PRIVATE rail-car riding and dining is making a comeback. Traveling rail-car owners can park on the tracks at Grand Central Terminal and wine and dine their guests at bargain prices.
Metro-North charges a few thousand dollars a day for the right to pull – or be pulled – into the station to party, which isn’t all that much more expensive than renting an open space for an event. And the commuter rail line is considering renting its own antique coaches to restaurateurs and business moguls who want to make a culinary splash on its tracks, said spokesman Dan Brucker.
“This goes hand-in-hand with our $200-million renovation of Grand Central Terminal,” he said.
Quad/Graphics, a Wisconsin-based printing company, recently fed and feted hundreds of New York corporate and media clients in its elegant two-car Silver Express coach as it sat at the end of Track 36 at Grand Central.
One car served as a dining room, the other had a dance floor and bar. As curious commuters peeked in the windows, the company chef and his staff of seven served breakfast, and candlelit luncheons and dinners.
For dinner, guests were offered grilled pheasant, Texas chili, grilled chicken stuffed with mozzarella, and basil chicken mousse with red pepper, while musicians entertained and owner Harry Quadracci poured the wine.
“It’s cool. It’s something from the 19th century, when people had private rail cars instead of private jets,” said Scarsdale commuter Dudley Stone after he happened upon the scene.
Claire Nolan thought the rail- dining concept was a “terrific idea” for corporate and charitable events – and romantic to boot.
“This is a great venue. It’s so pretty. I would do this in a minute. It’s elegant,” she said.
To Quadracci, “A train is a great place to meet clients and form relationships. It’s been a great marketing tool for us.”
The two cars, with many of Quad/Graphics’ clients on board, were among four company rail cars that left Wisconsin last month, bound for Miami and the Super Bowl.
After the game, two cars continued on to New York, while the other two headed for Washington, D.C.
Quad paid Amtrak $1.35 per mile, per car, to hook the two cars up to a commuter train so they could be hauled to the Big Apple. Metro-North then hooked the cars to one of its locomotives to get it to Track 36.
Metro-North charged the firm about $7,000 for the use of its tracks, equipment, power and personnel for four days, Brucker said.
The actual rental fee was only $100 per car, per day.
“That’s a lot cheaper than chartering a jet,” said Joel Quadracci, son of Quad/Graphics’ owner and the firm’s Northeast sales director.