Luxury Private Cars of the Rails

Here’s your opportunity to discover the many pleasures of traveling aboard luxuriously appointed private passenger cars. Every year, members of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners hold a convention at a different site around the country. Getting to and from the gathering is as much fun as the event itself!

In 1999, eighteen private cars dating from 1913 to 1950 arrived in Chicago to make up a special train called the Dixie Flyer. This set of “Varnish” then set out as a rolling party, taking exotic and seldom-used routes until it reached its destination of Tampa, Florida. At the end of the convention, the train returned to Chicago via another unusual route.

We’ll ride aboard the Dixie Flyer and meet with the owners to hear them describe the time, effort, and resources that have been poured into these opulent, rolling palaces. You’ll learn about each car’s history, and view the collections of railroad china, silver, and historic appointments that make each car so unique.