"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"

 Travel in Grand Style.....

The "3" features a cozy observation lounge, formal dining room,

several ornate staterooms and an outdoor viewing platform.

The New York Central #3, was built for Harold Sterling Vanderbilt, who worked as a director of the railroad founded by his family three generations previously. The car, built in 1928, was a typical Pullman executive car of this grand era. Such cars were called "private varnish" because of their varnished woodwork and exclusive uses; they served as traveling offices and hotels, and were used for railroad inspections as well as for personal travel and for business entertainment.

  click on photo to enlarge 

NYC-3 frequently played host to film celebrities, wealthy tycoons, and even presidential campaigners in what politicians of the day called "whistle-stop" tours: Trains would stop in small towns and politicians would give speeches from the back platform before waving goodbye as the train departed. Adlai Stevenson campaigned on NYC-3 in this manner in his 1956 campaign against President Eisenhower and, far more recently, opera singer Cecilia Bartoli enjoyed its first-class comforts between New York and her West Coast debut in Los Angeles.