(The following story by Marcus K. Garner appeared on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website on January 18, 2009.)
ATLANTA, Ga. — They went to sleep Saturday night to the click-clack, click-clack, click-clack of Amtrak’s Crescent train from New Orleans.
When they awoke Sunday morning, about 100 Metro Atlantans were about 700 miles closer to seeing the America’s first African-American president take office.
“It feels good to finally be here,” 65-year-old Buckhead resident Amy Seay said Sunday morning as the Crescent pulled into Union Station in Washington, D.C. “I’ve thought about this for a long time.”
Atlantans bound for President-elect Barack Obama’s historic inauguration Tuesday were eager to follow his path and travel by rail. The route, which runs from New Orleans to New York City, stopped to pick up passengers in towns like Gainesville, Clemson and Greenville, S.C., Charlotte, N.C., and Lynchburg, Va., before reaching Washington.
As the nation’s capital came into view, passengers grew restless — grabbing carry-on luggage and overhead bags, stowing away laptops, brushing their hair and teeth.
Their ultimate destination was in sight, just days away.
“There’s just a lot of anticipation and anxiety,” said Lynda Peterson, 62, of Conyers, who accompanied Seay.
“It’s just a joy,” said Joan Burns, 69, of Decatur. “After all these years.”
The draw of the historic moment had the train packed. Conductor Tyrone Salley, a 12-year Amtrak veteran, said there’s bee a clear increase in ridership interest since Obama’s election.
“It started last week going up to D.C.,” he said, noting that the train’s 30 private suites sold out for Sunday’s trip — all with Washington as their final stop.
“You never see both sleep cars fill with one destination,” Salley said. “Monday’s going to be an even bigger day for us.”
‘High spirits’
Salley also noticed a change in his passengers’ usual demeanor.
“Everybody’s in high spirits,” Salley said in the predawn hours of Sunday morning. “Strangers meeting strangers. Dialogue is up. People are usually polite, but keep to themselves.”
Betsy Ayers, a dentist from Carrollton, said she enjoyed making some new friends, as she, her husband and son had breakfast with someone riding from California.
“It’s such an historical time and a lot of emotion in the air, you can meet a lot of people,” she said.
Angela Kimble, of Atlanta’s Cascade neighborhood, said conversation with perfect strangers made up for the relative discomfort of overnight coach seats.
“We had good fellowship and good company,” she said.
Albany Mayor Willie Adams boarded Saturday in Atlanta with his wife Constance and his daughter Valerie. They played Black Jack late into the night on the lounge car.
Did he see a downside to riding the train?
“Not if it stays on the tracks,” he joked.
Romance of rail
There were many first-time riders aboard, and many who looked forward to the mystique associated with rail travel.
Obama took the train from Chicago to Washington to follow in the tradition of past presidents-elect, arriving Saturday morning.
Dentist Ayers, who initially planned to fly, thought it would be fun to parallel Obama’s journey.
“I thought it was neat that Barack Obama was riding the train,” she said. “I thought, ‘Hey, let’s do it, too.’”
Some wanted ambiance — and a chance to make a greener pilgrimage.
Zach Brendel, of Athens, bought rail tickets for girlfriend Sarah Drew as a Christmas present.
“I just like the romance of the train,” Brendel said, though he noted he also sees rail travel as a “green” transportation solution. “I’m a big believer in trains as far as making sense for the future.”
Obama’s inaugural, though, was their primary draw. Going to see him sworn in, they said, was a no-brainer. “We had to go,” Drew said.
Others aboard the Crescent were looking for a little adventure.
Regina Taylor, of Smyrna, and her 12-year-old son Joshua, were taking the train for the first time.
“We’re riding it for the experience,” Taylor said before boarding in Atlanta. That included breakfast in the dining car Sunday morning. The smile on Joshua’s face as he ate French toast spoke volumes.
“I had fun,” Taylor said.
View to the past
Many passengers aboard could recall when segregation was the rule of the land.
Seay attended the march on Washington in August 1963 when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to thousands from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. She’d ridden the train then, just as she did again Sunday.
“The feeling then was very nervous,” she said. “We didn’t know if we were going to be beaten or arrested or what.”
But the country has come a long way, she said.
“Black people used to catch the Crescent from Five Points,” Seay said. “White people used to get on at the Peachtree station.”
While Seay worried that inauguration celebrations might mirror the tension that preceded her 1963 visit, her cousin Peterson felt this trip was closing a chapter for her.
“What a circle this thing has come to, from Martin saying he wasn’t going to be there when we got here, to this,” Peterson said. “The inauguration is like bringing that circle to a completion.”
Bearing witness to that was Betsy Ayers’ family. She and her husband Jeff are white, their 15-year-old son Tayler is black. She said they made the trip so Tayler could have a first-hand experience of the unprecedented occasion.
“We want him to feel like he has just as much opportunity as anybody,” Ayers said.