Lincoln Special

Lincoln Special Abraham Lincoln’s Funeral Train Ma, pa, and I dressed in our Sunday outfit, excited for the “Lincoln Special” to come up the track as we stand at the train depot. After departing Washington, D.C., on April 21, 1865, the black-draped train bearing President Abraham Lincoln’s coffin, spent nearly two weeks winding its way through 180 cities and seven states before reaching the assassinated president’s burial site in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. Buck boards and horses with their riders running by dust clouds form, covering everything with dust, I sigh. Making us use our handkerchiefs as we cough and pace beads of perspiration causing tiny streams down my brow and face leaving thin streaks in the brown dust. A great swell of the blackest charcoal smoke billowing smokestack, whistle blowing steel wheels against the rail cause a braking, screeching, vibrating sound; locomotive coming up the rail into view, like a charging black rhino. A massive moving machine, carrying Abraham Lincoln, a fantastic sight to take in. Many made the journey to pay their respects. “Lincoln Special” also served as a publicity boon for George Pullman, who lent the use of his new, luxurious sleeping cars for the comfort of passengers traveling from Chicago to Springfield after Lincoln’s burial, orders took off for Pullman’s sleepers, which featured polished black walnut interiors, chandeliers and marble washstands and made overnight travel much more enticing for passengers. 11/9/2021 Railroads, A Historical Glance Back Poetry Contest Sponsored by: BJ Legros Kelley