Choo Choo! President-elect Barack Obama and his family will begin their journey to D.C. aboard a chartered Amtrak train from Philadelphia that will pick of the V.P. elect Joe Biden and his family in Delaware.

Along the way, they’ll make another stop in Baltimore, where they’ll hold a rally. 

We hope to include as many Americans as possible who wish to participate but can't be in Washington," said Emmett Beliveau, executive director of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee.

The announcement noted that Philadelphia — where the nation's founders shaped the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution — is where America's "promise was realized." Baltimore is where Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner.

The rail ride has echoes of President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural journey to DC. Obama has paid homage to the sixteenth president in a number of ways, including launching his campaign in Springfield, Ill.

Lincoln historian Harold Holzer told the Washington post, "He's replicating the last leg of Lincoln's inaugural journey to Washington,"  ""This guy's reverence for Lincoln has no bounds."