Obama whistle stop tour reaches D.C.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- President-elect Barack Obama arrived at Washington's Union Station Saturday after a 137-mile rail journey witnessed by thousands of spectators along the route.

Obama did not address a crowd that had gathered at Union Station, The Washington Post reported. Hours earlier, in Baltimore, he called on Americans to "do our part to rebuild this country."

Reminding a crowd estimated at 35,000 to 40,000 at Baltimore's War Memorial Plaza of the city's heritage as the birthplace of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Obama said the American Revolution "did not end when British guns fell silent."

"The American Revolution was -- and remains -- an ongoing struggle in the minds and hearts of the people to live up to our founding creed," he said. "In our own lives, let's build a government that is responsible to the people. Let's accept our own responsibilities as citizens to hold our government accountable.

"Let's all of us do our part to rebuild this country."

People waited up to five hours to be allowed past security fences, The Baltimore Sun reported. A viewing section near the stage was filled with spectators almost three hours before Obama, his wife Michelle, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill arrived, the newspaper said.

After departing Philadelphia Saturday, Obama's train stopped in Delaware to pick up Biden. Thousands of people greeted Obama in Wilmington, Del., The (New Castle, Del.) News Journal said, and Obama spoke to a large crowd gathered in the city's Tubman-Garrett Park.

The train trip, in part, re-created the journey made by Abraham Lincoln to his 1861 inauguration. Lincoln, however, did not stop in Wilmington after hearing of an assassination plot.

The official Washington welcoming event for Obama and Biden will be held Sunday in a star-studded show in front of the Lincoln Memorial, which planners told the Post will attempt to combine the trappings of a celebrity gala with sobriety by having the musicians and actors deliver thematically linked performances.

Washington officials say the latest estimate is that 1.5 million to 3 million people plan to come for Tuesday's inauguration, prompting the U.S. government to declare the event a national emergency, The New York Times reported.