A private railroad car, private railway coach, private car, or private varnish is a railroad passenger car either originally built or later converted for service as a business car for private individuals. A private car could be added to the make-up of a train or pulled by a private locomotive, providing privacy for its passengers.[1] They were used by railroad officials and dignitaries as business cars, and wealthy people for travel and entertainment, especially in the United States. They were sometimes used by politicians in "whistle stop campaigns". Pay cars with less opulent sleeping and dining facilities were used by a paymaster and assistants to transport and disburse cash wages to railway employees in remote locations without banking facilities.[2]
- ^ "The Private Rail Car Experience". August 19, 2008. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
- ^ Lavallée, Omer (1984) CANADIAN PACIFIC in the East (Volume One) The Calgary Group of the British Railway Modellers of North America p.8