The Lincoln Inaugural Train of 1861
and
The Lincoln Funeral Train of 1865

The story of the two most important trains in United States Presidential History.

INDIVIDUAL TRAIN ROUTES

On the map below are the routes of the Lincoln Inaugural Train of 1861, shown as solid bold lines, and the Lincoln Funeral Train route of 1865, shown as a dashed line. Note that across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois the routes are different save one mile at Columbus, Ohio and 64 miles between Indianapolis and LaFayette, Indiana.

The Inaugural Train departed Springfield, Illinois on the morning of February 11, 1861 and President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington D. C. on the morning of February 23, 1861.

The Funeral Train departed Washington D. C. on the morning of April 21, 1865 and Arrived in Springfield, Illinois on the morning of May 3, 1865.

- - - - Funeral Train Route 1865.
____ Inaugural Train 1861.
NOTE: The Inaugural Train route from Harrisburg to Baltimore was via York, Pennsylvania but President-elect Lincoln was not on that train. The President-elect traveled from Harrisburg to Washington via Philadelphia, Wilmington, Perryville to Baltimore then on to Washington.

On the evening of February 22, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln was taken by secret train from Harrisburg, back to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and boarded a scheduled passenger train for Washington D. C., in a clandestine move that passed through Wilmington, Delaware and into Baltimore, Maryland, where his sleeping car was transferred over the streets of Baltimore to another scheduled train and sent on to Washington.

The 1865 Funeral Train used the east end of the Inaugural Train route between Washington and Cleveland, Ohio. West of Cleveland, it duplicated one mile of trackage at Columbus, Ohio and 64 miles between Indianapolis and Lafayette, Indiana. Otherwise, all trackage west of Cleveland constituted a new route.

Map drawn by Scott D. Trostel and used with permission.

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