atalanta jay gould's railroad car

I had already read about Mr Gould. It was closed. Want to return. We read all the news that was posted on the wall's. He was a very interesting person.

The personal railroad car of the train magnate Jay Gould is a must see. It has been beautifully restored and maintained. Our tour also include a visit to the historic Excelsior Hotel which is fascinating in its own right.

Informative and beneficial for those that like to see railroad history. Great to preserve this part of history.

It is right next to the hotels and to tour have to wait for a volunteer to be there. interesting stuff but very small and a crowd of 3, it almost too big to see it.

Tickets for the tour are supposed to be available across the street at The Excelsior. We knew from reading trip advisor that the tours are hit-and-miss. Sure enough, the docent at Excelsior said no one was available to give us the tour. We planned to merely look in the windows of the train car, but all the curtains were closed. This was something we really wanted to see, so we went back across the street and explained to the gentleman at The Excelsior that the Jay Gould train car was something we *greatly* wanted to see. We asked if the curtains could be opened so we could just get a little peek inside. He locked up the hotel for a couple of minutes so he could escort us across the street and share with us a fascinating bit of history. He let us go all through the train car, so we could take pictures! I really appreciated this, and i just wish I had gotten his name. We got some great photos of the inside of the train car, and I've already shared them with my history-teacher friends. I previously taught U.S. History, and I loved teaching students about the railroad tycoons, aka robber barrons. How interesting to be able to tour this train car! Jay Gould's signature, where he signed the guest register at The Excelsior Hotel, is also on display. I wish we could have toured The Excelsior, but again, there was a shortage of volunteers available to give tours. We will definitely visit Jefferson again, and next time we hope to stay at The Excelsior! The train car is a must-see.

We took the tour and was surprised at all the things inside. The structure is so unique and done in such artesian classics. You will not believe all in this coach and the elegance!

It seems the people of Jefferson have abandoned the visitors who want to see historical sites! I called and was told no one could give us a tour. Disappointed!

You can book the railroad car and Excelsior House together. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. The tour was interesting and informative.

Something to see while you're in Jefferson. You cannot go inside the rail car, but a lot of things to read about that are posted by it and just something neat to stop by and see if you are ever in Jefferson.

We were only there for an afternoon and so just walked around the rail car and read the information that was posted outside.

There was no tour on Sunday morning, but we did walk around the Pullman car, peek in the windows, and read the information posted outside. There was also information about the Mittie Stephens steamboat disaster from back in 1869.What a neat looking railroad car. The town of Jefferson bought it because (this MAY be urban legend) Jay Gould once cursed the town for refusing to allow him to run his railway through. He signed the register at the Excelsior with, "grass will grow in your streets and bats will inhabit your belfries." (not an exact quote but close)The car is named Atalanta after the mythical huntress in Greek mythology who would only marry the man who could outrun her in a footrace. He also gave his yacht the same name. It signified that success only came to those who finished first and perservered (instead of stopping to pick up "golden apples")

While we did enjoy seeing the car when we went to Jefferson with friends (which was, in fact, 3 years ago - things might have changed), but we were on our own. We bought tickets at the Excelsior across the street and were told to go on across and into the train car. There was no tour guide for our visit. While it was fascinating to see the inside, and how the space was utilized, how gorgeous it must have been in it's day - it would have been better to have someone there to answer questions. What we had were newspaper clippings on the wall.

To tour the railroad car, you need to make contact with the guide who is an employee of the hotel across the street. Sadly, despite repeated trips to Jefferson, we have never been able to get the tour as they were either not there that day or too busy to do it.We have wandered around the outside, read the articles posted and from what little can be seen inside the car it looks like a promising peek into history.

Just seeing the innovative and efficient ways that space was utilized in this traveling hotel is worth the ticket price. A definite To-Do item for the Jefferson visitor.

The young lady that provided the tour of Jay Gould's personal railroad car was quite well informed and provided many details about the car. If you like Railroad Cars, etc. you'll enjoy this 30 - 45 minute tour.