Ship Car via Rail?
Although the idea seems to have first originated in Canada, the idea to ship a car via rail with the drivers riding along in comfort as passengers started with Auto Train. The service is still thriving today as an Amtrak service.
It was in the 1970’s that an entrepreneur named Eugene Garfield recognized the solution to a problem. The problem was an annual migration of people from the densely populated cities of the Northeastern United States to Florida. The reasons for the migration were many. People were going to Florida because of the climate and the vacation opportunities. Many of these people were elderly people spending the summers in the North, but returning to Florida when the weather turned cold. How would the idea to ship a car via rail solve this problem?
The problem came from the long and tiring drive along first U.S. route 1, and later Interstate 95 from the Northern States to Florida and back. This trip was very taxing on the drivers and for vacationers; it took away some valuable beach time. Many people would fly or travel by train, but then would be without their own personal vehicle. This created a particular hardship for those maintaining dual homes. The idea of Mr. Garfield was to provide a way for a person to travel in comfort and have their car when they got there. A true case of having your cake and eating it, too.
This was accomplished by putting the personal vehicles right on the train. The first rail cars were purchased from the Canadians who had begun transported cars via rail years earlier. These “rack cars” held eight vehicles, four in each of two levels, inside the 75 foot long rail car. The service ran from a terminal in Lorton, Virginia, to another in the town of Sanford in Florida. Sanford was located in mid-state on the East coast of Florida. The car owners would make the trip in a passenger train that included observation cars, dining cars, and even sleeping cars.
The idea was very successful and the trains ran daily for over 10 years. It was eventually taken over by Amtrak and after a gap of 22 months; Amtrak resumed service which continues to the present day. The Auto Train service is today considered to be one of the most profitable of all Amtrak runs. It carries almost 200,000 passengers and generates over $50 million dollars in revenue. Several other similar services have been started in other areas of the country, but have not been successful or very long lived.
The idea of passenger and car shipments by rail is very popular in Europe. A version of a car/passenger train takes people under the English Channel via a newly opened tunnel. The raising price of gasoline may be setting the stage for the use of this idea on a larger scale in the United States. It is, actually, a bit of a surprise that there is no east to west coast auto train. It will be interesting to see if the future brings this concept more and more into the forefront as a vehicle transport option in the United States.