veteran porters and waiters who were running out their final miles before retiring, he listened as they told their stories of “the great days” when they worked such luxury trains as the Super Chief, Lark and Daylight. He was moved by their obvious pride in giving service during an era that they felt had more class than contemporary society.

By the time he began interviewing the men in this book, Perata was an accomplished freelance writer and photographer. He was amazed at the positive perspective these men have maintained with regard to their good and bad experiences aboard the trains. And because David worked as a porter himself, he was perfectly suited to ask the questions that only somebody intimately familiar with the job could ask."

Highly recommended! - Doug Debs

The figure I remember for Amtrak in the early years was 25 first-class fares.

Well, I do know that on the New York Central Railroad back in the 30/40/50's private cars (and business cars for railroad officials) were never handled on the Limiteds.

You could not hire the NYCRR to haul your private car on the back end of the Twentieth Century Limited and other "high end" trains like the Empire State Express. I believe this is noted in the ETTs of the time. I may have seen notes in old public timetables that state something like; "This train does not accept private equipment".

Even the business cars of railroad VPs etc would not be be attached to the Century.

I think the lower name trains like the Commodore Vanderbilt (perhaps) would accept private cars.

Don't know about staffing or costs.

Cheers, Kevin