RAILforum: A Page From Abraham Lincoln

This is topic A Page From Abraham Lincoln in forum Amtrak at RAILforum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.railforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/11/5653.html

Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :

Brief passage:

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama will kick off his inaugural celebration on Jan. 17 -- the weekend before his swearing in as the country's 44th president -- by traveling on a train to the nation's capital.

He and his family will start their daylong journey with an event in Philadelphia before boarding the train and picking up Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his family in Wilmington, Del. The president-elect and his group then will make a stop in Baltimore before making their way to Washington.

Associated Press courtesy of Richmond Times Dispatch

This upcoming event was mentioned as well on CBS Radio News during the 5AM (CT) hour. The symbolism of this could be far reaching; will he ride a train consisting of Juniata Terminal (or equivalent) equipment depicting that train travel is a nostalgic way to get about or will he ride an Acela and depict that this is what 21st rail passenger travel is all about?

Meantime, with their reputation a bit "stained" as a result of yesterday's Baghdad incident involving President Bush, the Secret Service is likely wondering "why can't they just fly".

Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :

oops, sorry to post on the same topic; I didn't think about what your heading could mean and posted before I read your post, Mr Norman! silly me. . .

Posted by Railroad Bob (Member # 3508) on :

GBN, maybe they could take the Ferdinand Magellan out of mothballs and tack that car onto the end of the President-elect's train...it was FDR's car; in fact was featured on that recent History Channel presentation on FDR. The Magellan was quite a car; I recall reading somewhere it is the heaviest passenger car ever built. Armored, super-thick steel all over, bulletproof windows, etc. Quite a ride!

Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :

Interesting Wikipedia page on the Ferdinand Magellan is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan_Railcar

I wonder, however, if it is in running condition. It was used by Ronald Reagan in 1984, but the Wikipedia article does not offer any running history beyond that.

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum, where the Magellan is on exhibit, has a detailed history at:

http://gcrm.org/magellan03.aspx

It says the car was damaged in Hurricane Andrew in 1992 but repaired and put back on display in 1996.