U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday kicked off a four-day inauguration celebration with a daylong rail trip, retracing the path Abraham Lincoln took in 1861.

Riding a railcar from Philadelphia to Washington, Obama pledged efforts to overcome the economic crisis and help bring “a new Declaration of Independence.”

Before boarding the train, he said, "What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives -- independence from ideology and small thinking, independence from prejudice and bigotry, independence from selfishness."

Forty-one people from a diversity of backgrounds joined the ride along with Obama’s family.