"President Abraham Lincoln" delivers a "whistlestop" speech at Portland's Union Station on National Train Day May 9, 2009
Scores of train fans attending the May 9, 2009 celebration of the National Train Day held at Portland's historic Union Station did a quick doubletake as "President Abraham Lincoln" took the stage to deliver a "whistlestop" speech to awestruck familes and children attending the second annual trainfest held on the 140th Anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad when the "Golden Spike" was driven into the ground at Promentory Point, Utah.
The PSU Friends of History was invited to participate this year by Amtrak, and brought acclaimed Lincoln actor Steve Holgate to recreate LIncoln's greatest speeches, including the Gettysburg Address and his comments supporting the building of the Transcontinental Railway (Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act into law in 1864) which helped to unite America and assisted Oregon in its early years of statehood.
2009 is the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and the event was an opportunity to remind Oregonians about the legacy Lincoln left to our state, which included his launch of the Transcontinental Railroad.
