ON BOARD LINCOLN’S LEVIATHAN NO. 63
for the 150th Anniversary
of Lincoln’s Funeral Train
Old Train—New Train—The Leviathan bears
the spirit of the slain President home
to Springfield. He’s the singular lantern up front
that lights this divided country through a long night.
He’s the steam pressure that gauges our resolve
to be one nation. He’s the engineer in the cab
who reads the speed, the water levels and stokes
the ebbing fire. He’s the full coal tender.
He’s the watchful eye on the looping bell cord
for Presidential arrivals. He’s the driver wheels
synchronized by coupling rods to work everything
in unison. He’s the cowcatcher leaning a whiskered chin
over the tracks to scatter political debris. And now
he’s the Funeral Car draped in black for mourning
the Preserver of the Sacred Union,
our sixteenth President—one train for the ages.
—Dick Stahl