I try to avoid repeating topics from week to week. Last I wrote about a presidential inauguration debacle, then another incident kept kicking around my head. The only way I can stop it is by sharing with you how another presidential swearing-in celebration was almost scrubbed.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee puts in countless hours preparing for the country’s quadrennial party on January 20. There’s always the risk of a wild card; the unexpected. The thing planners can’t anticipate that could ruin everything.
So it was in 1953. Final touches were being put on a celebration worthy of Dwight Eisenhower, the man who had beat Hitler and won World War II. He was about to become the first Republican president in 20 years. It had been a long dry spell for the GOP, and Republicans were heading to Washington in droves to enjoy the moment.
Then the wild card turned up, roaring into the capital on steel rails.
The Federal Express, a popular passenger train, left New York City at 4:38 am on Friday, January 15. Some 400 passengers filled its 16 cars. Among them was the first wave of out-of-towners heading to D.C. for inauguration festivities. Everything was fine when it left Baltimore at 7:50.
Suddenly, the air brakes malfunctioned. Trains were supposed to slow down on their descent into Union Station’s train yard. But the Federal Express kept speeding on. Suddenly, its warning whistle sounded. The tower man frantically called the stationmaster’s office and screamed, “Runaway Train on 16!” The stationmaster yelled, “Run for your lives!” Onboard, the conductor was rushing from one car to another, ordering passengers to drop to the floor and brace for impact.  
Just 20 seconds later, the Express slammed through the stationmaster’s office, took out a concrete pillar, splintered a newsstand, and plowed into the station. The floor gave way, toppling the engine into the basement mail and baggage rooms. (This disaster inspired the 1976 Gene Wilder-Richard Pyror movie “Silver Streak.”) 
It had been a very close call. Incredibly, nobody was killed; 43 people were hurt. It would have been much worse if dozens of workers in the basement hadn’t been on their coffee break at the time.
Union Station looked like a combat zone. NBC News was reporting live from the scene just 67 minutes after the accident, a record for breaking news coverage in television’s early days.
But now there was a huge problem. Tens of thousands of people were heading to Washington for Ike’s inauguration. Interstate highways hadn’t been invented yet and air travel was in its infancy. The majority of travelers would be heading straight for Ground Zero, the extensively damaged Union Station. It would take days to haul the damaged engine and rail cars out of it, and weeks more to repair the destruction.
What to do?
Crews sprang into action, working day and night in a literal game of beat the clock. Since they couldn’t get the train out of the station, they created an ingenious workaround. The engine was lowered into the basement and a wooden platform was built over it. They even erected a temporary office for the stationmaster, so he could handle the flood of incoming inauguration traffic. It worked perfectly. American ingenuity saved the day.
Eisenhower’s inauguration went on as planned. He managed a contribution to history: as an estimated 750,000 people watched, the Inaugural Parade dragged on and on and on. It lasted 4 hours and 39 minutes, the longest one ever. Darkness had fallen when it finally ended. (Ike also became the only president to be lassoed during the parade. Rodeo star Montie Montana roped the 34th Chief Executive as he watched from the White House reviewing stand. But even cowboys get nervous under pressure; Montana’s first try failed and he had to toss again.)
The runaway train engine was disassembled, put back together, and continued hauling trains into the 1980s. It’s now owned by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum.
The moral of this story: whether it’s a presidential inauguration or a Broadway play, the show must indeed go on.     
Have comments, questions or suggestions you’d like to share with Mark? Message him at jmp.press@gmail.com.

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