A crowd gathered on the West Main Street Bridge to see FDR's funeral train in 1945

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Here is the train at dawn in Charlottesville, Virginia:



Edited: no can do. The historical society has changed its name and its policy on linking to photographs. Here's an article from the Charlottesville Daily Progress with a lower-quality version of the photograph :

A crowd gathered on the West Main Street Bridge to see FDR's funeral train in 1945
The Daily Progress staff reports Apr 14, 2017

125 Years of Progress takes you inside The Daily Progress' archives every day in celebration of our 125 years serving Charlottesville and the rest of Central Virginia. Sponsored by Hanckel-Citizens Insurance Charlottesville



“The 11-car funeral train, drawn by two steam locomotives, slid quietly into the station at 6:20 a.m., as the armed guards, their officers and uniformed members of the Charlottesville Police Department saluted. Other stood silently with bowed heads.”

This was the scene at the Southern Railway Station on April 14, 1945, when the train carrying the body of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt paused briefly on its journey from Warm Springs, Ga. to Washington, D.C., and then on to his final resting place in Hyde Park, NY. A crowd numbering more than 1,000 lined the station platform and the West Main Street Bridge to catch a glimpse and pay their last respects.

“The President’s casket, covered by a large American flag and surrounded by floral decorations, was in the lighted rear portion of the last coach. A guard of honor, consisting of non-commissioned members of the various branches of the armed forces, stood motionless beside the coffin bearing their dead commander-in-chief. The crowd gazed silently.”

Shortly after noon that day, a non-denominational worship service was held in Cabell Hall. Dr. Henry Porter, pastor of First Baptist Church, offered a prayer noting that “Roosevelt’s courage and gallantry, despite physical afflictions, had ‘lifted up the hearts of the forgotten man. The grief at his death is shared by every freedom-loving person.’”

A day earlier, as the nation learned of the president’s death, The Daily Progress editorial noted: “The perspective is lacking today for an appraisal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s place in history, but it may be said with confidence that with the exception of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, no man has played so decisive a role in the life of our country, and that no American has achieved a stature equal to his as a world figure.”

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That's looking to the northeast. The large white building above the tracks, where Main Street goes over the tracks, is the old Queen Charlotte Hotel. It was torn down years ago. The train stopped so that railway officials could use the telephone. Southern Railway trainmaster (and mayor of Alexandria from 1940 to 1949) William T. Wilkins rode the train from Monroe, Virginia, (yes, the town mentioned in "Wreck of the Old 97") up to Alexandria or DC.

The picture was taken from an interlocking tower at the northeast corner of the crossing where the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway crossed the Southern Railway.

FDR Funeral Train {edited: bad link}

The President’s last visit to Charlottesville, however, would be the morning of April 15th 14th. Amid the early morning darkness, local residents made their way to the Southern Railway Station, lining the West Main Street overhead crossing.

At 6:20 AM the two-steam locomotive pulling the 11-car funeral train eased into the station. President Roosevelt’s body lay in a casket covered with an American flag in the illuminated final car filled with flowers and a guard of honor all standing at attention. After resting for three minutes, the train pulled away, eventually reaching Washington at 9:50 AM the next morning later that morning.

Here's a thread at a forum for the TV show The Waltons about Roosevelt's funeral train:

The Outrage Part II

Jan 2, 2018 at 2:58am

Post by sandra09 on Jan 2, 2018 at 2:58am

I have just watched my daily dose of The Waltons, the episode was 'The Outrage' part II and I have some questions.
Did Franklin D Roosevelt die in a place called Warm Springs and is this in Virginia? Was he carried by train on his last journey, travelling slowly through all the states with four members of your armed forces standing to attention at each corner of his coffin? And lastly, did members of the public line the route in various towns, to pay their respects as he travelled slowly through?
You are probably thinking that I could have looked all this up on the Internet, I know I could, but I would much rather ask you all.

The first reply at that forum has a link to this:

Kenan Research Center, Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, Funeral Procession

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Another picture, and old footage:

Wed Dec 5, 2018: You're right

More than 1,000 Charlottesville-area residents arrived at the Southern Railway Station before dawn on April 14, 1945, to catch a glimpse of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s casket.

[empedocles]

5. Had an old neighbor, raised in Charlottesville on longtime family farm. WWII vet.

Farm had slaves on it before the Civil War. The 'big house' still stands. Was a huge FDR fan.

Family farm made their own clothes even. Coffee and salt were the rare purchases. Taxes were paid by stripping, sawing timber on the farm, and bringing it to railroad yard 2 miles away by horse drawn carriage.

[Good neighbor. Became a Reagan voter somehow. Life's mysteries]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Somber citizens saluted FDR's funeral train

Somber citizens saluted FDR's funeral train

David Maurer Apr 12, 2010



More than 1,000 Charlottesville-area residents arrived at the Southern Railway Station before dawn on April 14, 1945, to catch a glimpse of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s casket.

{snip}

Now, Roosevelt would bring history to Charlottesville again. Almost no one at the time could have known, or even imagined, what actually was occurring within the walls of the 11 railroad cars and two locomotives that made up the funeral train.

Robert Klara’s new book, “FDR’s Funeral Train: A Betrayed Widow, a Soviet Spy and a Presidency in the Balance,” changes that. The author’s exhaustive research reveals for the first time the inside story of the 1,000-mile train journey from Georgia to New York.

Klara is a veteran editor and writer whose work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times, American Heritage and Architecture. In the book he provides minute details and an hour-by-hour account of the three-day trip.

{snip}

One of the most poignant moments occurred in the early morning of April 14, just south of Danville.

The train had stopped to take on water from a tall wooden water tank that was surrounded by farm fields.

During the hasty stop, an elderly black farmer appeared near the train and began singing “Hand Me Down My Walking Cane.” Then, as if on cue, other voices joined in one after another.

Several hours later, at 6:20 a.m., the funeral train arrived in Charlottesville. More than 1,000 people were at the Southern Railway Station to met the train, including Charlottesville Mayor Roscoe S. Adams.

The mourners had only about three minutes to pay their respects before the train continued on its northward trek.

Several hours later many of them filled UVa’s Cabell Hall to capacity to attend a memorial service.

The next day, April 15, Roosevelt was buried in the rose garden of his Hudson Valley estate.

Just a few days had passed since people first heard the terrible news of his death.

Sixty-five years would pass before people would have the opportunity to vicariously board the train via a book — a book that reveals much of the heretofore hidden angst and intrigue that had accompanied a dead president on his final journey back home.

[empedocles]

3. 'before dawn'

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. 1945 FDR Funeral Train and Funeral

The footage is out of order. There's a brief clip that starts at 0:11. I'm certain that's Alexandria. The clip at 0:22 shows Alexandria too.

1945 FDR Funeral Train and Funeral
1,640 views•Jun 12, 2018

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[3Hotdogs]

6. Warm Springs is in Georgia. It is/was a facility for polio victims.

I believe his mistress was at the facility when he died.

I know he had a mistress in Alamuchy, N.J. There were active train tracks at Alamuchy and FDR had a train make stops there from time to time.