(The following story by Jonathan D. Colburn appeared on The Desert Sun website on March 2.)
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Part-time residents of the Coachella Valley who dread the long drive back home have another option starting this month.
They can send their cars by train.
New Jersey-based Autolog Corp., which has been running cars up and down the East Coast for more than 20 years, is launching a train service that will connect Palm Springs to the Chicago and Seattle areas.
Autolog entered into a partnership with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to use their network of tracks to haul cars.
Owner Myron Levine is hoping to garner business from the estimated 100,000 people who live in Palm Springs during the winter. The cost to transport the vehicle in an enclosed rail car will start at $525.
“The only other way to move your car is to use independent truckers,” Levine said.
Palm Springs customers can drop off and pick up their cars in San Bernardino. For an extra fee, Autolog arranges to deliver cars from the railhead to the Coachella Valley. Levine said Autolog service is still cheaper than independent trucking in many cases, and that trains are safer and faster than trucks.
The trip takes less than two weeks, according to Levine. He said that’s less time than an independent trucking company.
“In working with the railroad, we realized that the rail terminal in San Bernardino could do the same thing” as trucking companies, said Levine. “We also didn’t realize that there were so many snowbirds in Palm Springs.”
Frank Weiss, who lives in Woodridge, N.Y., with his wife, Frieda, and spends the winters in Palm Springs, has been shipping his car by truck trailer for the last 10 years. He called truck transportation “a gamble.” Weiss said he’d love to have the option of shipping by rail.
“The rail cars are covered,” said Weiss. “There’s less of a chance for damage.”
Weiss said that his car was damaged twice when sending it by trailer. Repairs were paid for by insurance. He also spends extra money to make sure that his car is shipped on top of the truck trailer to avoid exposure to fluids leaking from other cars.
Natalie Tkach-Hick, from Saskatchewan, Canada, was also intrigued by the new rail service. She drives to Palm Springs to stay for six months every year.
“As you get older, you just want to be where you’re going,” Tkach-Hick said. “But a lot of people still drive, because it costs next to nothing.”