For travelers who love the idea of traveling the country by train but crave a little more space, privacy, and polish than a standard Amtrak seat or sleeper car allows, a new option is rolling onto the tracks this winter. Starting in mid-January 2026, a new company called Halloway is offering a more luxurious rail experience. It is launching exclusive-use private railcar journeys on two of the most scenic routes in the American West.
Rather than operating its own luxury train, Halloway will attach a pair of restored historic railcars to regularly scheduled Amtrak trains, creating what the company describes as a fully private onboard experience: sleeping, dining, and lounging reserved entirely for one group. The initial itineraries will operate on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight route, connecting Los Angeles and Oakland (across the bay from San Francisco), and on the California Zephyr line, which links Oakland with Denver in Colorado.
Amtrak’s California Zephyr route is considered to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the U.S.
Courtesy of Amtrak
The routes
Halloway’s first departure will take place on January 15, 2026, aboard the Coast Starlight, a route that celebrates California’s ocean scenery, particularly along the stretch between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo where the tracks run close to the Pacific. Travelers pass vineyards and beach towns, with frequent coastal views from the comfort of the train cars. The trip is a 12-hour daytime journey (from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) between Los Angeles Union Station and Oakland’s Jack London Square Station in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The following day, on January 16, the experience expands eastward with the launch of the Oakland to Denver itinerary on the California Zephyr. This much longer trip—a 36-hour journey that is considered to be one of the most beautiful rail routes in the U.S.—climbs through the Sierra Nevada range of California and Nevada before crossing wide desert basins and red rock country in Utah, and then enters Colorado and the striking mountain landscapes of the Rockies. The route ends at Union Station in downtown Denver.
Witness the beauty of California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado while dining in a restored vintage railcar.
Courtesy of Halloway
Halloway’s private train cars
Both itineraries use the same two-car setup, vintage spaces renovated to function as a self-contained private train experience. The Evelyn Henry, a midcentury Union Pacific sleeper car, features four double bedrooms and one queen-bed master suite, with en suite bathrooms and a wardrobe, effectively serving as a boutique hotel on rails. Paired with it is the 1955 Union Pacific Warren R. Henry, a classic dome-windowed train car designed for sightseeing, with panoramic views overhead and space for dining, relaxing, and socializing.
The cars are reserved exclusively for one group of up to six people; no other passengers rotate through the lounge, which means there’s no competition for observation seating.
How it works (and how to book)
Rates for Halloway’s private rail car experience on the Coast Starlight route between L.A. and Oakland start at $10,000 for exclusive use, with accommodations for up to six guests. Rates for the California Zephyr journey from Northern California to Denver start at $18,500. All meals are included and will be prepared by a private chef. The pricing also includes laundry and nightly turndown service.
Booking a private railcar does not mean chartering an entire train—or bypassing Amtrak’s system altogether. Instead, Halloway, which bills itself as the first online marketplace dedicated to private railcar travel, is tapping into a long-standing but little-known feature of U.S. passenger rail: Privately owned railcars can be attached to scheduled Amtrak trains and moved along approved routes.
In practice, this means Halloway’s cars are physically coupled to the same trains as Amtrak’s standard coaches and sleepers. The trains depart and arrive at all of Amtrak’s regularly scheduled station stops and on Amtrak’s timetable. Travelers booking through Halloway are not riding in Amtrak’s accommodations, but they are very much part of the same train and operating system.
The first two itineraries have sold out; however, Halloway plans to add additional itineraries in the coming weeks. When they are available, they’ll be bookable on the Halloway website. For those who want to book a custom charter on a private rail car, Halloway can arrange a trip in either direction on the Coast Starlight and California Zephyr routes.
