so how do you get a privately owned train car and get it to the tracks or etc?

from this page it sounds like you own it but Amtrak keeps it parked at their switching stations or something

>so how do you get a privately owned train car and get it to the tracks or etc?

I think you wait in a remote bit of Nevada for a train to pass, and trigger a rock fall which causes the driver to slam on the brakes and bring the train to a stop just short of the rockfall.

Then, you and your posse jump out from behind some rocks and fire your revolvers in the air, and the driver sticks his hands up. There's much celebration, and back slapping as you discover the train also happens to have a massive amount of gold bullion on board.

The rest is a bit blurry, can't remember seeing what you then do, but it probably involves filing down the serial numbers on the frame or something like that?

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immibis 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

> Having worked at a railroad, I will say it’s comically easy to steal a train, for instance. They all have the same key, which is basically just a plastic rod.

> The argument of the railroads is... okay, you have our train. Now what? You either go forward or you go backward, and we know where both those directions go.

[credit: thanatos_dem]

	▲	FridayoLeary 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		Well if you're Tintin you'll use it to catch up with the train in front and when that doesn't work, accidentally blow it up... Tintin in america is a great parody of 1930's Midwestern united states and the gangster culture of Chicago.

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IAmBroom 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I work for rail.

That's pretty much it.

The serial numbers are on the axle bearing covers, BTW.

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aspenmayer 6 days ago | parent [-]

Do train cars ever go missing? What’s the procedure for missing rail equipment?

	▲	bombcar 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		They actually do get lost quite often. There’s quite a bit of law around ownership of rail, cars, requirements, and maintenance and who’s in control and who’s in charge. All those numbers you see on the side of it are part of the tracking to figure out where things are.

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jvm___ 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The bad guys are driving their train when a cop train shows up in the mirrors behind their train.

Cop walks up to the window and asks for their license and registration please. Another shootout occurs followed by a multi-track multi-train police chase, but everyone needs to stay on their respective train tracks.

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Nevermark 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

Then things go south. I mean really south, heading to the Mexican border.

On a little platform on wheels, with a see-saw type manual propulsion. And the police are waving their billy clubs and gaining on you!

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Ichthypresbyter 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

>a cop train

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e6/55/f9/e655f9c6ae124664ad5c...

	▲	masfuerte 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		That looked very British. Apparently it was made for an advert for a 1980s high speed train. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_37

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LeifCarrotson 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Check in with the association of private railcar owners: https://www.aaprco.com/

There was some discussion on the process here a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19505897 written shortly after Amtrak complained "These operations caused significant operational distraction, failed to capture fully allocated profitable margins". It's not an easy process.

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runamuck 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

Any idea how much it costs to buy your own private train car?

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throwup238 7 days ago | parent [-]

A disused car is $100-200k depending on condition, and it’d probably cost about as much to refurbish into use. An off the shelf fully outfitted luxury car can cost a million or more.

Operating, maintenance, and storage costs dwarf the capital costs within a few years so unless it’s rusting in a backyard, the expensive part is using it rather than buying one. Storage alone costs $30k-50k a year.

	▲	bombcar 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		You can get rail cars for free every once in a while the problem is you have to then pay to transport it to someplace you can store it. But usually there’s a rail club somewhere nearby that would love to have an addition to the collection if you’re paying to make it nice and usable.

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nemomarx 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Very interesting! I guess it would be unpopular for them to stop?

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mhalle 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Private collectors offer them for charter.

https://www.aaprco.com/

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AnimalMuppet 7 days ago | parent [-]

They do. But I didn't see anything on there about cost. Does anyone know, even rough numbers?

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bombcar 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

See the other posts but realistically it’s in the tens of thousands.

Which considering how many can travel in one might not be terribly expensive.

	▲	Symbiote 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		Football supporters in England sometimes charter whole trains to see particular matches. I've only seen one of these trains once, and it was an ordinary train. I've no idea what the cost would be.

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Stevvo 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

It's really whatever you want to pay. i.e. You can get anything from rusted scrap metal up to extravagant luxury.

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y-curious 6 days ago | parent [-]

How much is a bare minimum safety rusted piece of crap? Something tells me you can't win over Amtrak pricing, sadly

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bluGill 6 days ago | parent [-]

They might be given away or for scrap value. Of course it won't meet the minimun standards next year so expect $200k to restore again)

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ghaff 6 days ago | parent [-]

Quite a while back I drove a friend of mine from SF to a railcar museum because he wanted to get a tour of railcars from a movie. The secretary of the club that ran the museum told us that they wouldn't have been able to transport the car from the location where it was originally located to the museum today.

	▲	bluGill 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		There are a lot of RR cars around the country that are not movable for various reasons. Many of them because while the car could be moved, the tracks don't exist. Others because the running gear is worn out. There is still hope for those cars. If you want to pay for it a ridding company can transport anything from anywhere to anywhere - they will get the correct permits and then load it on a trailer - this is easiest and most common, but not cheap. In some cases you can get an override from the RR to tow it - they can put new wheels under it quick enough, and then put it at the end of the train on a slow month (which is to say they will avoid their busy routes were something breaking would cause problems), again not cheap, but possible and sometimes the RR will subsides the cost if the car has historic value. If there are tracks you can restore it where it is and then the RRs will take it again.

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bluGill 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You keep it on tracks, either your own private siding, or rent from a railroad. When you want to go you arrang with the railroad to pick it up. Railroads do this all the time - they might or might not own the cars freight is going on either way they drop it off at your siding and pick it up latter. you need to plan a head though to fit their other scheduldes. There are big costs if you are not ready when the train arrives. (that is no asking them to wait while you store groceries)

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terminalshort 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The companies that make train cars have a way to do this, so you probably just pay them to do it as part of the price you pay them to make you train car.