Information About the Lincoln Funeral Train Replica Locomotive
On April 26, 2014, the Leviathan 4-4-0 replica of one of the engines that pulled the railroad car with President Abraham Lincoln’s body was in Noblesville, Indiana for display and giving rides for fund raising. At the time, I went to Fishers, Indiana to watch the train leave on one of it’s many trips and then to downtown Noblesville, Indiana to photograph the train running in the streets on it’s way to the north terminus at the former Noblesville Indiana Transportation Museum.
I put the video on YouTube and it was obscure until early April, 2021. At that point, it apparently appeared on a list of some type and generated thousands of viewers. The comments were generally complimentary and expressed how fortunate Noblesville was to have trains running right through downtown.
Several of us had to note, sadly, that the tracks to Fishers, Indiana and on south had been removed several years ago to make way for a planned trail system. Below is the original 2014 video and two pictures taken April 9, 2021 showing the remaining track headed north, which, as the sign notes, is still used for “Caboose Rides”. In 2022 the Noblesville station has been rebuilt and is open as the origination point for a wide variety of train trips north on the Nickel Plate Express..
Below – April 9, 2021 – Looking south from the same location from which the video was shot. This track is gone and the street is repaved.
Below – April 9, 2021 – Looking north from the same location from which the video was shot. This track is still used for caboose rides.
Below – 1866 Noblesville Map – In answer to this comment on the video – “When they planned and laid out these towns and cities, why did they ever think a set of train tracks right down the middle of a street was a good idea?”
When locomotives like the Levithan were built in the 1860’s, it made sense to put the tracks on the dirt street close to where the freight and passengers were.
Above – Click on map to see a closeup of the video site.