His father immediately saw potential where others saw decay. Inside the barn, buried under years of neglect, was a nearly unrecognizable combination railcar—part passenger, part mail, part cargo—that had become home to around 20 cats. The smell was overwhelming. The car was almost entirely rotten. Despite its condition, his father’s eyes lit up. He was a lifelong train enthusiast, and he offered the farmer $2,000 for the car. The deal was struck. Right after the restoration was completed in August 2020, the derelict train car instantly became one of the most successful Airbnb locations in the country.

Getting there was a long and tortuous trip. The first challenge was the logistics of moving the 61-foot car down winding, hilly backcountry roads in the middle of winter while keeping the fragile old vehicle intact. The wood was almost completely rotten, and the ground was slick with mud and snow. “It was no small feat,” French notes.

It took two months and $10,000 to have a local trucker tow the car to the hill on their property where Isaac’s father envisioned it would sit. French recalls how the entire family was anxious as the truck crept along, knowing that one wrong move could cause irreparable damage to the already deteriorating car structure. To stabilize it during transport, they had to reinforce some especially damaged sections with temporary supports.

Against all odds, it worked out. Once the car was safely in place on a previously built foundation, the family constructed a timber-frame shed and platform around it, with a roofline mimicking traditional depot architecture. This structure was crucial not only for protecting the car from further deterioration but also for reinforcing the train theme they wanted to preserve. French says that the early stages of the restoration were a race against time, with the family working tirelessly to stabilize the car before the spring rains set in to further compromise its structural integrity.

The restoration process that followed was painstaking, he remembers. The French family worked to preserve as much of the original car as possible. “We were trying to honor the original as much as possible while also accommodating our new use,” French explains. The team carefully scrubbed away layers of dirt to reveal the car’s original colors. They uncovered and repainted the number 306 markings on the interior, staying true to the car’s history. French meticulously hand-painted the exterior lettering, which they previously researched in old photos to keep it as close as possible to the original Washington, Idaho, and Montana rail line signs.

A treasure hunt

The French family identified the car as a WI&M Car, 306 built in 1906. In the 1950s, French says, the railroad decommissioned the car when the local tracks were pulled up. The farmer who owned the land where French’s father found the car had dragged it 10 miles to his farm and used it to store grain and feed hay to his cows.

They tracked down period-appropriate items needed for the restoration through extensive searches that took them to antique stores, estate sales, and specialized online markets. “We spent countless hours searching for the right fixtures,” French recounts, describing how they found original lighting, hardware, and other fittings from the early 20th century.

One of the more elusive finds was a set of brass-door handles that matched the era’s style. After weeks of searching online and visiting several antiques dealers, they finally located a matching set in a small shop out of state. For other fixtures, they were not always successful and, in some cases, had to reproduce those that they couldn’t find online. “Some of the items were so specific that we had to commission custom pieces to match the era,” French notes, highlighting a copper pendant light fixture that was crafted by a local artisan to replicate the original designs used in trains of that period.

In addition to the fixtures, furniture was carefully chosen to fit the train car’s early 1900s aesthetic. French and his family selected period-correct replacements for the stuff you wouldn’t find in a train car of that era but were needed for people to live comfortably in the train car. The radiant heaters and the potbelly gas stove, for example, were selected not just for their functionality but for their ability to blend seamlessly into the historical context of the space.

“The potbelly stove might not have been in a train car like this originally, but it fits perfectly with the vibe we wanted to create,” French notes. They also managed to find an original train bench at an auction, which they restored and placed in the car’s sitting area. The bench became a focal point in their design, he points out, symbolizing the blending of original elements with carefully curated additions.

Keeping the original spirit intact

French says that the restoration also involved a significant amount of custom woodworking because there were bits of the car that were beyond repair: “We had to reconstruct many parts of the car from scratch,” he says. The family worked together to rebuild deteriorated sections of the car’s interior, such as the floorboards, window frames, and wood paneling. They also added new elements, like interior walls to create private spaces for a bathroom and bedroom.

Each piece was crafted to match the original woodwork as closely as possible, using the same types of wood and traditional carpentry techniques used back in the day. They even went as far as to recreate the car’s original luggage racks, which had deteriorated to a point of no return. These racks were built from scratch based on old photographs and blueprints, ensuring they were as true to the original design as possible.

One of the more challenging aspects of the project was restoring the car’s structural integrity. The frame of the car had been compromised by years of exposure to the elements and the weight of the materials stored inside it, so the French family had to carefully reinforce the frame while ensuring that the repairs were in line with the car’s original construction. This required not just skilled craftsmanship but also a deep understanding of historical building methods. “We didn’t want to just patch it up,” French explains. “We wanted to restore it in a way that would last another hundred years.”

To achieve this, they consulted with a preservationist who specialized in historical structures, ensuring that their methods were both effective and authentic. Through this odyssey, they made an effort to meticulously document the entire restoration process. They took hundreds of photographs and kept detailed records of every step of the project. He says that this documentation process guided them to stay true to the car’s original design but also allowed them to share the story of the restoration with others.

“We wanted to make sure we were as accurate as possible,” French says. This documentation has become an integral part of the car’s new life, helping to tell its story to guests who stay in it. The photos and records are now part of a digital archive that guests can access, allowing them to see the car’s transformation from a decayed relic to a beautifully restored piece of history.

After investing $147,000 and five months of intense work, they finally finished it. French claims that “today, it’s one of the most profitable and exclusive stays in the country.” The Car 306 has now been open for four years with a 90% occupancy rate at $350 a night.

They didn’t stop there. French says that, just a few miles away in Deary, Idaho, a tiny town with 550 citizens, the old train depot came up for sale. It was the very one this car had stopped at countless times. It wasn’t worth much to most, but his family saw an amazing opportunity and bought it, restoring it into a unique 3-unit rental. And they’re still building their railroad empire. “While driving one day, my dad spotted an old caboose on the side of the road. A few weeks later, the caboose was moved to Deary, set up beside the depot, and transformed into another amazing stay,” French says.