Uniq. Eqpmt Sightings: Private Varnish (PV's), Charters, etc

My son & I were at Boston South Station on 9/12/04 and there were a pair of Private coaches that were uncoupled and marked charter. They were really nice looking - anyone know anything about them?

mike

They bear IMPERIAL names and the one closest to the bumping post has and observation platform.

I cannot locate anything on there cars through Google, nor through the AAPRCO cars for charter web page, but I believe you will find that these cars Imperial-- were once (perhaps still) owned by a concern named Charter Wire Co of Milwaukee.

They always traveled about as a pair.

While "Private Coach" may refer to a luxurious bus vehicle fit for the President, the term for these cars is Private Car or "PV".

There are usually a couple of PVs stored at the Amtrak station in Milwaukee, and I believe that one of them is labeled "charter." Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing them in MKE recently (though I haven't really looked close enough to know one way or the other).

I understand that the Philadelphia Eagles are taking the train down the NE corridor to Maryland today for their game with the Redskins tomorrow.

I know other football teams also utilize the train from time to time. Does anybody know the logistics of these operations? Do the teams just lease a couple of carsfor private use on a regularly scheduled train?

That's pretty cool. Maybe Amtrak could bill itself as the Official Rail Transportation of the NFL.

(But they're the only passenger rail company...)

Shush.

I have seen footage of one of those trains, the time I saw it though it was the Philadelphia Flyers enroute to MSG to play the New York Rangers. Train had an amfleet coach and an amfleet lounge with a buffet set up for the players in the lounge area. One of ESPNs camera crews rode along with them, ofcourse this was before the NHL blew up last season.
Cheers,
Nick

Someone named Mike wrote:That's pretty cool. Maybe Amtrak could bill itself as the Official Rail Transportation of the NFL.

Nice idea. Too bad the NFL wants serious amounts of green stuff for that right. Amtrak couldn't afford that kind of money even if they did have it available. That's why you see some Amtrak banners at a professional lacrosse game on ESPN2 at 1:00a.

There are a number of stories out there from baseball types from the 1950's on this topic. Most of them preferred to travel by Pullman because they could play cards, get drunk, and generally have a party time. By contrast, travelling coast-to-coast by plane is generally considered a bummer.

If Amtrak's marcom management were a bit sharper, and had some more cash to work with, pro sports teams could well use Amtrak for more of their travel. NEC travel readily comes to mind, but certainly a charter like, say Pittsburgh - Cleveland is possible, as might Buffalo - NYC, CHI - St. Louis, or even Seattle - LA on the Starlate would be doable.

I'm sure 60 Mass has my check in the mail.

Sports team charters in the Northeast Corridor are no longer as rare as they once were following the general shift to air travel in the 1950s. The Boston Red Sox have used Amtrak to or from New York on several occasions in recent years, including at least one Acela charter (although I don't know if that was a special train or just private cars on a scheduled run). And I believe that the Baltimore Orioles have also used Amtrak to get to New York for some Yankees series.

I'm an engineer for Amtrak and I've had a number of sports teams riding on the trains I have run. I've had the New York Giants,New England Patriots, Kansas City Royals, New York Rangers and the Old timers of baseball when the NLB All Star game was in boston a few years ago. Those are the teams I've had but there have been alot more through New england

TomNelligan wrote:Sports team charters in the Northeast Corridor are no longer as rare as they once were following the general shift to air travel in the 1950s. The Boston Red Sox have used Amtrak to or from New York on several occasions in recent years, including at least one Acela charter (although I don't know if that was a special train or just private cars on a scheduled run). And I believe that the Baltimore Orioles have also used Amtrak to get to New York for some Yankees series.

I've heard that NBA teams are getting into the act as well, especially with some visiting teams from the west coast flying east to say, Washington, then traveling by train to other scheduled games in the northeast before flying back west again. Sort of ironic too, since the NBA is such a glamorous and image-conscious sport that they'd even consider train travel on the road. Of course, if the Chicago Bulls ever played the Milwaukee Bucks for the conference title, they could always travel on Amtrak's Hiawatha. Ok, so it's a stretch, but yet, I dare to dream...

doepack wrote:I've heard that NBA teams are getting into the act as well, especially with some visiting teams from the west coast flying east to say, Washington, then traveling by train to other scheduled games in the northeast before flying back west again. Sort of ironic too, since the NBA is such a glamorous and image-conscious sport that they'd even consider train travel on the road. Of course, if the Chicago Bulls ever played the Milwaukee Bucks for the conference title, they could always travel on Amtrak's Hiawatha. Ok, so it's a stretch, but yet, I dare to dream...

All we need is someone to introduce LeBron James to private varnish -- at a better time than when the Capitol Limited hits Cleveland...

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Otto, Joe, Erik and I will keep tabs on this the next couple of months. Thank you to Tad Dunville (Tadman) for the suggestion.

Pennsylvania #120 was tied up to an Amtrak cab car in the Penn Coach Yard at 30th Street today. Saw it from the 11:40 NJT to Atlantic City.

Once in a while on Regional train 66, they will use a p42 engine between NHV-Boston due to Construction work