Lincoln Funeral Train

http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln51.html



the hook is for the add-on cars

I think the CC&C may have become the CCC&STL (Big Four) which later became part of the NYC.

Any documentation on how the cars of the Lincoln funeral train were moved from the Jersey side of the Hudson River over to Manhattan, for the trip north to Albany? There was no West Shore Railroad yet and the only railroad bridge over the Hudson was at Albany.

I don't know if there was any established carfloat operations for moving raiload cars across the Hudson River at that time.

However, the US Army did work out ways of transferring railroad freight cars across rivers during the Civil War, by loading them on barges.

As for locomotives, each railroad would provide the best one they had for each leg of the trip under their care. Locomotives and crews would have been changed at regular intervals along the way. Note the difference bewteen the loco in the first picture (a Norris, I think) and the one in the third photo (PRR, obviously with the horizontal pilot ribs, perhaps by Baldwin?).

I don't see that 'hook' on the Lincoln car that was asked about. This unique four-truck car was built with wheels that could be adjusted to also fit a 5' track gauge. It was intended to be the president's private car but rode uncomfortably hard, I've read. Refitted with longer wheelbase 4 wheel trucks in the 1870s it was some better when it served as a railroad's "directors' car".

There were also various appliances back then to help make coupling and uncoupling with link and pin couplers "easier." But most often they were too time consuming over having a trainman hold the link up with one hand to guide it into the coupler pocket as the cars were being pushed together, then drop the pin in place with his other hand.

The Miller Hook coupler was coming into use by the 1870s. A long lever on the car's end platform was used to disengage it for uncoupling. This coupler was soon replaced with the Janney coupler. That one was more like the MCB (Master Car Builders) or "AAR" coupler we know of today. It was made with a slotted knuckle so that link and pin couplers could be mated to it.

Ed Bommer

The Presidential car "United States" and the Director's Car from the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore RR (the only to cars that made the entire trip) were transferred from the Pennsylvania RR at Jersey City, New Jersey to car ferries across the Hudson to Manhattan, and towed through NYC to the station to hook up with the train provided by the New York Central RR.

I received mine. Not up & running yet. Any thoughts on the accuracy of the model? It looks beautiful to me!

Are there no other comments on this 'special'? I'm somewhat surprised....

quote:

Originally posted by phil gresho:
Are there no other comments on this 'special'? I'm somewhat surprised....

Maybe if you posted this on the 3-Rail Trains Forum, you would get many more responses. Just my opinion, but I'll bet none of the 3RS modelers on THIS forum realy care much about Lionel's Lincoln Funeral Train. If you "allert" the Webmaster, he should move the whole subject over to the 3-Rail Trains Forum.

Didn't Precision Scale do an O scale version of this train? Or Gauge One? I recall reading about it.

Thx, HOT-H20; I'll try to do that.  FWI:  The Lincoln train IS scale.

What's the mater, don't you know how to spell "thanks" or "Water"?

 

If you say/think it is "scale", that is good enough for me. But you sure didn't get many responses on this forum, did you?

matter; not mater.  In fact, I was a local spelling champ way back in grammar school. And I still am.  FYI:  my wife is a big Abe Lincoln fan, and she was all in favor of this purchase.

Oops, H-W, I forgot one:  alert has only one L.

I've had this thread moved from 3RS to 3R O-gauge trains....I hope it sees more action here!  Hard to believe that so few Forumites seem to have this neat train....

Hard to believe that so few Forumites seem to have this neat train....

 

Probably the price for what is a conventional loco with zip for features.

There was an earlier thread with lots of people posting photos, etc when it came out a month ago.

 

See here.

 

-Dave