CNN) -- To kick off the inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama is following the train route Saturday that his political hero Abraham Lincoln took to assume his presidency.
President-elect Barack Obama speaks Saturday at a town hall meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before departing.
The 137-mile journey from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C., retraces the train route taken by Lincoln in 1861.
Obama is planning to stop in Wilmington, Delaware; and Baltimore, Maryland, along the way to Washington, where he will take the oath of office Tuesday.
The train will slow down as it passes through Claymont, Delaware, and Edgewood, Maryland, for what's called a "slow roll," so that Obama can wave at residents who gather near the tracks.
Before boarding the train, Obama attended a town hall meeting in Philadelphia, where he implored Americans to commit to a new declaration of independence -- from ideology and bigotry -- as he acknowledged the nation faces severe challenges.
"Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast," he said from the city's 30th Street Station.
An economy that is faltering. Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely. A planet that is warming from our unsustainable dependence on oil.
"And yet while our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not," he said. "What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed."
Security for Obama's train ride will be tight. Law enforcement officers from 40 jurisdictions will provide protection from the ground. The U.S. Coast Guard will be stationed at points on waterways along the route as well.
The Federal Aviation Administration is establishing "moving" flight restrictions that will prevent private pilots, news helicopters, balloonists and others from getting anywhere near the train. FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto said flights will be restricted from 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday in Philadelphia, and those restrictions will move with the train.
Obama riding same rails Lincoln rode to Washington - CNN.com