They came. They saw. They shivered. And if they blinked, they might have missed President-elect Barack Obama's train whisk past the crowd of around 200 people at the Perryville station Saturday.
I was there along with my wife and two children, hoping to witness a bit of history. It's been at least 40 years since a train carrying a president rode the rails through Cecil County. We found a parking space not far from the MARC station (no vehicles were allowed in the lot next to the station) and the kids bundled up in a quilt to keep warm. We had a couple of flags from American Home and Hardware.
Driving down, we caught some of Obama's remarks in Wilmington on WILM. He talked about the importance of rail travel in the future -- potential good news for Cecil County, located as we are on the busy northeast rail corridor.
At the station, Perryville Police Chief Chris Daly and the other police officers kept the crowd updated on the progress of Obama's train. They gave us a 10-minute warning, then let us know when it was just five minutes away in North East.
Some in the crowd noticed a bird circling overhead, then declared it was a bald eagle. How's that for symbolism?
People waved flags and banners -- one young woman carried a sign that said "I NEED A JOB" along with her cell phone number. Maybe someone in the passing train jotted it down? Still others held up Obama-Biden signs left over from the campaign.
The mood was upbeat, considering that it was just 15 degrees or so trackside. People were hopeful that the train would move through slowly and that they might get a glimpse of Obama.
When the train did arrive, it blew its whistle a few times and roared through at 40 or 50 mph. Some of us in the crowd did spot a hand waving from Obama's private car at the end of the train. Those trying to snap a photo might have been disappointed -- getting a photo of the fast-moving train would have been tough unless you had a quick finger on the shutter.
Later, our family warmed up with hot cocoa at the Perryville Dunkin Donuts. We might have been feeling a little let down that the train came through so fast, but a guy in line next to me had also just come from the station. He had a more Kennedy-esque perspective along the lines of "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." We were there for Obama, not the other way around.
"That was great," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "It's good that he saw us out there to let him know we're behind him."
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