The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-05-06
LUXURIOUS PRIVATE CARS.
The Elegant Coaches i'll Which Railway Mag
mates Travel at Their Ease.

| ENGIl IdllIOuu uldu vi lIBOIloLiNr ih9 q w
car of his own. Take the Erie railway, for in
stance. President Jewett has a car, the Ramapo,
which cost 500, 900; Mr.. Blanchard has a car,
No, 200, that is a beauty, while superintendent
Benjamin Thomas has car No, 223, also a beauty
Mr.. Jewetts car was one of three built by the
Pullman company-one for Henry Willard, and
the other for Thomas w. Pierce, president OF
the Sunset route in Texas
'What is the popular style of private CARP
1.-THE hard wood, Eastlake finish. Mr.. Jewetts
car is a pretty one. but the coach recently built
for f. H. Talbot, of the Chicago Railway Age, is
one of the most luxurious affairs ever put on a
railroad track. 1t runs on twelve wheels, SIX OF
which were made in Germany, by Krupp. The
observation room at the end of the car is finished
in oak, with plate glass windows extending to
the floor, velvet carpets, and embossed leather
furniture, including sofas. The bedroom Is fin
/ ishad In maple ana amaranth, and opening from
tito the parfor, the most elegant apartment OF the
car. 1t is finished in solid mahogany, with IN
laid panels and carvings OF rare ana cosby
woods from all corners of the earth, lncludlng
the HOLY Land. The buffers pantry, the kltch-
en-. and the sleeping apartments for the ser
wants are models o. elegance ard comfort 10
duplicate the car woulu cost Sfo,OOO-lt was d
present to Mr.. Talbot"
"Who own the most costly private cars in
American
"That is hard to tell. Old Commodore VA
derbilt used to tide over his roads in a car that
he thought was fine enough for a king: That
car is now owned by the Wagner Parlor Car
| OObhldn > hhu 10 aAAON bhO 1AO4oCAE NaN NaJpAS
may ride in it who chooses to pay the extra
fare. People who don't own as many pennies as
the Commodore did dollars can ride to day in
more costly and elegant cars than the elder
Vanderbilt ever dreamed of. 1t costs at least
$40, 900 to build a handsome car nowadays the
I~roquois did not cost more than half that"
What kind of a car has W. H. VanderbiltP
"He has a handsome coach; it is seventy-fve
feet long, nine feet wide and about thirteen feet
high. 1t has a kitchen in front; back Of it is
Mr.. Vanderbilts stateroom. The dining room,
sitting room and card room come next, while
the observatory, of course, is at the rear. The
fittings are very luxurious, and on the sides of the
car are four views, representing the New York
Central's bridge at West Albany, the Grand
Central depot at FOrty-second street, Niagara
Falls and one other l don't exactly remember.
The car cost a great deal of money"
They say Mr.. Vanderbilt does some very fast
traveling!"
eyes; when he wants to make a trip he takes
| a special engine, orders all the trains off of a
certain track, and then goes as fast as he can.
A time table is generally made before the train
starts, and is telegraphed to every station along
the line, which precludes the possibility OF an &C
cident. Mr.. J. H.. Rutter, President of the New
York Central, travels the same way. Jay Gould's
private car is the Convoy, No. l43, or at least it
used to be. 1t is the car Commodore Garrison
used to occupy. 1t has accommodations for
twelve people, and is not strikingly beautiful,
though very comfortable. George Roberts,
President of the Pennsylvania road, and Frank
Thompson, the general manager, have the pref
test and most stylish cars on the road. They
are elegant and comfortable and are noted
among railroad men for the excellence of their
cuisine. Mr.. John w. CARROTS car, the Mary
land, is strikingly elegant. His son, Robert
Garrett, has a car called the Baltimore, Frank
Coke, of the Western North Carolina railroad,
has a beautiful coach-the ~Daisy-named in
honor of his daughter"
do many people own private carsF
Every few. Patti, Nilsson, Mrs. Langtry,
Nine. G~erster-just a few people like that,
whose managers have cars built especially for
them. Queen Victorias private car is not so
luxurious as the one recently finished at Utica
for Mrs. Langtry, nor nearly SO beautiful as the
Mann boudoir car built for Nine. Patti. The
late Judge Henry E.. Packer, of the Lehigh Val
ley, was having a magnificent car, the Minerva,
made for him when he died. 1t was all fitted up
in mahogany, inlaid with carnation pinks and
daisies, his ~favorite flowers. Formosa marble,
cherry, bird'S-eye maple, and embossed leather
were also used in it's fittings, while all the hang
ings and tapestry were imported expressly for
this purpose
'How do American coaches compare with for
eign onesl'
7There is nothing on the globe that can COM
pare with our American rolling-stock. Anyone
who can pay his way in a buffet car can to-day
ride as luxuriously as the Empress of India ever
does. If a party of a dozen wanted to go to
San Francisco, the cost is no greater to hire a
hotel car, with cook and walters than it would
be to ride in the ordinary coaches and dine at
the eating houses on the way.
What are the prices. when a whole train is
chartered by touristsW .
About twenty five cents a mile Is the stand
ard price, although no company will send an en-
CINE out for less than $25 on a short distance.
The schedule time upon nine-tenths of the roads
in this country to-day is so fast that a special
train could not better it much. There are but
few trains to which special coaches may not be
attached-those are the Chicago and st, Louis
and the Washington limited expresses. These
trains are made up of a certain number of cars,
to exceed which would delay the train"
an o,1- ~ roa on n tac INV Con having fhnir
cars hauled over the different roadsf'
VERY rarely; in fact, | know of but one in
stance where pay has been exacted, and that oc-
Cured a few days ago, while Mr.. VIM. b. Dins
more was on his way to Florida in a private
coach. When he struck the Petersburg q Wei
don railroad, the conductor made Mr.. Dinsmore
pay fare, on the threat of cutting the car loose
and side-tracking it. Every big road has a
use these cars to make their annual tours of
inspection. Those directors of Western roads
who live in the East have the car sent on to
them to carry them to the meetings and back.
Rich men sometimes like to save money"
"There are also hunting cars are there not"
about half a dozen. The Pullman company
has two handsome ones. the lzaac Walton and
the Davy Crockett. The former was occupied
Weldon railroad and a party of friends during
the late Mardi Gras at New Orleans. They
took the car right into the city and lived in it.
The charge for these cars is thirty-five dollars a
day, which includes cook and walters, all of
whom expect douceurs, however. These cars,
though smaller than the ordinary Pullman
coaches, ten persons very nicely,
and are provided with gun-racks, ken
nels for the dogs, and all
kinds of ingenious fixtures. They are
in great demand. 1 am told that Jerome Mar
BILE, of Massachusetts,, built a car of this kind for
himself, and afterward had two more made to
let by the day. President Arthur took his
Florida fishing trip last year in a hired car.
There are many coaches made for the express
use of families and private parties. These rent
from $40 to $25 a day, and carry ten people.
There are one or two cars for very heightened
parties at $50 a day, the fitting including a
piano in the main parlor. These are used prin-
cipally by California tourists.
1.-THE laundrying of the Pullman company
amounts to a good round sum, does it notf7
trYou can Geura il ont for XOurSelf. Each car