Rescued Rail Car Now A Luxury Airbnb
“When I got a call from an elderly neighbor a few years ago needing help to clear snow from his old barn’s roof, I had no idea it would lead to an amazing 3 1/2-year restoration project that would produce a magnificent Airbnb,” says Idaho contractor Webb French. “Outside the farmer’s barn, under a lean-to, was an almost unrecognizable old rail car. It was rotting, smelled terrible, and was infested with cats and mice. I’d always wanted to restore a rail car, so I bought it for $2,000.”
Buying it was the easy part because it took nearly 3 years for French to get the car moved. “Guys promised and broke promises right and left, but eventually, we found a crew to put I-beams and axles under it and pull it to our building site. We’d invested $10,000 to move it before the real work started.”
French has eight sons, and they and their friends all had a hand in restoring the 61-ft. long car. “We turned the mail compartment into a bedroom, the cargo hold into a bathroom and the passenger space into a kitchenette, living area and lounge,” French says. “A lot of sweat equity went into cleaning, repairing, replacing, refitting, rebuilding, wiring and plumbing the old car.”
The car’s wood frame was structurally sound except for parts of the roof that weren’t under the old barn’s lean-to. “We had a coppersmith make an entirely new roof after the electrical was in, and he also recreated electric lamps from pictures we found. We spent many hours scraping, sanding and cleaning the car’s quarter-sawn oak walls and tight grain Douglas fir floors.”
French says the windows were rotted at the bottom, so they had a woodworking friend make new frames. “He aged the new pieces perfectly to match the good wood; then we installed double pane glass.”
The car was built in 1906 and ran on the Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway from 1909 to 1955. Designated the WI&M 306, it carried merchandise, including large blocks of cut lake ice in the cargo hold. It also picked up and delivered mail from several towns and carried passengers. When it was decommissioned, French’s farmer neighbor dragged the car 10 miles to his farm, where it sat next to his barn for 60 years.
The restored car is now a quaint Airbnb, resting on a rise overlooking a quiet national forest with tremendous views of the setting sun and starlit skies. It’s sheltered with a roof that resembles a railroad depot to provide ambience lighting and protection from the elements. French says the car has produced nearly 90 percent occupancy rates with consistent five-star reviews. Amenities include Wi-Fi, central air and a washer/dryer. To further enhance guest experiences, they’re adding a barrel sauna and cedar soaking tubs.
French says the restoration was a long and tedious project worth every dollar and minute of work. “We couldn’t be happier.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Webb French, Quality Contractors, 307 Main St., Deary, Idaho 83823 (office@qualitycontractors.com).
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Rescued Rail Car Now A Luxury Airbnb BUILDINGS Miscellaneous “When I got a call from an elderly neighbor a few years ago needing help to clear snow from his old barn’s roof I had no idea it would lead to an amazing 3 1/2-year restoration project that would produce a magnificent Airbnb ” says Idaho contractor Webb French “Outside the farmer’s barn under a lean-to was an almost unrecognizable old rail car It was rotting smelled terrible and was infested with cats and mice I’d always wanted to restore a rail car so I bought it for $2 000 ” Buying it was the easy part because it took nearly 3 years for French to get the car moved “Guys promised and broke promises right and left but eventually we found a crew to put I-beams and axles under it and pull it to our building site We’d invested $10 000 to move it before the real work started ” French has eight sons and they and their friends all had a hand in restoring the 61-ft long car “We turned the mail compartment into a bedroom the cargo hold into a bathroom and the passenger space into a kitchenette living area and lounge ” French says “A lot of sweat equity went into cleaning repairing replacing refitting rebuilding wiring and plumbing the old car ” The car’s wood frame was structurally sound except for parts of the roof that weren’t under the old barn’s lean-to “We had a coppersmith make an entirely new roof after the electrical was in and he also recreated electric lamps from pictures we found We spent many hours scraping sanding and cleaning the car’s quarter-sawn oak walls and tight grain Douglas fir floors ” French says the windows were rotted at the bottom so they had a woodworking friend make new frames “He aged the new pieces perfectly to match the good wood; then we installed double pane glass ” The car was built in 1906 and ran on the Washington Idaho & Montana Railway from 1909 to 1955 Designated the WI&M 306 it carried merchandise including large blocks of cut lake ice in the cargo hold It also picked up and delivered mail from several towns and carried passengers When it was decommissioned French’s farmer neighbor dragged the car 10 miles to his farm where it sat next to his barn for 60 years The restored car is now a quaint Airbnb resting on a rise overlooking a quiet national forest with tremendous views of the setting sun and starlit skies It’s sheltered with a roof that resembles a railroad depot to provide ambience lighting and protection from the elements French says the car has produced nearly 90 percent occupancy rates with consistent five-star reviews Amenities include Wi-Fi central air and a washer/dryer To further enhance guest experiences they’re adding a barrel sauna and cedar soaking tubs French says the restoration was a long and tedious project worth every dollar and minute of work “We couldn’t be happier ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Webb French Quality Contractors 307 Main St Deary Idaho 83823 office@qualitycontractors com
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