# Railcar home conversion



## TranquilPilot (Apr 2, 2019)

Hi. Have had this pipe dream of converting an Amtrak Viewliner or Dome or Sleeper/Lounge railcar into a home on a piece of land (permanent). Wondering if anyone here has done it or knows some one who has done it? Thanks.


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## Just-Thinking-51 (Apr 2, 2019)

ozarkmountainrailcar.com

Equipment available. Have seen people use a caboose to live in. Not really worth it to use a old railcar. A bit too narrow, and hard to move. A RV or tiny home on wheels would be better.

Enjoy.


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 2, 2019)

Just-Thinking-51 said:


> ozarkmountainrailcar.com
> 
> Equipment available. Have seen people use a caboose to live in. Not really worth it to use a old railcar. A bit too narrow, and hard to move. A RV or tiny home on wheels would be better.
> 
> Enjoy.


 Thanks, Just-Thinking-51
I did visit that website. Pretty cool. RE: railcar being too narrow - It will be quite a project to re-purpose it. gutting etc. Found something similar (airbnb):

Historic Railcar on Skaneateles Lake


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## Seaboard92 (Apr 2, 2019)

I know of a hotel that converted a F45 diesel into a hotel room. It’s quite the room. If you need any advice into converting a car. Or referring you to a good shop let me know.


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 3, 2019)

Seaboard92 said:


> I know of a hotel that converted a F45 diesel into a hotel room. It’s quite the room. If you need any advice into converting a car. Or referring you to a good shop let me know.



Thanks, Seaboard92. I will definitely reach out to you when this crazy idea gets me to act on it. 
btw, browsing through your pics website. Mind-blowing!


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## jis (Apr 3, 2019)

You may wish to try out the Red Caboose Motel in Lancaster PA.

https://redcaboosemotel.com


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 3, 2019)

jis said:


> You may wish to try out the Red Caboose Motel in Lancaster PA.
> 
> https://redcaboosemotel.com



Very cute! IMO, Would have felt a lot cooler if at least some of the unique caboose features were integrated with the interior's modern furnishings. To give that "feel" that you are actually inside a caboose and not a motel "box".


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## trainman74 (Apr 3, 2019)

I had a copy of this book as a child -- if you can find your own copy, it might give you some additional ideas.

Looking back on it now as an adult, the trolley car as described in the book would probably have been an interurban, larger than what's depicted in this front cover illustration.


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 3, 2019)

trainman74 said:


> I had a copy of this book as a child -- if you can find your own copy, it might give you some additional ideas.
> 
> Looking back on it now as an adult, the trolley car as described in the book would probably have been an interurban, larger than what's depicted in this front cover illustration.



Very Interesting! Thanks, trainman74


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## TylerP42 (Apr 3, 2019)

I think for a family a railcar would be a perfect sized. It would take some getting used to in terms of how small a kitchen may be and such, but honestly, I think you could fit everything you need to live comfortably in a railcar. This sounds like an awesome idea, and now I'm looking at photos of houses/hotels like this.

I wonder if Amtrak would ever sell their viewliners, or if they'd scrap them like they scrapped the baggage cars?


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 3, 2019)

TylerP42 said:


> I think for a family a railcar would be a perfect sized. It would take some getting used to in terms of how small a kitchen may be and such, but honestly, I think you could fit everything you need to live comfortably in a railcar. This sounds like an awesome idea, and now I'm looking at photos of houses/hotels like this.
> 
> I wonder if Amtrak would ever sell their viewliners, or if they'd scrap them like they scrapped the baggage cars?



Right. Even if it is not a primary home. Would make a super cool livable hangout spot (crash-pad) in the backyard. And yea viewliner is definitely a worthy candidate with its main door located right at the center of the car and the car is tall enough to even make it a two story place - with some creative thinking and hundreds of hard labor man hours to make it a reality of course. 
do share links here if you come across something interesting during your search. Peace!


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## Seaboard92 (Apr 5, 2019)

There is a really cool house in Germany someone repurposed two post office cars into a house. They built almost a train shed between the two cars where their living space is. It’s really cool looking. I honestly would consider living in one of these. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tr...mp/german-couple-convert-train-cars-home.html


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 5, 2019)

Seaboard92 said:


> There is a really cool house in Germany someone repurposed two post office cars into a house. They built almost a train shed between the two cars where their living space is. It’s really cool looking. I honestly would consider living in one of these.
> 
> https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tr...mp/german-couple-convert-train-cars-home.html



Pretty cool! Feels so good to know I am not the only crazy one


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## railiner (Apr 5, 2019)

One thing about an old railcar versus an RV or mobile home...the railcar, especially if an old Pullman 12 wheeler heavyweight "battleship", would certainly be a whole lot more secure...and it would survive even the most violent of storms.


