Capitol Christmas Tree Arrives by (What Else?) Truck
This year’s tree, a 50-foot Fraser fir cut from the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina, arrived Nov. 30, strapped like Gulliver to a 48-foot Dorsey flatbed trailer. The tree’s trunk was immersed in its own reservoir of water, fashioned from a waterbed. This allowed the tree to “drink” when it was thirsty during its winding, 12-day journey with stops in more than a dozen communities.
Local fire departments along the route refilled the tree’s reservoir so the limbs wouldn’t become brittle. By the time the tree reached Washington, every inch of the signboard around the trailer had been autographed by well-wishers, who recorded their sentiments with felt-tip pens.
For the sixth year in a row, Mack Trucks, Allentown, Pa., supplied the power unit for the tractor-trailer bearing the special tree. And once again, a tractor-trailer from D.M. Bowman Trucking Co., Williamsport, Md., carrying ornaments and smaller trees, filled out the two-truck convoy. Hale Trailer, also of Allentown, supplied the Dorsey flatbed for the big tree.
“It’s the climax — the rest of the year is pretty normal,” he said, adding that driving a 1998 Mack isn’t bad duty, either. His custom-painted CH613 came with 427 horsepower, 13 speeds and a 64-inch sleeper.
U.S. Capitol landscape architect Matthew Evans said he chose the 27-year-old Fraser fir for its nearly flawless symmetry. “There are no corners here that you can back it into it, so it has to be perfect,” he said.
The tree is positioned in the middle of the lawn at the foot of the grand staircase on the Capitol’s west front, which affords a vista down the great mall toward the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
For the past 30 years, the Capitol Christmas tree has been selected from one of the 155 national forests around the country. The selection process is one of great deliberation and logistical planning, according to Mr. Evans. Forests are chosen through a nominating process, and host states are rotated.
Mr. Evans personally picks the winning tree from a list of arboreal candidates. Last spring, he was flown in a small plane to an elevation of 5,640 feet in the Unaka Mountains of western North Carolina. He said he knew right away this particular Fraser fir was the right one because of its towering height, 25-foot branch spread and symmetry.
For the full story, see the Dec. 7 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
