#freedom train

Did you know that from 1975 through 1976, a twenty-six car train dubbed the “Freedom Train” toured all forty-eight contiguous U.S. states as part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration, the 200th Anniversary of American Independence? The train carried over five hundred historically significant objects for Americans to see and learn from, ranging from George Washington’s personal copy of the Constitution to Martin Luther King Jr.’s ministerial robes and even lunar rocks collected by the space program!

In 1974, just before the Freedom Train began its journey, President Gerald R. Ford visited it in Alexandria, Virginia, where it was parked at the Alexandria Railway Station (pictured). Standing on the caboose, Ford spoke to the assembled crowd and called the Freedom Train “one of the focal points for our Bicentennial commemoration.” The precious cargo, meanwhile, represented to Ford “much of our Nation’s past history and our hopes for the future.”

Today, the future is here as we prepare to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary! All aboard the Freedom Train!

Friday, January 23, 2026

From April 1st 1975 to December 31st 1976, the American Freedom Train would go on a tour across the United States for the country's bicentennial celebration. With 26 cars making up the consist, the train would be pulled by three steam locomotives, Reading Company T-1 No. 2101 (which was temporarily renumbered to No. 1), Southern Pacific GS-4 No. 4449, and Texas & Pacific I-1AR No. 610. In the span of those two dates, over seven million people had passed through the train's display cars to view the artifacts and exhibits of America's heritage.

A documentary made by Peter Drible that talks about the train can be watched on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rZlooVmv5w

To learn about the locomotives, rolling stock, and other equipment used, here's the link: https://www.freedomtrain.org/american-freedom-train-consist-main.htm

Models and Route by: K&L Trainz, Trainz-Forge, Denver & Burlington Trainz Works, Jointed Rail, TrainzItalia, Auran, and Download Station

Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity

4:22 PM EST December 3, 2024:

Ancient Grease - "Freedom Train" From the compilation album   Mojo Presents Heavy Nuggets III (May 27, 2014)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

Giveaway with the July 2014 issue of Mojo. "Fifteen Gems From the Hard Rock Underground."

A bombastic track that reminds me of nothing so much as "Blueshammer," the awful refried band that Seymour had to sit through in the movie Ghost World. I've read where there's other good stuff on Women and Children First, which used the name ten years before Van Halen did, but this ain't that..

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