U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and his entourage arrived at the Union Station in Washington Saturday evening, wrapping up a one-day "whistle stop" inaugural train journey from Philadelphia to the U.S. capital.
After the 10-car "Obama express" stopped at the Union Station, Obama did not make any comment and got into a vehicle to his temporary residence in the Blair House across the street to the White House.
The station was filled up with thousands of people who tried to catch a glimpse of the president-elect with their eyes or cameras.
Although there was no show-up of Obama, the crowd was still excited.
Obama's train trip to Washington drew large, cheering crowds in cities and small towns along the way despite freezing weather.
The president-elect started the 220-kilometer journey in Philadelphia, and made stops in Wilmington and Baltimore, retracing the last leg of train ride Abraham Lincoln took on his way to presidency in 1861.
Obama made speeches at each of the stops along the way, invoking historical lessons and trying to give Americans a new sense of duty.
In Philadelphia, he gave a speech to over 200 supporters and then held a round discussion with 41 selected voters on the country's future before boarding the train.
"We are here to mark the beginning of our journey to Washington. This is fitting because it was here, in this city, that our American journey began. It was here that a group of farmers and lawyers, merchants and soldiers, gathered to declare their independence and lay claim to a destiny that they were being denied," he said.
"We are here today not simply to pay tribute to our first patriots but to take up the work that they began," Obama noted.
"Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast," he said. "An economy that is faltering. Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely. A planet that is warming from our unsustainable dependence on oil."
"What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives -- from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry -- an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our 'better angels,' " he said, using a phrase from Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address.
In Wilmington, Obama picked up Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his family and made a speech, too.
In Baltimore, some 40,000 people stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the cold to greet Obama as he stopped on his way to his Tuesday inauguration.
"We love you, Obama!" someone yelled. "I love you back," Obama answered, eliciting a roar from the crowd.
As he did so often during his campaign, Obama drew upon American history in his remarks to pose a parallel to the country's current challenges. He noted they will likely not be solved quickly.
"There will be false starts, there will be setbacks," he said. "There will be frustrations and disappointments. I will make some mistakes. But we will be called to show patience even as we act with fierce urgency."
Security for Obama's train ride was tight. Law enforcement officers from 40 jurisdictions provided protection from the ground. The U.S. Coast Guard was stationed at points on waterways along the route as well.
The Federal Aviation Administration established "moving" flight restrictions that will prevent private pilots, news helicopters, balloonists and others from getting anywhere near the train.
During the trip, the train also slowed to a crawl at Governor Printz Extension and Chapel Avenue in Claymont, Delaware, and at Edgewood, Maryland, so more people can see Obama, Biden and their families.
The trip on Jan. 17, three days before Obama's swearing-in, is designed to highlight the inaugural theme of "Renewing America's Promise" by reviving a tradition of presidential whistlestop tours and by stopping in cities crucial to the American story, starting in Philadelphia, where independence was declared in 1776, and Baltimore, where the national anthem was written.
By taking the train to Washington, Obama recalls the inaugural train trips taken by many of his predecessors before the advent of air travel, especially the trip of Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln took a train all the way from the state capital of Springfield, Illinois, where Obama announced his presidential bid in February 2007, to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration in 1861.
The trip formally kicked off four-day celebrations related to Obama's inauguration, which will take place on Jan. 20.
(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2009)