Press Room

Chem-Dry by Choice Cleans Obama's Inaugural Train Car Chem-Dry by Choice Orange Park, FL Gary Dodd didn't know he was cleaning the carpet and upholstery of something that has major historical significance. He thought it was just a routine cleaning. On January 12 Dodd, the owner of Chem-Dry by Choice in Orange Park, Florida, cleaned the railroad car that then transported President-Elect Barack Obama from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. before his January 20 Inauguration. According to The Washington Post, the rail journey is designed to give Americans who can't attend the Inauguration a chance to glimpse Obama along the route. Dodd said one of his frequent customers called him on the morning of January 12 requesting a cleaning, but didn't tell Dodd the significance of the train. But, thanks to a group of reporters taking pictures and scribbling notes, it didn't take Dodd long to figure out something big was up. "After I learned what was going on I really got into it and cleaned the carpet one more time," Dodd said. "Those guys thought I was ill. That was a unique experience that I've never had happen to me." Gary Dodd's van in fron t of the train Photo by Leo King Dodd said Robert West, a famous train artist, started drawing him while he was on his knees cleaning a chair inside the rail car. Dodd said West will present the finished piece of art to President-Elect Obama. "It was really neat," Dodd said. "I clean senators' homes in Florida, but cleaning Mr. Obama's rail car was the most important thing I have ever done for Chem-Dry." The train's route is a recreation of the one taken by another Illinois senator, Abraham Lincoln, en route from Springfield, IL., to his own presidential inauguration in 1861. Dodd said former president Bill Clinton also rode this train to his Inauguration.