<story><title>Can you buy your own train?</title><url>https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/03/private-rail-car-fan-owners-amtrak-cuts-trains-are-cool/584971/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>RickJWagner</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve always wished for a network of rail flatbed cars that make high-speed runs from state to state.&lt;p&gt;You could drive onto one of the flatbeds (from a ramp) in your car, then ride the train from center-of-a-state to center-of-the-next-state.  After a brief layover (for cars to get off and new ones to get on) the train would depart for the next state.&lt;p&gt;It just seems like a decent way to enable medium-speed, long-distance travel.  And wherver you went, you&amp;#x27;d have your car when you arrived.</text></item><item><author>rmason</author><text>One thing my late father wanted to do was start his own rail line, one without the track.  When Oldsmobile closed there were suddenly a lot of executives in Lansing having to make the commute every day to downtown Detroit.  My Dad located some combination train engine passenger integrated car units that had been in storage since the late sixties.  He simply wanted to rent the track.&lt;p&gt;Even at a pokey 50-55 mph he could get to downtown Detroit 30-45 minutes faster than driving because of traffic congestion.  He demonstrated that the demand was there.  But sadly the railroads wouldn&amp;#x27;t even take a meeting.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kaybe</author><text>In Europe, some of the nightjet lines take cars as well.&lt;p&gt;I think this is a great solution. If the travelling takes too long, just do it overnight. So travel times from 9pm to 9am are actually quite convenient.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Nightjet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Nightjet&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Can you buy your own train?</title><url>https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/03/private-rail-car-fan-owners-amtrak-cuts-trains-are-cool/584971/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>RickJWagner</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve always wished for a network of rail flatbed cars that make high-speed runs from state to state.&lt;p&gt;You could drive onto one of the flatbeds (from a ramp) in your car, then ride the train from center-of-a-state to center-of-the-next-state.  After a brief layover (for cars to get off and new ones to get on) the train would depart for the next state.&lt;p&gt;It just seems like a decent way to enable medium-speed, long-distance travel.  And wherver you went, you&amp;#x27;d have your car when you arrived.</text></item><item><author>rmason</author><text>One thing my late father wanted to do was start his own rail line, one without the track.  When Oldsmobile closed there were suddenly a lot of executives in Lansing having to make the commute every day to downtown Detroit.  My Dad located some combination train engine passenger integrated car units that had been in storage since the late sixties.  He simply wanted to rent the track.&lt;p&gt;Even at a pokey 50-55 mph he could get to downtown Detroit 30-45 minutes faster than driving because of traffic congestion.  He demonstrated that the demand was there.  But sadly the railroads wouldn&amp;#x27;t even take a meeting.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nycdatasci</author><text>Are you familiar with the auto train?
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.amtrak.com&amp;#x2F;h5&amp;#x2F;r&amp;#x2F;www.amtrak.com&amp;#x2F;auto-train&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.amtrak.com&amp;#x2F;h5&amp;#x2F;r&amp;#x2F;www.amtrak.com&amp;#x2F;auto-train&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>