advertisement

Lincoln funeral train replica headed to Springfield

After months of uncertainty that culminated in a recent dispute, an Elgin-made replica of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train car will be part of official celebrations in downtown Springfield, officials said.

The 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition, based in Springfield, notified the Elgin group that the car could be displayed at Third and Jefferson streets by the Amtrak station as part of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's funeral in early May.

The train car is being built by Elgin master mechanic David Kloke with the backing of The 2015 Lincoln Funeral Train, whose director of media and public relations, Shannon Brown, said Friday's news was a surprise.

“It's starting to get exciting,” she said. “We can see the event before us now.”

Representatives of the Elgin and Springfield organizations gave different accounts of meetings held in the last few months to determine where the funeral car could be displayed.

Katie Spindell, chairwoman of The 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition, had said she had been trying find a spot for the train car but the Elgin people were being too vague on details. Brown, on the other hand, said the Springfield people weren't being cooperative and had dismissed the train as irrelevant.

Spindell said Monday that a location for the train car was found “just like we said we would.”

The owner of car dealership Isringhausen Imports agreed to host the funeral train car in its back area, alongside the railroad tracks. The location is especially apt because it's approximately where Lincoln's body arrived in 1865, Spindell and Brown said.

Details are being worked out about insurance requirements, but the train car for sure will be at the Isringhausen property for setup May 1, Brown said.

Also, the funeral train car will make an appearance at a fundraising gala May 2 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Springfield, where people who pay the $75 dinner ticket price will be able to board it. Those who view the train car at the downtown Springfield location earlier that day will not be able to board it, Brown said.

Kloke also had hoped his train car would recreate part of Lincoln's funeral trip from Washington, D.C., to Illinois, but funding fell short. He's been working on the project for about five years.

  A portrait of Abraham Lincoln sits next to an oil lamp that Elgin master mechanic David Kloke believes might be an original from the funeral train car that carried Lincoln's body in 1865. Elena Ferrarin/eferrarin@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.