Obama arrives in Washington for last time before inauguration

WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama pulled into Washington's Union Station on Saturday on a special inaugural train, three days before he is to be sworn in as the 44th US president.

Obama journeyed to the US capital in a day-long train trip from Philadelphia tracing the train tracks followed by his hero Abraham Lincoln ahead of his own inauguration as president a century-and-a-half ago.

Thousands of joyful supporters waved to the train as it rolled through small towns and stations, and the president-elect whipped up frigid crowds at rallies which drew an estimated 47,000 people in Wilmington, Delaware and Baltimore, Maryland.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Obama's inauguration before the domed US Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, the culmination of four days of celebrations, star-studded concerts and parties