Ten months. That’s how long we have to go until the 2025 Journey into History officially begins–a mere ten months, friends! As we move through the planning and strategy, the logistics and contacts, and the conversations that are all part of retracing Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train journey next spring, I am reminded of where we were 10 summers ago as we endeavored to recreate President Lincoln’s funeral railcar.
“We” were a small group of volunteers, a couple dozen in total, with an assortment of talents and passions that comprised the perfect crew for replicating a nearly forgotten piece of American history. Our ultimate goal was–and remains–to preserve President Lincoln’s legacy through this most extraordinary example of living history. As the summer of 2014 heated up, our efforts shifted into high gear. Media were starting to notice the project; Leviathan was attracting hundreds of steam-loving spectators on her fundraising tour; and work on the Lincoln Funeral Car continued at a feverish pace in the Historic Railroad Equipment Association (HREA) shops in Elgin, Illinois. But there’s no such thing as a guarantee, and we were far from assured of a place in the 150th anniversary commemorations. It would be a long and frenzied ten months.
Read the full story of that summer of 2014–subscribe for free and be among the first to order a copy of In Great Deeds: Recreating Abraham Lincoln’s Funeral Train.