Greenbrier Takes to the Tracks

The white knight that rescued the Greenbrier resort from bankruptcy more than two years ago still has a few more tricks up his sleeve.

First it was a “Gone With the Wind” meets Monte Carlo-themed underground casino, then a PGA tournament set amid the greenery of West Virginia. Now, it’s $650 roundtrip railroad service, which will next year cart getaway-seekers straight from the nation’s capital to White Sulfur Springs, W.V., all in the lap of luxury.

The Charleston Gazette on Wednesday covered resort owner Jim Justice’s announcement of “The Greenbrier Presidential Express,” a 15-car train that will ferry passengers from D.C. to West Virginia 11 months a year, five to six hours a trip.

When the train starts operating in July 2012, the Greenbrier “will become the only resort in the world with its own private train,” said Ross Rowland, whose company is tasked with refurbishing the train.

Rowland, officially the president and chief executive of Greenbrier Express Co., first pitched the idea of the resort-specific train—a luxurious alternative to that old summer favorite, the road trip—to the Greenbrier’s prebankruptcy owner, CSX, in 1995, the newspaper reported. While the old owner passed on the idea, Justice always seems to be looking to shake things up.

Under his watch, the Greenbrier has gone in new directions and struck new deals focused on everything from a struggling area hotel to upscale restaurants. (“Tastes have changed over the years. So have we,” the resort’s website declares.)

Recently, the resort has pushed its health offerings into the forefront, highlighting its “Greenbrier Clinic” on its homepage and promoting fresh packages that “combine a relaxing, luxurious holiday with the clinic’s unparalleled diagnostic evaluation and care,” according to the website. It’s also simultaneously upping the entertainment ante, bringing in the Black Eyed Peas and country stars like Tim McGraw and Keith Urban to perform for this year’s Greenbrier Classic, the resort’s PGA tournament, next month.

Interested in checking out a show and seeing a radiologist, but don’t want to wait for next year’s train to start rolling down the tracks to West Virginia? Don’t worry, Justice has you covered there too: He launched special plane service with Delta last year.