YVPeople: Robert VanCamp

on the cover

Andy Locket, David Holt and Robert in Durango Colorado. Robert with Richard Petty.

A conversation with Rob Van Camp as told to John Norman Photos courtesy Robert Van Camp Meet Robert Van Camp

Journalist • Storyteller Historian • Entrepeneur

If you’ve watched any of the new Magnolia Network you may have seen Clint Harps’ Restoration Road. In the very first episode Clint shows a group of men renovating and restoring a Pullman Railroad car and turning it into a B&B out west. Well, right here in the Yadkin Valley we have our very own version of that kind of restoration. Only here, they’re not parking the cars, they are being put back on the rails to begin a new life.

Meet Robert Van Camp. We introduced you to Robert several years ago with a feature about his creation, Great Scenic Railway Journeys, (GSRJ). Not only has he continued that work, but it has grown by leaps and bounds. Or as Robert says, “One thing leads to another and another and another. Just keep cultivating the great opportunities you are blessed with.”

I first meet Robert when he was working for WFMY TV. This man who has never meet a stranger has a sincere interest in other people. Naturally, that makes for a great journalist, who’s always asking questions. In the fall 1993, he left WFMY to produce his first program on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. UNC-TV liked his program so much they submitted his work to the National Academy of Arts and Sciences where Robert was awarded his first Emmy for his filming of the show.

Today GSRJ has now grown to be the longest running, highest rated rail travel show on Public television along with airing throughout the world. Since 1994, the

show has been used by PBS stations for their annual fundraising efforts. He personally visits 40-45 stations across the county each year doing on air appearances offering local rail journeys to their members. This year Robert will begin producing his 30th Anniversary Special for Public Television featuring eleven new locations from Pennsylvania, the Canadian Rockies, to the Oregon Coast. He has partnered on this show with the first producer/writer he worked with, his longtime friend and WFMY cohort, Andy Lockett. “I loved the fact I am able to work with Andy again. He has come out of retirement to work with me on this new special.” It will take them nine months, from script to screen, to complete the production. The new program will make its debut on PBS in June of 2023.

Because of the success of that first show on UNC-TV, now PBS NC Robert wound up doing multiple non-railroad related specials for Public television: NC Coastal Treasures, NC Mountain Treasures, Old Salem-Keeping the Faith and the critically acclaimed program on drunk driving called “Blurred Lines” which received not only an Emmy but the special media award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. All at the same time Robert was doing freelance work for many other production companies and networks, CBS, NBC, ABC, 48 Hours, America’s most wanted, HBO, and ESPN to name a few including producing the show on Richard Petty for Biography on the History Channel.

Being we have profiled Robert’s career and work in the past, along with this introduction, what has lead to this story.

How does a guy who has spent the last 29 years producing Public Television Specials, which has garnered him 20 personal Emmys along with the prestigious program excellence award from American Public Television wind up purchasing and restoring some of this country’s most historical railroad passenger cars and locomotives?

Robert says, “When profiling the folks that have a passion to preserve and present North America’s rich railroad legacy it’s hard not to want to be apart of it. We’re all a product of our environment. I have been in this environment

1929, being rolled out of the Altona, Pennsylvania Railroad shops, one of only nine superintendent’s cars built by and for use by the railroad. Only Robert’s car survives.

Above: The car in 1967 in Ann Arbor Michigan.

1969 in Limo, Ohio after it was rebuilt by Pullman Standard in Chicago for the Detroit Toledo and Ironton Railroad.

Soda blasted to metal. Prep work before painting!

First look as the car rolls into Robert’s shop

The car had suffered severe damage from 25 years of exposure to the weather.

Rob spent hours painting the interior and exterior of the car. for a very long time and am very proud I can show case it to the world.”

This environment has taken hold of Robert’s entrepreneur spirit...he now restores historic passenger railcars and leases them to other railroads. One, a 1955 passenger Pullman car he bought in 2008 was once part of the Texas Special that ran from Chicago to Texas. He restored it and it now is in active service once again.

