President Jimmy Carter is making his journey to his final resting place in Georgia Thursday as the country watches and honors his legacy.
Each fallen President makes a similar journey leading up to their funeral and burial. The tradition, however, was largely altered back in 1865 during the funeral of President Abraham Lincoln.
“It was the first time that the President's body was moved by train," Michael Shymanski of the Historic Pullman Foundation said. "They were able to go through over a thousand communities who were out to mourn the loss of a great President. So the train became that vehicle."
It was that same year when George Pullman, a pioneer of railroad travel, had just completed the first luxury sleeping car, changing the game for cros- country travel.
Pullman offered two of the new model train cars to be used for dignitaries in Lincoln's funeral procession from Chicago to Springfield.
"Having this funeral train that moved across the country allowed Americans, thousands and thousands of Americans, to feel like they were a part of that national observation and grieving of a President," Pullman National Historic Park's Terri Gage said.
Shymanski said it established a major tradition.
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The exposure from Lincoln's funeral train also helped boost Pullman's reputation and laid the foundation for the factory to come to Chicago.
"It was a gracious thing to offer the car, but it was also a very smart business thing to have this opportunity to introduce this new revolutionary product," Shymanski said.
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Just two years after the funeral, Pullman's Palace Car Company was officially incorporated in Illinois, and influences railroads across the country o adapt to a new way of travel.
“Like the Michigan Central started to make adjustments to accommodate Pullman cars, so it was a big deal," Shymanski said.
It was a deal that paved the way we move, and how we honor American leaders today.
