THE METIS STORY

A private rail car charter on the Métis - one of the world's finest classic rail cars from the grand age of rail travel - is truly a unique experience steeped in history and the luxury of a bygone era. An age in which the ultra-wealthy - the Vanderbilts, Chases, Morgans and Rockefellers - traveled first-class in fabulously appointed private cars accessible only to a privileged few. These grand rail cars were the corporate jets of their day, opulently fitted with the finest amenities and able to carry their passengers to the four corners of the Continent.

The Métis (pronounced MAY-tee) has a rich tradition and heritage that began in the golden age of rail travel 1928 when it was built by Canadian Car and Foundry. Named for a group of indigenous people from the northern provinces of Canada, the Métis served on the Canadian National Railway's Saint Lawrence Special route as a lounge, buffet and library car until 1953. It was then converted into it's current configuration as a business
car for the exclusive use of the railway's executive elite.

The Métis was officially retired from her years of illustrious service with the Canadian National Railway in 1985 and was acquired by its first private owner. In 1991, this rare icon of luxury travel began a series of upgrades and improvements that not only restored it's former art deco glory but made the Métis fully Amtrak compatible. The car was purchased by it's current owner, John Tyson, in 2007 and has traveled the country as a rolling symbol of what journalist and railroad historian Lucius Beebe described as, "the only civilized way to travel."