America’s Lost Funeral Trains | The Forgotten Tradition

What happens when the dead need to travel? In the 19th century, booming cities like London ran out of burial space—and the solution wasn’t underground. It was on the rails. In 1854, the London Necropolis Railway launched a one-way ticket to the afterlife, transporting coffins and mourners to a sprawling cemetery outside the city. But the real transformation began when Abraham Lincoln’s body was placed aboard a 1,600-mile funeral train that changed how the world said goodbye to its leaders.

In this episode, we trace the powerful history of funeral trains—from Lincoln’s national procession and Churchill’s code-named “Operation Hope Not” to FDR’s armored railcar and the plexiglass windowed carriage of George H.W. Bush. Along the way, we’ll explore the symbolism, technology, and tragic moments that defined this forgotten tradition. These were more than trains. They were moving monuments to grief, power, and memory.