Family's abandoned train car turned Airbnb brings in up to $110,000 a year: 'Our dreams were surpassed'

In 2020, Isaac French, 27, and his family purchased a train car that had been sitting abandoned on a neighbor's farm in Deary, Idaho. They paid just $3,000.

Train car number 306 was built in the 1900s and originally ran on the Washington Idaho & Montana Railway from 1909 until the 1950s. When the family got their hands on it, the wood was rotting, algae was growing and about 20 cats were living inside, French tells CNBC Make It.

″[My dad] had the faith and the vision for it and I'm so glad he did," he says. "There's something so rewarding about taking an old structure that was so lovingly built, and breathing life back into it."

The family took out a $150,000 loan, including $3,000 to purchase the train car and $10,000 to move the 61-feet-long structure onto their 145-acre property.

"It's just a beautiful, secluded place in nature," French says. "We chose the highest point on our property so that we could capture these epic views."

French and his family spent the rest of the loan, $137,000, and six months renovating the structure with the goal of turning it into an Airbnb.

"I believe that travelers today are seeking experiences and you want to have a story. The more rich a story you can tell through a stay, through a property, the better the experience will be," he says.

The French family didn't list the train car on Airbnb just because they wanted to make some money, but because it was a passion project.

"We just felt like this is the right thing to do. This is what excites us and we think it's going to excite other people too," French says.

The renovation included turning the old passenger room into a sitting area and the mailroom into a bedroom. "Our guests absolutely love it," French says.

"They wake up in the morning and look