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Daniel Burnham

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Jan 21, 2005

Union Station’s Inaugural Misfortunes

When we heard yesterday that an Amtrak train had derailed while leaving Union Station, we thought back to the station’s prior Inaugural-related mishap. For President Dwight Eisenhower’s first Inauguration in 1953, train No. 153, “The Federal Express” crashed into the station and ended up in what is now the food court. The infamous runaway train was filled with Inaugural passengers when its brakes failed on the way into Washington. Nobody was killed, but Union Station…

 
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