The somber run from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. On Saturday, April 22, 1865, the special funeral train carrying the remains of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, made the second leg of its long journey from Washington, DC to Springfield, IL, traveling over the Pennsylvania Railroad from Harrisburg to Philadelphia, where a public viewing of the Commander-in-Chief's body was scheduled for the following day. Pictured here is a re-enactment of that day's journey, on the grounds of what is now Stone Gables Estate, in Elizabethtown, PA. The locomotive and rolling stock are all full-scale replicas, built by David Kloke of Elgin, IL, and the right-of-way is a small portion of the original Pennsy line, which has been restored by Stone Gables Estate owners David and Tierney Abel.
When the Abels first acquired this property, years ago, they were unaware of the events which had transpired on their land more than 150 years prior. As they made plans to relocate a number of historic structures they had acquired to this tract of land, they noticed a prominent, lengthy depression which passed through the property, which looked like an old railroad bed. Some research revealed that it was indeed a portion of a historic Pennsy line, and further research indicated that it was part of the historic route of President Lincoln's funeral train. One morning, shortly after discovering this, Mrs. Abel told her husband that she had a vision of the Lincoln Funeral Train in a dream and she believed it to be a sign from above that the pair should endeavor to put a railroad back on this land and find a way to memorialize this piece of history. At the time, neither of the Abels were aware of the efforts of Mr. David Kloke, who had been constructing replicas of historic locomotives and rolling stock from that era, and who had, in fact, created the only full-scale replica of the Lincoln Presidential Car, which had carried the President's body on that historic journey. After conducting re-enactments of the Lincoln train in several cities on the 150th anniversary of the event in 2015, Mr. Kloke was looking for a permanent home for his creations, where they would be preserved and exhibited as he had always intended. Eventually, the Abels and Mr. Kloke found each other and began discussions. In 2019, those discussions came to fruition and a new railroad, known as the Harrisburg, Lincoln & Lancaster was established on the grounds of Stone Gables Estate. All of the equipment was moved here, and in 2019, the first, annual re-enactment of the Lincoln Funeral Train was held on the anniversary of its passage through Elizabethtown. In the ensuing years, a couple of additional, authentic coaches have been added to the consist, and plans exist to construct additional track and infrastructure, which will eventually result in a railroad just over 2 miles in length. In addition to the annual re-enactment, the new railroad also conducts public rides on Saturdays, during the summer months, and it runs occasionally, during private events.
