Presidential libraries by train?

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Trollopian

Trollopian

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Thanks, fellow rail fans, for the lively and helpful replies to my appeal, last summer, about a do-it-yourself baseball tour by train! It turned out that lots of cities have major- and minor-league ballparks that are an easy hike from the train station. And some stick their ballparks way the heck out in a suburban concrete maze. I'm looking at you, Arlington (TX) and Atlanta (GA).

New query: I'd like to explore some of the country's Presidential libraries by train. Your suggestions and reviews? I don't rule out renting a car at or near the Amtrak station, but would prefer to rely on public transit and my own two feet wherever possible. Thanks in advance.

As an aid, here's a list of Presidential libraries and their locations:

George Washington Mount Vernon, Virginia
John Adams Quincy, Massachusetts
Thomas Jefferson Charlottesville, Virginia
Abraham Lincoln Springfield, Illinois
Ulysses S. Grant Starkville, Mississippi
Rutherford Hayes Fremont, Ohio
William McKinley Canton, Ohio
Woodrow Wilson Staunton, Virginia
Calvin Coolidge Northampton, Massachusetts
Herbert Hoover West Branch, Iowa
Franklin D. Roosevelt Hyde Park, New York
Harry S. Truman Independence, Missouri
Dwight D. Eisenhower Abilene, Kansas
John F. Kennedy Boston, Massachusetts
Lyndon B. Johnson Austin, Texas
Richard Nixon Yorba Linda, California
Gerald R. Ford Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jimmy Carter Atlanta, Georgia
Ronald Reagan Simi Valley, California
George H. W. Bush College Station, Texas
Bill Clinton Little Rock, Arkansas
George W. Bush Dallas, Texas
Barack Obama Chicago, Illinois
 
For Massachusetts;

The John Adams library collection is in Boston, MA, at the Boston Public Library and is across the street from MBTA Greenline subway and bus stops. See the MBTA website trip planner.

The John Adams National Historic sites are in Quincy, MA , also reachable from Boston by close MBTA Redline subway, commuter rail, and bus routes.

The John F Kennedy Library is easily reachable by MBTA Redline subway to JFK/U of MA, then a short bus connection.

The Calvin Coolidge Collection is at the Forbes Library in Northampton, MA which is a 3/4 mile walk(or taxi) from the Amtrak station .Take the Vermonter to reach Northampton, once a day only.
 
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The Lincoln museum is in downtown Springfield, walkable from the Amtrak station.

The Obama museum will be in Jackson Park, a short walk from the 59th and 63rd street stations on Metra Electric.
 
The Reagan library is at the other end of Simi Valley from the Amtrak station, and it appears that there's no public transit between the two -- which I think is exactly what you'd expect from the Reagan library.
 
Here is one possible route.

Start in Boston and see both John Adams and Kennedy and Coolidge.

Take the Acela or NER to New York and use Metro North to visit FDR. Take the Cardinal or NER to Charlottesville visit Jefferson and Wilson. Then take the Cardinal across to Chicago and visit Obama.

Make a round trip to Grand Rapids to visit Ford.

Take a Lincoln service and visit Lincoln.

Then take the Texas Eagle to Little rock visit Bill Clinton. Continue on it to visit the two Bush's and Johnson in Texas.

Take the Sunset Limited over to LA and visit Nixon and Reagan.

Take the Southwest Chief to Kansas City and visit Eisenhour and Truman. Take any train up to Chicago take the City of New Orleans to MS to visit Grant.

Then connect in NOL to the Crescent go to Atlanta and visit president Carter.

Continue on the Crescent to Washington. Visit Washington.

Take the Capitol Limited to Cleveland and see McKinley, Hayes.

And take the Lake Shore Limited back to Boston. That should hit just about all of them in one trip.
 
Thanks, all, for very helpful replies, and to Seaboard92 for his impressive circuit. This could be a cool theme for Amtrak to promote. (I notice, for example, that Amtrak's blurb for the Missouri River Runner already mentions the Truman Museum in Independence, and that the route runs between St. Louis and Kansas City...thus potentially allowing me to satisfy my baseball and history tastes in one trip.)
 
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is in Ann Arbor, MI on UM's N. Campus; it's possible to get their from the station via public transport, but might take a few transfers.
 
trainman74 said:
The Reagan library is at the other end of Simi Valley from the Amtrak station, and it appears that there's no public transit between the two -- which I think is exactly what you'd expect from the Reagan library.
Click to expand...
You've had some really good zingers recently. :lol:
 
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The FDr library is far from the metro north station to the point of not being walkable if I understand the geography.

Uber and Lyft could help with the Reagan library.

Don't forget Truman in independence near Kansas City. Again try Uber.
 
PerRock said:
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is in Ann Arbor, MI on UM's N. Campus; it's possible to get their from the station via public transport, but might take a few transfers.
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Unlike for the other presidents, there's a museum for Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids that is separate from the Gerald R Ford Library in Ann Arbor. Unless you intend to do research, I'd say the museum is what you want. As Seaboard92 noted you can get to Grand Rapids round trip from Chicago on the Pere Marquette. The museum is about a mile from the train station, although since the train gets in late at night you'd need to stay somewhere overnight and then again another night since the train back leaves very early in the morning. Unless you really like Jerry Ford maybe you should just rent a car.

Of course you can go to both the library and museum but they're on opposite sides of the state and you'd take different trains.
 
The Hayes museum, as the OP said, is in Fremont OH which is about a 35 minute drive from the Sandusky station. Both LSLs and the wb CL arrive between 4 and 5 am, and the ebook CL arrives at 1240am. OTP varies.
 
trainman74 said:
The Reagan library is at the other end of Simi Valley from the Amtrak station, and it appears that there's no public transit between the two -- which I think is exactly what you'd expect from the Reagan library.
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The Carter library at least has bus service.

No one at the Carter Center has any idea where the bus stops are, but, still, it exists....
 
Went to Reagan Library by Southwest Chief and Surfliner. There is bus line that goes by Semi Valley station. I can't remember if we had to transfer to different bus route or not.

Bus will drop you off right in front of library and pick you up. I think it is on a half hour schedule.
 
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So when President-Elect Trump builds his Library/Museum where will it be located?

New York City would seem to be the obvious location, but Florida and Russia would also seem to be possible locations.
 
Bob Dylan said:
So when President-Elect Trump builds his Library/Museum where will it be located?
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Vegas, and it will be nothing but children's board books and pop-up books.
 
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I've toured the Wilson birthplace museum. It is considerably less fancy than what is devoted to more recent presidents.

Also not likely that any presidential debates will ever be held there in the future.
 
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