President Coolidge saying goodbye to his father at his home in Plymouth, Vermont, in August 1924. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.
The scene in 2014:
The 1924 photo in this post shows Coolidge arriving at his father’s farm, and this one appears to be of him preparing to leave and head back to Washington. If you look closely, the car has a Washington, DC license plate, which is interesting because I can’t imagine Coolidge would have taken the car all the way back to the White House, given the poor quality of the nation’s roads in pre-Interstate days. Most likely, Coolidge would ride in this car to the nearest train station (Ludlow, perhaps?), and then the car would be carried on the train back to DC. Also visible in this photo is Grace Coolidge, who is already seated in the car, and their son John, who is standing behind his grandfather and appears to be looking at whatever the uniformed man is holding.
Yes, Derek, it would make sense that Coolidge would have (one of) his presidential limousines transported via train for use on his visit to Vermont. Much as other presidents later, having one’s own proven vehicle while away is important (especially with the technology and defense that entails today). Indeed, one remembers that John F. Kennedy traveled with his 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible limousine (the SS-100-X)—carried from place to place in an Air Force cargo plane—on his ill-fated Texas campaign trip in November 1963.