President Obama took a train ride for his Inauguration, similar to President Lincoln.

Barack Obama traveled in a vintage train to Washington for his first Presidential inauguration.

Barack Obama traveled in a vintage train to Washington for his first Presidential inauguration.In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln traveled on a train from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington before the inaugural festivities. President Barack Obama followed Lincoln's footsteps and took a short ride in a blue vintage rail, built-in 1939 and renamed it the "Obama Express." The symbolic train journey started from Philadelphia, via Wilmington and Baltimore, to Washington's final destination. The trip offered Obama an opportunity to savor his victory as he took an abridged version of Lincoln’s journey by rail to the capital. The entire train journey was choreographed to reflect Lincoln-era nostalgia, and the route was scripted to engage with and evoke history.

Obama addressed the crowds along the way and used phrases associated with Lincoln as he called on Americans to reach for the promise of a better day.