File:The assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1865) (14756528171).jpg

Identifier: assassinationofunlinc (find matches)
Title: The assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Year: 1865 (1860s)
Authors: Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Funeral rites and ceremonies Hearses (Vehicles) Railroad cars Railroad trains
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Contributing Library: Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Digitizing Sponsor: Friends of The Lincoln Collection of Indiana, Inc.

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This memorial postcard, printed in 1908 by a Union veteran.: or„ • *■ after ,t was prepared for the funeral journey. T^soWerTa„ ^^ ° ^ P*»°° ° ^- car taken who oversaw the mechanical alterations to the car ^ ° ^^ ^^ ^ *** ^ «^ Myron Lamson? Railroad shops in the Orange andAlexandria Railroad yards in Alexan-dria, Virginia. B.R Lamason, superin-tendent of car repair at those shops, de-signed the car as a mobile headquartersfor Lincoln and his advisors. Railroads of the time had a variety oftrack widths, or gauges. To ensurethat the presidential coach could travelanywhere rails were laid, Lamason specified compromise wheels, whichhad an unusually wide surface to ac-commodate the variety of gauges. Thedisadvantage of this wheel design wasthat It usually allowed the car to wanderback and forth across the rails when thetrain was in motion, making for an un-comfortable ride. Lamason tried to easethis problem by fitting the car with 16wheels — twice the usual number —
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and coal care, wore mourning clothes HeMlh.? * ■ »■>«»«.he «a..on shown on .he PreLJ^^ge^XweVrn.reoJJi^:,^ and by paying careful attention to thecars weight and balance. Although attempts to provide asmooth ride were probably not com-pletely successful, every other effortwas made to ensure the chief execu-tives comfort. The coachs walls werecovered with tufted upholster>. Leather,velvet, and the intricate tassels associat-ed with Victorian gentility abounded.But this was also a working vehicle, in-tended to be used for business. W.H.H.Price, the foreman who oversaw thecars construction, later recalled it wasdivided into three companments. \ iz,drawing-room, parlor and state n-oni.the latter being the center of the car....Lincoln apparently had no urgciii de-sire to take possession of his ornaiccoach. The records of the U. S. Militar> ;Railroad yard in Alexandria do not re-flect any visit by the president to in-spect the car after its completion. Cer-tainly he never m

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