I bought a 100-year-old abandoned train car and now I make £90k a year of it – people are blown away by the inside
A MAN has revealed that he bought a 100 year old abandoned train car and transformed it into an Airbnb that makes him £90k a year.
Isaac French, 27 bought the old train car for just £2,300 from a farmer who lived nearby.
“It would have been worth nothing to most people, but my dad saw the potential in it,” he told CNBC.
“It was in really rough shape, most of the wood was starting to rot, there was algae growing on part of it, and there were like 20 cats living inside of it.”
Isaac said that to most people it looked irreparable, and it took Isaac and his dad over two years to find someone to help them to move the 61 foot train.
After the duo had finally managed to relocate the carriage, they spent six months doing it up.
The project set them back £118,000 overall, including the cost of building a decking, refurbishing the floors, doing all of the electrics and purchasing new furnishings.
Isaac, has seven brothers and two sister, almost all of whom have construction skills, so the family was able to do most of the work themselves.
The family were even able to find an old photograph of the train car, which allowed them to recreate the exact markings and lettering that was on the original train.
Isaac has converted the main passenger room of the carriage into a living room and kitchenette area, which his antique-loving mum has decorated with vintage furnishings.
The cargo area has been transformed into a coat and luggage rack and added a bathroom with a sliding door.
In the original mail room of the carriage, Isaac’s family have created a bedroom, with a large double bed and cosy furnishings.
“This is a very cosy, intimate space with lots of natural light,” Isaac said.
The Airbnb even has a sauna, which looks out onto panoramic views of the surrounding wildlife.
It costs between £256 and £275 a night to stay in the cosy Airbnb in Idaho, with Isaac revealing that he thinks they could charge more, but don’t want to price people out.
“It’s so fulfilling and rewarding to be able to host all of these people from different backgrounds that want to experience this piece of history,” he said.
Side hustles in numbers
Based on new research from Finder, an estimated 22.8 million Brits are using side hustles to top up their income.
Among those aged 18-23, 68 percent have a side hustle in 2024.
Those aged 24-42 aren’t far behind, with 65 per cent having an additional source of income.
Side hustles are less popular among older generations, with 40 percent of those aged 43-54 having one.
Whereas 23 percent of people aged 55-73 and just 7 per cent of those aged 74 and over are earning extra cash this way.
Isaac and his family make around £90k a year from the train carriage.
He said: “What I love about it the most is that there is a sense of history and a story that’s already built in.
“And I think there’s an opportunity around the whole world because many old buildings and old train cars are just sitting out there waiting to be discovered and loved.”