FDR Funeral Train at New Rochelle

A starting point might be the archives of the US Army Third Infantry Regiment at Ft. Myer, VA. I believe they are the military unit charged with state funerals since day one.

i have to respectfully back out of this debate since I do not have any information beyond what's in the book "FDR's Funeral Train," and I mentioned in a previous post that I already discovered one obvious error (i.e., The author didn't know the train had to change ends at New Rochelle and therefore again at MO).

The book also made no mention of any kind of third section.

It appears to me that he got the times printed in the book from a document in the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park. in the extensive annotation in the back of the book it is referred to as "Trip of the President, Washington to Hyde Park, NY., and Return, April 14-15, 1945 (Corrected itinerary)" The document is in a Secret Service file.
i would surmise --- and be advised this my opinion --- that document contains the times the train was scheduled to be at certain places and may bear no relation to the actual times. The author also cites a number of newspaper items, but i have no idea to what extent, if any, he depended on those articles for times.

Maybe we'll luck out, and some very elderly reader of this forum will emerge and give us some details we don't have!!!

Ridgefielder wrote:Since this movement involved the military, I'm willing to bet that somewhere, in some file room in Washington (probably resembling the one at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark) there is a full minute-by-minute record of the progress of this train... Trouble would be knowing where to look.

...and an FBI report as well. Such a report would by it's very nature would have to be extremely detailed, including train movement authorizations, locations, and behavior, actions, directions, conversations, and demeanor of those present - particularly in that era. For a photographically backed scandal/extortion involving a key person(s) to erupt in which the Bureau would be assigned to investigate, such first-hand information would be invaluable. Personally, I don't have knowledge of this particular event, but from what I'm reading here, it seems obvious that a purposeful diversionairy stop was most likely ordered for purposes of allowing all guests to deliver proper private eulogies, cessation of movement on board, containment of location, and what would have been referred to officially as a "period of emotional recovery" (ahem). Such an FBI report might still be classified, but may possibly be released in the near future through a FOIR. As it's been stated, this stuff is out there. You just have to know where to look.

Tommy Meehan wrote:The recent book about the Roosevelt Funeral train has created quite a lot of interest in how the train was routed between the New Haven's Hell Gate route from Pennsylvania Station and the New York Central's Hudson Division. The book says it ran east to New Rochelle and then reversed direction there, running via Woodlawn to Mott Haven.

This interested me and in reading over stories about the FDR funeral train in NY City newspaper archives I noted that people turned out along the right-of-way (as they did with the RFK funeral train in my time) to pay their final respects. I wondered, if the train did halt in New Rochelle to change engines, might not the local paper have published some details? New Rochelle is a small suburban city and had it's own local daily newspaper for many years. Recently I got the chance to visit the New Rochelle (NY) Public Library which has a microfilm collection with many years of the local paper.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find exactly what I was looking for almost immediately. In my experience that seldom happens.

In the New Rochelle Standard Star edition of April 15, 1945 there was a short story about the train being due in New Rochelle that morning. There was no time given but the article stated the train would arrive at Pennsylvania Station at 4:15 AM and depart 20 minutes later, headed for the Hell Gate Bridge. Arrival in Hyde Park was scheduled for 8:40 AM.

The following day's paper had a detailed story reporting the scene at New Rochelle. First the pilot train had come through, with mostly military people on board. Then a train bearing members of Congress and other mourners. Then the funeral train bearing Roosevelt's body arrived a few mnutes before six. The Star described 300 people waiting on the station platform "bare-headed and in hushed silence in the grey light of dawn" as the train slowly passed. Other people waited along the tracks and at various other vantage points. After passing the station the train pulled up to the small local freight yard a short distance east to "change engines." While it was stopped New Rochelle Mayor Stanley Church, accompanied by the local police chief, entered the freight yard to present a floral wreath. It was taken by a porter and placed near the casket in the rear car, which would be "the first car behind the locomotive when the train left for Mott Haven."

The article went on-

"The New Haven electric locomotive which pulled the train out of New Rochelle was draped in black, with mourning streamers across the windows of the cab."

What was also interesting, was the information on the number of times Roosevelt traveled through New Rochelle when headed for Hyde Park while President. Changing engines in the freight yard was the normal procedure, the Star reported, and as they had done since 1933, New Rochelle police were stationed at the passenger station, in the freight yard, at each bridge and along the right-of-way.

The Star quoted New Rochelle police as saying the funeral train marked the 79th time they had turned out to guard a POTUS train since FDR had taken office, just over twelve years earlier.

I also posted this information on the NHRR Historical Group's message board but decided to post it here as well since I know some of you no longer read the other board.

My grandfather was the engineer on the NH electric engine.