ELVIS PRESLEY took the train from New York to Memphis in 1956.

• “Elvis who?”
• On the threshold of fame, Elvis took the train.
• Photographer Alfred Wertheimer recalls uttering that very question in early 1956. A publicist from RCA Victor Records had contacted him, asking if he was available to photograph a young singer named Elvis Presley.

Elvis gathered a large crowd when he left from Penn Station.

• “I’d never heard of the man,” Wertheimer told TIME Magazine in an article 40 years later. “He didn’t have a gold record yet.”
• (By the end of the year, Elvis was known around the world and was a millionaire at a time when a million dollars meant something.)

Elvis in his Pullman Bedroom on the train from New York.

• Elvis started his remarkable career in 1954, and two years later had his first number-one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel.” RCA released the record in January 1956.
• After a ratings-grabbing appearance on ‘The Steve Allen Show’ and a recording session in New York City that produced ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ Elvis returned to Memphis on July 3rd, 1956 by train for a concert at Russwood Park.

Elvis’ mother encouraged him to take trains as she had a strong fear of flying.

• Wertheimer accompanied Elvis on the train trip from New York to Memphis.
• The photographs Wertheimer took of the early Elvis remain some of the most remarkable and intimate photographs ever made of any major celebrity, in any era.

Elvis at a Penn Station newsstand.

• In the morning, Elvis repaired to Penn Station to start a 27-hour train ride home to Memphis. At Penn Station he ran into fellow singer Gene Vincent, congratulating Vincent on the success of his hit ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’!

Elvis traveled coach for the day trip to Memphis. He had a large Panda Bear doll with him and shared it with passengers. He was on his way to becoming a very star.

• Elvis started his remarkable career in 1954, and two years later had his first number-one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel.” RCA released the record in January 1956.
• But a few months later, it appears, Elvis was still able to travel by train without getting mobbed.
• To be continued in Part 2 of Elvis heads to Memphis from New York.

Elvis Presley, Trains, Streamliners, the 1950s, Retro, Pullman, Michael Grace, Social History.