Current Ownership of New York Central 3

SP 4449, in American Fredom Train colors, hauls the train through Northern California in 1975		Southern Pacific Business Car #129, "Portland", parked in Portland in 1956. This is where it all began.

Lovett grew up riding cars similar to NYC 3 around the West Coast. He wanted to continue the tradition and to share it with his family, but he also had a passion for all things mechanical as well as a special interest in the incredible construction and design accomplishments of the 1930's. NYC 3 tied all interests together, plus having the special aura of having been built for a Vanderbilt!

In 1964, while a college student, Lovett came close to purchasing a different car for $4,000--its scrap value at that time--but gave up the idea after learning he would have to negotiate with every different railroad in the country in order to move it around. He resurrected the idea again in 1977 (by which time Amtrak had been founded and there was a nationwide passenger rail system) and looked at several dozen cars, but found neither the time nor money to pursue the issue further. The recession of the early 1990's presented what he felt might be his last opportunity: cars had dropped greatly in value and he took the plunge in May, 1992. (Despite the price drop, one must still figure on a minimum of $250,000 to obtain a car authorized for travel on Amtrak, with much of today's costs attributed not to simple restoration or maintenance, but to adding new mechanical and electrical features required by Amtrak mechanical regulations. Taking a 50-75 year old car and making it compatible with newly built equipment clearly represents a major task.)

Besides an interest in mechanics, historical preservation and railroading, Lovett spent 34 years as a transportation professional, initially with the Southern Pacific Railroad and subsequently as a logistics analyst and safety consultant with several major chemical companies, including approximately a decade directing transportation safety and risk management for Union Carbide Corporation and Dow Chemical Co. Some of the risk assessment and risk management tools he helped develop are now standards in the industry.

Lovett boards with wildflowers after a siding stop in west Texas		Besides preserving an era from America's past and providing a "lifestyle" for immediate family, NYC 3 preserves and embellishes many decades of friendship. Here, Dad looks on from the wall as Lovett entertains ladyfriends Laura (Crater Lake, 1960) and Joanne (New York, 1959) and her husband Ted at Truckee, CA in the late 1990's.