The purchasing of classic railroad rolling stock began when Robert was filming at a railroad in West Virginia for the series back in 2001. After the shoot, John Smith, the founder and President of the Durbin & Greenbrier RR in Durbin, West Virginia, was picking Robert’s brain for all the knowledge he had acquired at other railroads he had filmed. He saw value in his expertise and asked him to come on their Board of Directors.

“We currently have twenty two passenger cars in the fleet and the renovations and leasing of these cars creates a revenue stream that allows us to continue to produce our Public Television shows,” says Robert.

The car most dear to Robert’s heart is his current project—a car he bought three years ago from the Aberdeen Carolina & Western RR in Candor, NC. It’s a 1929 Superintendent Car built by the Pennsylvania RR at their Altoona shops. Most passenger cars were 85 feet in length. This one was built only to 68 feet so it could navigate the sharp curves of the Allegany Mountains. Which by the way, works out perfectly as this car

will find its new life on the Durbin & Greenbrier RR, which has some of the sharpest curves in North America.

Of the nine of these cars built, this car is the only remaining survivor. In its newly restored life it will become an RV on rails. Having lots of uses for special events, it can be pulled any place on the Durbin’s rail system, over 132 miles deep in the Monongahela Forest of West Virginia. People will be able to sleep, cook and dine in the car. What a trip, to be dropped off in a railroad siding left to bike, fish, tubing and drink in natural beauty, with the ability to have your on place of soloist and live in total comfort in the wilderness.

The car was originally named Greensburg, for the Pennsylvania town the railroad served. For Robert, it was a fate this car came to him. His grandmother was born and lived in Greensburg. She married his grandfather in1929...two pretty ironic occurrences.

Rechristened, this car will now roll under the name of his grandmother, Thelma Irene. Robert said his dad and uncle were pretty excited to know their grandmother’s name would live on with a great story behind it. The original Pullman Porter room had to be gutted and rebuilt. The car did have the call buttons for the onboard porter and chef. In that room were the original “DC power” corner lights he found in a box.

The original dining room table remained and has been fully restored. Robert is the fifth owner since 1929 with the car being last rebuilt in 1953. Every time it was sold, the color scheme was changed. But it lead to a pleasant surprise when during the restoration while striping the paint he found a lot of brass hardware. A lot of brass! Hours of time have now been spent on polishing that brass and Robert thinks he has about 200 man hours in the brass restoration. You may not realize it but there’s quite the art to making brass look its best.

Though the car has been restored back to its original visual look, all the infrastructure has been modernized and updated from installing a new tier 4 generator, replacing the AC and DC electrical system, HVAC, along with the plumbing. Robert has also made this car very eco friendly with a complete solar power and charging system which can run most of the cars systems.

He’s asked all the time if he is a RR fan, Robert states he is not! “What I am is passionate about is seeing the preservation and presentation of this transportation history and profiling the men and women that keep it alive today for all generations to enjoy.”

“When I look back and think about my very first railroad story which was on the Yadkin Valley Railroad, I always give credit to my assignment editor at WFMY, Robert Murray, for allowing me to do the story. I never knew that one piece early in my career would lead me down the path I am on. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

I’m always working when I’m producing the TV series, not able to experience what the passengers do. Two weeks ago I was up at the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad for a board meeting, I stayed an extra day just to be a passenger on our train up to the High Falls of Cheat, it’s such a treat when I get to ride just as a passenger. To enjoy the slower pace and to feel the air in your face, It forces you to slow down and enjoy the 25 mile an hour time capsule you are in. ”

Robert finished by saying, “I’ve been very blessed to have traveled the world and met and told the stories of so many in this industry, it has enriched my life. I only hope our programs have done the same for our viewers.” Rob restored the original 1929 Dining Room table and chairs

Robert and his wife, Jillian, at an Emmy Awards Show.

Thelma Irene nearing the end of her restoration, awaits exciting new adventures.

A closer look at the restored light and temp control in the porter’s station.