Off the rails?
Funeral reenactment runs into problems
EVENTS | Bruce Rushton
While organizers scramble for money, some Civil War reenactors are outraged about changing plans for the re-creation of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral on the 150 th anniversary of his passing.
Reenactors are concerned that a replica of Lincoln’s funeral train will not be part of a re-creation of the funeral procession from the downtown train station to Oak Ridge Cemetery. Instead, the replica of the train car that carried Lincoln’s body from Washington, D.C., to Springfield is supposed to be put on display at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, miles away from the cemetery and downtown depot. The car, still under construction in Elgin, cannot travel on train tracks because it has not passed muster with the Federal Railroad Administration or Amtrak, which both must inspect the car to ensure that it is safe. The builders have said that it could be trucked to the capital city.
The car’s builders will charge $75 per person for dinner and a tour of the car, according to a website put up by the Historic Railroad Equipment Association, which is organizing the train project. No one from the organization could be reached for comment.
Organizers are predicting that 2,000 reenactors dressed in Civil War-era garb will participate in the funeral procession. But a train set up miles from the funeral ceremony is not what reenactors had in mind when they made plans to travel to Springfield.
“There is an absolute firestorm in our various (online) discussion groups right now,” says Terre Lawson, who lives in Alabama and made hotel reservations a year ago. “We feel like the rug is being pulled out from underneath us. … To us, this (the train) is a prime feature. I’ve walked behind a hearse before.”
Jennifer Green, who lives in Tennessee, said that she and her family are having second thoughts about coming to Springfield.
“It (the train) was a big draw for me, especially to see the casket come off the train and be put on a hearse,” Green said. “I’ve been reenacting since I was 10 years old. It’s quite a letdown to find out, two months from the event, that you’re not going to get that moment.”
Green and Lawson are not alone. Social media websites frequented by reenactors erupted late last week when organizers of the funeral re-creation officially distanced themselves from the train builders, saying that the funeral reenactment would proceed without benefit of a train. Katie Spindell, chairwoman of 2015
Lincoln Funeral Coalition, said that she found out via press release that the builders planned to set up the train at the Crowne Plaza. She said that she’s told the builders that the coalition will help find a way to get the train downtown once it is in Springfield but so far has had no success in finding a solution that will work for everyone.
“I’m not in charge of the train,” Spindell said. “It’s the train folks who are in charge of the train. I didn’t build the train. … I have to put on a funeral – that’s my goal. That’s my job.”
The train isn’t the only headache facing organizers. The state Office of Tourism last Friday rejected an application for a $75,000 grant. According to the application, the money would have been spent on insurance, rental of “various pieces of equipment,” two-way radios, transportation, electrical power, advertising and horses and carriages. In the application, the funeral coalition told the state that it had nearly $195,000 and had secured more than $307,000 in funding from other sources.
In an interview, Spindell said that funding from outside sources is coming in the form of in-kind services, not cash. Money that might otherwise have been spent to help bring the train downtown now must be spent on other things, given the denial of state funds, she said. She acknowledged that the event is not shaping up as first envisioned.
“Of course it’s not,” Spindell said. “Four or five years ago, I had hoped we’d get $1.5 million.”
Nonetheless, Spindell predicted success. “We are going to have enough money to do this event,” she said.
To help make sure, P.J. Staab, owner of Staab Funeral Homes, said that he is sending out 20,000 letters to funeral home directors, casket companies and others in the funeral industry asking for funds. Donations would be split between Spindell’s group and the funeral train group, he said.
“In my mind, we’re hoping to raise about $100,000,” Staab said.
Like Spindell, Staab said that he’s confident. “This will come to pass, and we’ll say, ‘What were we worrying about?’” Staab said. “As we get close to a huge event, people’s stomachs start getting upside down and their emotions run high. … If everybody does their part, this thing will come together fine.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at [email protected].
