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

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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.

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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.

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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.