Wilmington Station and America’s 46th President is a stuff of folklore.
A story of tragedy and hope. A post to mark the week of the US Presidential Inauguration with a tale of a far removed town, its station and one particular resident.
Unplanned post
This post was not planned, a snap move I guess in view of events leading to the inauguration this week. And I have been to this train station and it created an odd impression. Hence the flashback.
I have taken the Amtrak train from New York Penn Station to Wilmington Station and back on many occasions over a period of 2 years for work. .
Wilmington is far away from Adelaide as one gets. It’s about 17,000kms away as the crow flies. There is no connection except maybe for a minor and personal one.
“Amtrak Joe”
Now for the back story of Joe Biden, Wilmington station and the Amtrak train that led to his moniker – “Amtrak Joe”.
In 1972, Biden lost his wife and youngest child, a daughter aged 1 year old a few days before Christmas in a traffic accident. His two sons survived. Biden had months earlier won his first Senate elections at age 29 years and was yet to be sworn in.
To look after his 2 motherless sons and to provide a familiar anchor for them in his hometown, Biden took the train everyday from Wilmington to Washington. No relocation to Washington. He did that for the next 36 years even after he remarried. From that same Wilmington Station for nearly 4 decades.
Only moving to Washington when he became Vice President to President Barrack Obama.
Smallness of Wilmington
Now for Wilmington and it’s station. Both are small, really small.
Wilmington is the capital of Delaware, smallest US state after Rhode Island. The station lobby is about 5 times smaller than Adelaide’s Main Train Station. I have no idea what the other parts of the building had as it was off limits. It however has a very long platform for the Amtrak service that goes past Wilmington as it serves the expansive US Eastern Seaboard.
The first time I took the first morning train to Wilmington, I was surprised to see the smallness of the station. I seldom saw more than one taxi at the rank in front of the station. The capital is the same, small.
I was lucky as I only had to walk along a riverbank promenade from the back of the station to visit the office. It took 15 minutes and pleasant in the mornings.
The riverside promenade and the restaurants are really nice and the ones that served seafood are particularly good and popular. The bountiful Chesapeake Bay is on the other side and explains why seafood is big here.
The train ride each way is an hour and 50 minutes. Always on time and you could see that passengers were mostly commuting for the day. They spend their commute doing work or reading the day’s papers. The train conductors are polite and friendly.
Inauguration and America’s future
Biden’s original plan was to travel to the Inauguration from Wilmington station on that day with his wife, a symbolic gesture and reflection of who he is. That plan changed as a result of the Capitol Hill Riots of 6th January 2021 and of heightened security concerns.
I guess I am doing this post about Wilmington and America’s 46th President, Joseph R Biden in the week of his inauguration to raise the spectre of hope.
Hope for a country that needs it now more than ever facing a pandemic and a leadership vacuum. They are getting a man of such character. A paternal figure, a reliable hand and to chart a new direction. A man most likely to work both sides of the divide. A man that never forgot his roots and stayed grounded.
Godspeed America and its new President.