Bill Hatrick loves trains. So much so that he owns three rail cars, but not a house. He dresses like a conductor and home schools his daughters so the family can travel whenever the opportunity arises. For nearly 20 years, Bill’s love affair with his car the Overland Trail has become his entire family’s passion. He put many hours and his own money into painstakingly restoring the car, piece by piece. He went to night school to learn upholstery, reworked the mechanics, and sought out its
... (show all)
Bill Hatrick loves trains. So much so that he owns three rail cars, but not a house. He dresses like a conductor and home schools his daughters so the family can travel whenever the opportunity arises. For nearly 20 years, Bill’s love affair with his car the Overland Trail has become his entire family’s passion. He put many hours and his own money into painstakingly restoring the car, piece by piece. He went to night school to learn upholstery, reworked the mechanics, and sought out its bits of history whenever he could. He wants to make a living from his rail fantasy world by taking people on joy rides to remind them of the romance of traveling by rail.
He’s not alone. Any train needs more than one car to be a train and he’s part of a community of other private rail car owners who share a similar passion. Another family has spent more than $300,000 and 12 years of their life restoring an old rail car just to get it out on the tracks again. And another family, near retirement, has owned 12 rail cars in their lifetime and is finally enjoying the fruits of their labor by taking their restored sleeper on its second transcontinental journey with paying passengers.
They help one another and depend on each other. It is their life. But can they make it work in the real world and still live their dream?
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