Steam Into History commemorates President Lincoln’s funeral train passing through York County
Photo by Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record / Sunday News
Larry Loyko of Philadelphia, Pa. portrays a woman mourning the loss of President Abraham Lincoln during a special ride on Steam Into History train on Saturday The non-profit organization held a series of tours and re-enactments over the weekend to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination and his funeral train. Lincoln’s funeral train stopped in New Freedom and York on April 21, 1865 as it made its way from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Ill.
(York) — Wearing a T-shirt with the words of the Gettysburg Address making up Abraham Lincoln’s face, Cheyenne Fix isn’t quite sure why she’s interested in America’s 16th president.
Cheyenne, a fourth-grader at Mazie Gable Elementary School in Red Lion, said she started reading about Lincoln a few years ago and liked him. Last weekend, she visited Gettysburg, and she plans to make a trip to Washington, D.C., soon, too.
“Wherever she can see President Lincoln — we take her,” said her godfather, Jim Ware, 54, of Winterstown, who was riding with Cheyenne on the tourist railroad Steam Into History on Saturday.
Steam into History held a series of tours and re-enactments during the weekend to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination and his funeral train. Lincoln’s funeral train stopped in New Freedom and York on April 21, 1865 as it made its way from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Ill.
The tour this weekend traveled 10 miles of the original route the funeral train took on the Northern Central Railway. More than 140 people came out for the first event at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
A large portrait of Lincoln adorned the front of the replica Civil War-era locomotive. Decorative black cloth draped the sides of the passenger cars to replicate how the train would have been adorned.
Re-enactors — including Union soldiers and a man who portrayed Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Curtin — filled the train.
Throughout the ride, a narrator talked about Lincoln’s life and some of the historic buildings the funeral train passed by in York County.
At Hanover Junction, entertainer Kent Courtney, who rode along on the train, performed songs, including “Dixie” and “My Old Kentucky Home.”
Joe and Jane Schumacher, of Bethlehem, Pa. rode on the train with their grandson, Noah Stambaugh, 6.
Noah, who lives with the Schumachers, enjoys seeing the engine and talking to people on the rides, the grandmother said. They go on about 25 train rides per year and always one at the end of April for Noah’s birthday.
“It was a new thing to do — a new experience for him,” June Schumacher said. “It was very good, in good taste.”
For 9-year-old Deona Houseman, the tour helped to refresh her memory. The third-grader at Lincolnway Elementary School recently learned about Lincoln during a class event. She thought the train ride was cool.
“This is history,” her grandmother, Diane Houseman, 68, of Shrewsbury Township, said. “I love history. I think you learn from it.”
Photo by Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record / Sunday News
Re-enactor Dillon Young stands in the doorway of the one of the train cars as he takes part in an event to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s funeral train passing through York County. Lincoln’s funeral train stopped in New Freedom and York on April 21, 1865.
Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 771-2102.
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This article appears through a partnership between York Daily Record and WITF.
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