U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is calling on Americans to unite to
fix the nation's problems as he takes a ceremonial train ride to
Washington, ahead of his inauguration on Tuesday.
Mr. Obama addressed crowds Saturday in Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore.
Mr. Obama noted that the country is facing serious challenges -- such
as war and a struggling economy -- but said the time has come for
Americans to work together to improve the country.
The train, (nicknamed the "Obama Express") retraced the journey Abraham Lincoln took to his inauguration in 1861.
Huge crowds gathered to greet the train along its course after it
embarked from Philadelphia. After stopping in Baltimore, the train
departed on the short trip to Washington.
At the stop in Wilmington, Delaware, Vice-President-elect Joe Biden
boarded the train. The trip from Wilmington to Washington is familiar
to the former senator. It is how he got to work in Washington from his
home in Delaware. While a senator, Biden commuted exclusively by train
after his first wife and his one-year old daughter were killed in a car
accident.
In a speech at Wilmington, Biden said "It's not every day you get to do
your daily commute with the next president of the United States of
America."