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
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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.
![[Isaac bought the abandoned train carriage for £2,300]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/i-bought-100-year-old-957913024.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"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.
![[The carriage was falling apart when he bought it]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/i-bought-100-year-old-957913027.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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.
![[In just six months he transformed it into a unique Airbnb]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/i-bought-100-year-old-957913021.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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.
