Rail ventures bella vista

After World War II, the jet age spelled the demise of such travel. But there is a hard core group of rail buffs who own, restore and sometimes charter these cars.

But frankly, none of these cars come close to the Bella Vista, one of four private cars owned by Rail Ventures, Inc. What makes the Bella Vista unique? It was re-imagined. Originally called "Native Son," it was built by Union Pacific as a sightseeing dome car with passenger seats. When Rail Ventures bought it in , they gutted the interior, which was originally configured with a bar and 34 passenger seats.

They installed two master bedrooms in the former rear lounge space, each with private bath and showers done with Italian stone tile. And they built two smaller bedrooms, which share a bathroom, as well as a crew room, and a large kitchen in the forward end of the car. You lounge and dine under that great dome, whose great slabs of glass cover most of the ceiling, letting in vast amounts of daylight and starlight. The car is paneled in Honduran mahogany, with oriental carpeting and banquettes in silk blends and leather.

The sheets are Egyptian cotton with a thread count and the duvets are goose down. Halogen lighting, a sophisticated heated and air-conditioning system and ceiling fans make sure that you travel in comfort.

My cabin had a plushy furnished banquette that folded down to a double bed. There was a large closet and several drawers.

A picture window afforded a wide view. A matching window looked out onto the corridor, itself lined with large windows. Every seam and joint had the look of painstaking craftsmanship. Private rail cars pay Amtrak a fee to hitch along for the ride. But that, of course, comes with a downside. You take it because you want to travel in a luxurious, self-contained world that passes by scenes worthy of paintings by Edward Hopper and Grant Wood. A salad of romaine lettuce followed, and then tenderloin of lamb in a rosemary garlic balsamic demiglace, with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and fresh asparagus.

Berry sorbet pie finished me off as we pulled into Connellsville, Pennsylvania. And after nursing a final glass of the Walla Walla Vinters Cabernet in the starlit dome, I headed for bed. Who takes the Bella Vista? Chief executives, of course. Companies also charter it for an incentive. Politicians and European royalty enjoy it. Their names are kept quiet. Rail Ventures does family trips, multi generational trips, and special trips such as 50th wedding anniversaries, the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby.

Three or four days is a typical amount of time to spend on the train, but people have booked it for as long as three weeks. I awoke a few times in the night as we hurtled through Ohio, track beds being what they are. I finally got up around and took a hot shower, a feature that not even the Venice Simplon Orient Express is able to offer.

The car was then renamed to Bella Vista. The interiors were upgraded considerably to match the luxury interior of the Yerba Buena Kirkwood's other car. Shortly after that, Rail Ventures acquired the ex UP dome lounge Native Son and rebuilt the car extensively going from a lounge car to a sleeper dome. A rear platform was added. And the car was renamed Bella Vista the second of his cars to bear that name. The interior is unusual as the master suite is located at the rear of the car and has a large picture window opening onto the rear platform in addition to a side window.

This resulted in the rear door of the car being located on one side of the platform rather than the usual center of the platform. You can see the offset door and large picture window in the accompanying photo of the Bella Vista taken today in the Emeryville Station.