Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

(The following story by Nikita Stewart and Michael E. Ruane appeared on the Washington Post website on December 16.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. Barack Obama has evoked Abraham Lincoln ever since launching his campaign at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.

Now he plans to arrive in Washington the same way that Lincoln did in 1861, with a train trip that will include stops, speeches and crowds along the way.

On Jan. 17, Obama and his family will start the day with an appearance in Philadelphia, where they will board a chartered Amtrak train. The train will stop in Wilmington, Del., where the Obamas will be joined by Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. Then comes a stop in Baltimore before the group's arrival that evening in Washington.

"He's replicating the last leg of Lincoln's inaugural journey to Washington," said historian Harold Holzer, author of "Lincoln President Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861." "This guy's reverence for Lincoln has no bounds."

Lincoln had left his home in Springfield on Feb. 11, 1861, for a 12-day journey east to Washington, during which he made 101 speeches. Philadelphia and Baltimore were his last stops before the nation's capital.

Obama's plans, announced by his Presidential Inaugural Committee, set the tone for the many activities leading to the swearing-in at noon Jan. 20 at the Capitol. The official Washington events are scheduled to begin Jan. 18, most likely with a large-scale event on the Mall in which Obama makes an appearance.

Details about the Washington events, as well as those in other cities, have not been made public. Even as they scrambled for information, officials in the other locations celebrated the news.

"The mayor is elated," said Ian Brennan, a spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. "It presents a tremendous opportunity . . . considering that there are people who can't make it down to D.C. on the day" of the inauguration.

M&T Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards would be ideal for mass gatherings, as would Fort McHenry, where the city honored Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps in October, Brennan said, later adding that law enforcement officials are expecting "upwards of 150,000" to turn out.

Baltimore's hotels already were heavily booked because of the city's proximity to the District, where record crowds are projected for Inauguration Day. Baltimore's law enforcement officers and emergency responders were told awhile back that all must work Jan. 20.

Now, the city has another challenge. "We're going to need the police, traffic control staff -- the whole nine yards," Brennan said.

Wilmington officials expressed their excitement, too. During the campaign, Biden frequently noted that he commuted daily from his home in Delaware to his Senate job in Washington via Amtrak. But on this trip, he will hardly be an average Joe.

In February, Wilmington had the largest gathering that city officials could remember when Obama appeared at a campaign rally in the town square. "More than 20,000 people from throughout the region welcomed then-Senator Obama for what was a watershed moment in the campaign," Mayor James M. Baker said in a statement yesterday.

By stopping in Wilmington, Obama might be evoking Biden more than Lincoln, who did not make a stop there.

The last leg of Lincoln's trip began in Philadelphia. He was greeted with a fireworks display and spoke outside Independence Hall, where he declared: "I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender it."

He was also photographed there -- the first-ever photograph of a president-elect, Holzer said.

From Philadelphia, Lincoln's journey took him to Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capital, back to Philadelphia, then on to Baltimore and Washington. Holzer noted that in Lincoln's day railroad travel was state of the art.

Although there were reports of an assassination plot in Baltimore, Holzer said Lincoln's sleeping car was drawn by horses from one station in Baltimore to another without incident. Lincoln was ridiculed by the media, however, for "sneaking" through Baltimore, and false reports circulated that he had disguised himself in a military cloak and tam, or was hiding in his luggage.

Yale historian David Blight, who suggested last month that Obama retrace Lincoln's inaugural train trip, said: "I think it's a great idea. . . . I'm amazed they're going to do it."

He noted that American history is filled with images of whistle-stop presidential candidates speaking from the back of train cars.

"In Lincoln's case, he had to sneak into Washington," Blight said. "In this case, Obama can come in triumph, one would assume."

Tuesday, December 16, 2008