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## jis (Apr 6, 2019)

Speaking of odd things to reside in...

https://www.delish.com/food/a200883...L&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=facebook


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## basketmaker (Apr 6, 2019)

syed ahmed said:


> Hi. Have had this pipe dream of converting an Amtrak Viewliner or Dome or Sleeper/Lounge railcar into a home on a piece of land (permanent). Wondering if anyone here has done it or knows some one who has done it? Thanks.


The F45 mentioned is probably the Isaac Walton Inn's ol' GN441 in Essex, MT on the Empire Builder route converted to a guest room. They also have a couple of cabooses.


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## TinCan782 (Apr 6, 2019)

Here is GN441 (exterior) at the Izaak Walton Inn


IMG_6532 by John, on Flickr


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 11, 2019)

A thought just occurred to me this morning - How hard would it be to get our hands on a blueprint of the inner layout of different Amtrak railcars?


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## PerRock (Apr 11, 2019)

TranquilPilot said:


> A thought just occurred to me this morning - How hard would it be to get our hands on a blueprint of the inner layout of different Amtrak railcars?



Not that hard. Most of the heritage equipment is in a single book that is floating around the internet in pdf form... I have a copy I could share with you, but am at work so don't have access to it at the moment. As for the current stuff, there are a handful of fleet information pdfs Amtrak has put out that have the layouts in them, usually as an appendix at the end.

peter


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 11, 2019)

PerRock said:


> Not that hard. Most of the heritage equipment is in a single book that is floating around the internet in pdf form... I have a copy I could share with you, but am at work so don't have access to it at the moment. As for the current stuff, there are a handful of fleet information pdfs Amtrak has put out that have the layouts in them, usually as an appendix at the end.
> 
> peter


Thanks, Peter. That would be awesome! Also about the PDFs of the current fleet - could this be it? - http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents/PRIIA_Bi-Level_Spec_305-001_Approved_rev C.1.pdf


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 11, 2019)

While that pdf does show the layouts of a coach and baggage car it doesn't show the layouts of sleeper lounge/sleeper/dome cars. May be there's other PDFs for those?


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## PerRock (Apr 11, 2019)

No that's not it... here, scroll to the end: http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents/Presentations/Amtrak_FleetStrategyPlan.pdf this one is a little bit old, so doesn't have the Viewliner IIs.

peter


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 11, 2019)

PerRock said:


> No that's not it... here, scroll to the end: http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents/Presentations/Amtrak_FleetStrategyPlan.pdf this one is a little bit old, so doesn't have the Viewliner IIs.
> 
> peter



Thanks, Peter. That's pretty neat. I wish they had the same info for the superliner bi level sleeper cars. i guess a little more searching should take me there.


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## Seaboard92 (Apr 11, 2019)

What type of blueprint are you looking for? I probably have it somewhere in my house. 

Which car are you looking for?


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## PerRock (Apr 11, 2019)

Here is the heritage fleet: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rn0WUfD5oCp6RIAzqCQQhvApx7ixaYHt

How detailed are you wanting for diagrams? I've been collecting Amtrak equipment diagrams over the years & have some decent ones of Superliner Is, but don't have them in my public collection.

peter


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 12, 2019)

Seaboard92 said:


> What type of blueprint are you looking for? I probably have it somewhere in my house.
> 
> Which car are you looking for?



Inner layout dimensions. bi level sleeper, sleeper/lounge, dome


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## TranquilPilot (Apr 12, 2019)

PerRock said:


> Here is the heritage fleet: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rn0WUfD5oCp6RIAzqCQQhvApx7ixaYHt
> 
> How detailed are you wanting for diagrams? I've been collecting Amtrak equipment diagrams over the years & have some decent ones of Superliner Is, but don't have them in my public collection.
> 
> peter



That is awesome! I am looking for similar diagrams for the bi-levels


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## PerRock (Apr 12, 2019)

The old El Capitan cars are in there. Their the predecessor to the Superliners.


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## cocojacoby (Apr 12, 2019)

PerRock said:


> Here is the heritage fleet: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rn0WUfD5oCp6RIAzqCQQhvApx7ixaYHt
> 
> How detailed are you wanting for diagrams? I've been collecting Amtrak equipment diagrams over the years & have some decent ones of Superliner Is, but don't have them in my public collection.
> 
> peter


These are great. Thanks Peter.


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## Seaboard92 (Apr 12, 2019)

I don’t think I have superliners. But I do have quite the selection of pre-Amtrak diagrams. Complete with wiring.


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## PerRock (Apr 13, 2019)

TranquilPilot said:


> Inner layout dimensions. bi level sleeper, sleeper/lounge, dome



My drawings for Superliner 1s don't have dimensions for the interior, just exterior dimensions; they do have interior layouts, without dimensions.

peter


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