Many believed that once the train-loving, Amtrak-commuting Joe Biden was elected President, there would be a profound transformation for rail travel across the United States. While the former U.S. Senator from Delaware has overseen the start of a 15-year Amtrak expansion plan, it hasn’t gone far enough for my proponents of train travel. Personally, I just wanted Biden to revive the Presidential Train Car.
The first private train car for the President of the United States was built in 1865 when Abraham Lincoln was in office. President Lincoln never used the luxury ironclad car, aptly named the United States, because he didn’t want to be seen traveling in opulence as the nation endured the Civil War’s devastation. However, the train car would be used for Lincoln’s funeral train to transport his remains back to Springfield, Illinois.
The second and most famous Presidential Train Car was the Ferdinand Magellan, also referred to as U.S. Car. No. 1. The Pullman Company built the car in 1929 as part of a batch of cars named after famous explorers. In 1942, the Magellan was specifically modified for the wartime use of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Pullman covered the car in ⅝-inch armor plating, three-inch thick bullet-resistant glass and bank vault-style rear doors. The modifications added 125,000 pounds to the Magellan, pushing the car’s weight to 124.5 tons.
The Ferdinand Magellan allowed America’s president to travel in extraordinary comfort and luxury for the time while functioning as a mobile White House, not dissimilar to Air Force One today. FDR, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower used the train car as President before the Magellan was retired in 1958. The creation of Air Force One and the proliferation of jet-powered passenger air travel marked the end of the Ferdinand Magellan.
The Magellan was offered to the Smithsonian Institution, but the organization declined. The retired train car ended up at Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami, Florida. However, Ronald Reagan brought the Ferdinand Magellan out of retirement for his 1984 reelection campaign. Many presidential candidates have gone on whistle-stop campaign tours since, but not on a purpose-built car.
Biden initially planned to take a public Amtrak train to Washington D.C. for his inauguration in 2021, but the plan was scrapped due to security concerns. As a senator, Biden regularly commuted from his home state of Delaware to the nation’s capital. While the sitting President can’t ride on a public train with anyone who can buy a ticket, it would be the perfect situation for a private train. Though, a new Presidential State Car would likely only be used on the Northeast Corridor, where Amtrak has complete control of the rails.