An example of what could go wrong when politicians campaigned by train is when New York Gov. Franklin Roosevelt's train got "lost" in Ohio during his 1932 whistle-stop tour.

Through a misunderstanding by the railroad company, FDR's train was misrouted on its way from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, "sending it through towns which it had not been expected to touch, and disappointing an early morning crowd at Springfield, Ohio, where a five-minute stop had been planned," the Associated Press reported on October 30, 1932.

The Governor and his party were up and ready to greet the gathering in Springfield, but to their surprise the train dashed straight on through, while the crowd yelled for it to stop. The surprised Gov. Roosevelt then discovered that he was well on his way to Cincinnati instead of following the schedule of heading directly for Indianapolis from Springfield.

"Making the best of it, he greeted a small crowd at Middletown, Ohio, mostly workmen who perched on boxcars to get a good view of the nominee," according to the Associated Press.

For more anecdotes and stories about whistle-stopping politicians, read Edward Segal's new bestselling book, "Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them," which is available wherever books are sold including Amazon at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Whistle-Stop-Politics-Campaign-Reporters-Covered/dp/B0CPLNCY7J/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=