Even for Obama, who has spent the last two years giving speeches like this, the moment seemed to resonate -- speaking from a fittingly presidential stage, with nine American flags in the background, at the start of his formal move to Washington. The interregnum of hotels and guest houses is nearing an end, the grind of the campaign now well in the past. His wife, Michelle, and two daughters joined him on stage, just days away from their own transformation into the nation's First Family. Daughter Malia held a digital camera and took pictures of her father and the crowd of about 200 invited guests.

It was a boisterous group, that chanted for the Philadelphia Eagles pro football team before Obama arrived, then played off of a campaign slogan with a shout of "yes, we did" when he walked into the room where they had gathered.

Arriving at the train station just after 10 a.m., Obama spoke for about 11 minutes before departing the stage and making his way to the train and a decidedly symbolic ride: starting in the city where the U.S. Constitution was crafted, echoing the whistle-stop tour Abraham Linoln took en route to his inauguration at a critical junction in the nation's history, and ending in Washington where he will be installed as the nation's first African American president.

The "Obama Express," as it has been dubbed, pulled out of Philadelphia's 30th Street Station at around 11:39 a.m. A nostalgic nod to the simple romance of a train cutting through the countryside, the modern reality of Obama's trip is much more complicated. The Secret Service is providing security for the train through the air, ground and water, paying special attention to bridges and chemical plants along what is a heavily industrialized rail corridor.

More than 70 members of the media are traveling onboard with Obama, and the entire entourage will be shuttled to and from the train for his speeches in Wilmington and Baltimore. A handpicked group of supporters is also along.

In at least one way, though, Obama has succeeded in approximating the days of Lincoln, his political idol: The train trip is expected to last more than six hours, instead of the usual two-hour Amtrak ride from Philadelphia to Washington. This is no speedy commute on the Acela. Along with Obama's coach -- a vintage 1930s Georgia 300 -- there are nine other cars in the train, including two locomotives and two dining cars.

The polished blue presidential coach was the last in line, with a platform at its rear bedecked with bunting and the presidential seal. As the train passed through Claymont, Del., and decelerated for the first slowdown, Obama emerged onto the platform to wave to a gathered crowd -- a moment that captured at once the long-ago era when train travel was still predominant, and the popularity of a modern-era president.

Obama is riding in his car with his wife -- who is celebrating her 45th birthday -- and daughters. They also have a number of friends with them, including long-time Chicago friend Eric Whitaker and his family, John Rodgers and an entourage of close advisors.

As the train pulled into Wilmington, the mood was of a family reunion at nearby Tubman-Garrett Park, where thousands gathered to greet Obama and also say goodbye to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Until recently Delaware's senior senator and still a favorite son, Biden linked up with Obama here for the trip to Washington -- a familiar journey for a man who commuted to the Senate by train. While the focus was on Obama, many also gathered to wish Biden well on a day when Wilmington, atypically, shared a little of the spotlight with Philadelphia and Washington.

Amid those crowding the park and lining the tracks, Helen Wyckoff, 69, said she had attended Biden's first political fundraiser, voted for him for president, and wanted to see him off.

"That's why this is so special, because Biden is ours!" Wyckoff practically squealed. "Our tiny little state is the home of the second most-powerful man in the world."

But even in Biden's hometown, Obama was the man of the hour. Wilmington is a majority-black city whose residents were captivated by his message of change and role as the first black president.

Wyckoff's friend from church, Patricia Jones, saw her father's downtown Wilmington store destroyed during riots in 1968 and didn't believe she would see a black president speak less than a mile away.

"We're just thanking God that we could see him right here, where there's been so much trouble," Jones said, reflecting on the drug crime and elevated murder rate that has plagued the city for years. "Nothing this wonderful has ever happened here."

Washington resident Carole Twining said she bypassed Baltimore in hopes of finding a smaller crowd in Wilmington. When she arrived at 10 a.m., she was able to secure a spot near the front.

Twining saw Obama speak in four states before the election, but said seeing him as president-elect would be a different experience.

"I'm not sure it's sunk in that our grassroots work actually paid off," Twining said. "Seeing him three days before he becomes president was so important to know we really did it."

The train arrived in Wilmington at around 12:25 p.m. In brief remarks, Biden promised the cold-weather crowd that an American "spring" was coming under the Obama administration, while the president-elect used the moment to honor Biden.

With taped music ushering him to the stage -- but not yet Hail to the Chief -- Obama said he chose Biden as his running mate because during 30 years in office he had defended "the cops and the firefighters and the families that form the backbone" of the country. Facing an economic crisis that is driving unemployment higher by the month, "it falls to us to make sure they can make it if the try," Obama said.

As the train pulled out of Wilmington shortly before 2 p.m. and began heading south again, residents in the tiny Maryland town of Havre de Grace waited expectantly to catch a glimpse of the soon-to-be commander in chief. People had put up flags and hung balloons and signs, even though Obama's train was not scheduled to slow there.

And it didn't, passing by about 200 chilly, waiting residents in a swift six seconds or so.

Still, the day fit the town's sense of history. Founded in 1782, burned by the British in 1813, Havre de Grace served as a last stop for escaped slaves on the underground railroad.

>>71138

To be specific, that's the Amtrak platform at 30th St Station. Not the SEPTA local train platform, which is out in the open. Just in case you gave a crap.

tl;dr

Helen Cayer, 74, had written to Obama, encouraging him to slow down for at least a wave in the town, and to "look for us on the . . . left side going south."

But even though Obama quickly passed through, it didn't seem to matter.

"I think it's another piece of history for all of us," Cayer said. "And we're alive. We're here, to participate. I think (Obama's) creating something, trust, in people that we're all safe in this country."

The train did make its other scheduled slowdown, at Edgewood, 16 miles to the southwest, where 1,000 or so had congregated along U.S. Route 40. It then headed on toward Baltimore, where Obama's public greeting by thousands of supporters would stand in contrast to Lincoln's passage through the city the 148 years ago, kept secret because of fears of an assassination plot.

Local officials said they expected up to 20,000 at city's War Memorial Plaza. "We thought the cold would be a bit of a deterrent, but clearly it isn't," said Baltimore Police Col. John Skinner.

As many as ten thousand were there even before the plaza opened, lining the streets ofthe city. People huddled against the cold and drank hot chocolate or coffee as street vendors hawked items ranging from Obama t-shirts and buttons to hand and feet warmers, a popular item.

Pop music blasted from speakers, the Baltimore Orioles mascot bounced around a stage, and a group of young girls in the crowd began the chant of the day:

"Give me an 'O'...'B'...'A'..."

It's ashame that they use Geneshits to pull this train instead of one of there 4 remaining F40PH's fuck thoes shitty locomotives I hope one catches on fire on live tv

saged and reported, get the fuck out

>>71219
why?

delete this filthy fucking post you low motherfuckign scumshit.

this is a trains thread

The trip is over now, so can this thread just die?