The owners of The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV, once dreamed of establishing a luxury train line running between the resort and Washington, D.C. and through Pennsylvania. That dream ended, however, when the rail cars and other assets for the train service were sold at auction in Pottstown, PA last Thursday.

The cars for the Greenbrier Express sold for amounts ranging from a mere $10,500 all the way to $135,000 each.
Some of those cars had been gutted, with nothing more than the steel shell and arched roof remaining. Others, however, still had the elements of the dining cars and sleepers they had once been back in the 1950s and 1960s.

Jim Justice, owner of The Greenbrier, had hoped that a train service would attract guests looking for old-fashioned, glamorous rail travel.

But the project was ultimately scrapped, explained Greebrier Express president and CEO Ross Rowland, due to cash flow issues brought on by the recession and coal prices.

The Greenbrier Express auction received a favorable turnout of bidders, many of whom conversed with buyers by cell phone. Because bids were placed in-person, the auction may have lost out on an online audience, which removes time constraints and scheduling issues from the bidding process.

While the auction drew a considerable amount of attendees, many who spoke to reporters had decided against bidding on the rail cars and other assets available.

Some attendees were looking for finished cars; others were seeking train cars from the turn of the century instead.
Those who did bid, however, seemed happy with what they walked away with.

One bidder, who bought some tools at the sale, said that the steel in the cars was worth more than the $10,500 the lowest one sold for. He stated that it would be a “crime” to sell the cars for scrap instead.
The auctioneer agreed later, joking, “If you sheer and cut these cars, the ghosts of railroads past will haunt you and kill you in your sleep.”

At press time, the total earnings from the auction had not yet been calculated.
[Photo courtesy of the Greenbrier Express Facebook Page.]