This Train is Bound for Glory

This Train is Bound for Glory. Lincoln Rallies for the Union. , If you had been standing here on Wednesday afternoon, November 18, 1863, you might have heard a rumor that President Abraham Lincoln would be passing through town on a train. At 5 P.M., his train chugged down the main line directly in front of you. To allow a freight train to pass, it then slowly rolled onto a siding, or auxiliary line, leading to the Hanover Branch Railroad station. Known as the depot (built in 1852 and demolished in 1915), the building stood about one hundred yards to your right and across Railroad Street behind the current CSX station. After his train stopped there, Lincoln ducked his six feet four inches of height through the coach car's doorway and spoke in his reedy, Kentucky twang: "I trust when the enemy was here the citizens of Hanover were loyal to our country and the Stars and Stripes. If you are not all true patriots in support of the union you should be." , The locomotive then reversed to the main line to transport Lincoln to Gettysburg, where he delivered his immortal Gettysburg Address the next day at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery. Today, a bronze plaque near the site of the old depot commemorates this special moment. According to local tradition, the Hanover Commons industrial yard, where the depot stood, manufactured the Hanover Branch Railroad coach car from which Lincoln spoke. , "[Lincoln] was greeted with cheers and delivered one of the brief quaint speeches for which he is celebrated. He said, 'Well, you have seen me, and according to general experience you have seen less than you expected to see,' and a hearty round of merriment attended the remark. The young ladies then came forward bringing bouquets and presented them to the President, while a beautiful flag was planted in the rear of the car. The whistle screamed, the brakes loosened, and the assemblage gave a cheer, and the train rattled up the Gettysburg road.” , , Hanover Spectator, Nov. 27, 1863