RFK’s Funeral Train

Perhaps no other political figure in the turmoil of the 1960s possessed the knack to bring poor whites and blacks to the same table as peace-loving brothers. Five years after his older brother, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated, 42-year old Robert Kennedy was slain by a Palestinian extremist in a Los Angeles ballroom, after winning a crucial California presidential primary.

Death of a Beloved Icon

Following Robert’s star-studded funeral service at Manhattan’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 700 mourners boarded a 21-car train bound for Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., sparking an emotional and nationally-cathartic eight-hour train ride, which inspired one of the most unique cross pollinations of grief for those on the train and average Americans who lined the tracks in tribute to yet another fallen American icon. During the 225-mile train ride, Robert’s casket sat in a glass-lined observation car at the back of the train, replete with a military honor guard that drew tears from those on and off the train. Emerging from a tunnel under the Hudson River, passengers aboard the train glimpsed enormous crowds lining the tracks, including a small harbor boat named the John F. Kennedy, her crew standing at attention.

American Public Mourns

Tragedy struck when two people were killed by the train after crowds spilled out onto the tracks, prompting railway officials to cancel all northbound trains before sending a pilot train in front of the funeral train, slowly urging mourners from the tracks. Through small towns and large cities alike, trackside mourners displayed their raw grief in a variety of ways. In New Brunswick, a lone bugler played taps. Approaching Philadelphia, a junior high band played American the Beautiful. At Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, onlookers linked arms and sang Glory, Glory, Hallelujah and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, one of RFK’s favorite songs.

Bye Bobby

As the train moved on across a hot summer landscape, working people, businessmen, housewives and Boy Scouts lined the tracks in tribute to a fallen hero, some saluting or with their hand over their heart, while others bore signs like Bless RFK, and the most common one, Bye Bobby. “Tens of thousands of poor Blacks, already bereft from the loss of Martin Luther King (just two month’s prior), journalist Jack Newfield reported, (stood) “weeping and waving goodbye on one side of the railroads tracks,” (alongside) “tens of thousands of poor whites on the other side of the train, waving American flags, standing at attention, hands over their hearts, tears running down their faces,” making Robert Kennedy’s final train ride, a moment of collective grief, during one of the most turbulent decades in American history.