Date: 12/14/24 11:04
"It was 50 years ago today..." SP4449 version
Author: BryanTCook

Hard to believe 50 years have gone by since SP4449 was pulled from Oaks Park in Portland, OR to be rebuilt for the American Freedom Train. A lot of good things have happened since then. The successful run of the AFT. Many excursions with the 4449, including the 1984 Louisiana World's Fair Daylight with matching train. Restoration of the City's other steam locomotives, one in progress. A place to house them, and soon a place to run them. Friendships in the community of steam locomotive preservation. Sharing that with the next generation. Here's to many more years.

Southern Pacific 4449


Southern Pacific No. 4449 at Portland Union Station on May 7, 2010

Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's GS-4 class of 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotives and one of only two streamlined GS class locomotives preserved, the other being GS-6 No. 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is an abbreviation of General Service or Golden State, the latter of which was a nickname for California, where the locomotive was used to operate in revenue service.

No. 4449 was built by Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio for the Southern Pacific Railroad in May 1941; it received SP's signature red-and-orange Daylight paint scheme for the passenger trains of the same name which it hauled for most of its service career. No. 4449 was retired from revenue service in 1956 and donated to the City of Portland, Oregon in 1958. The city then put the locomotive on static display near Oaks Amusement Park at "Oaks Pioneer Park", where it remained until 1974.

After this, No. 4449 was then restored to operation for use in the American Freedom Train, which toured the 48 contiguous United States as part of the nation's 1976 Bicentennial celebration. The locomotive has operated in excursion service since 1984.

The locomotive's operations are now based at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, Oregon where it is maintained by a non-profit group of volunteers named "The Friends of SP 4449". In 1983, a poll of Trains magazine readers selected No. 4449 as being the most popular locomotive in the United States.

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History

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American Freedom Train
In 1974, No. 4449 was evaluated for restoration after becoming a candidate to pull the American Freedom Train, as its size, power and streamlining made it a good fit for that Bicentennial train. After the evaluators determined that 4449's bearings and rods remained in good condition, they selected the locomotive for that task.

No. 4449 was removed from display on December 13, 1974, and restored at the Burlington Northern Railroad's Hoyt Street roundhouse in Portland. The locomotive returned to operation on April 21, 1975, wearing a special paint scheme of red, white and blue.

As part of the 1975-1976 bicentennial American Freedom Train, No. 4449 pulled the display train through most of the contiguous United States. The 4449 only pulled the Freedom Train in the Western portions of the country, whereas in the Eastern portions of the train were pulled by Reading 2101, which had recently been restored by Ross Rowland, and in Texas the train was pulled by Texas and Pacific 610. The 4449 pulled the American Freedom train for a total of 82 of 138 stops, in 38 states, for the bicentennial event.

After the Freedom Tour ended, No. 4449 pulled an Amtrak special, the Amtrak Transcontinental Steam Excursion during 1977. After nearly two years on the road, 4449 was returned to storage in Portland, this time under protective cover and not exposed to the elements.

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Local
In 1975 and ’76, an artifact-filled choo-choo chugged around the U.S.
May 25, 2019


People line up in Archbold, Ohio, on June 20, 1975, to tour the American Freedom Train. The town of about 3,200 was the smallest community the train visited on its two-year nationwide tour. (Associated Press)

Perspective by John Kelly

I enjoyed reading your recent column about the 1947 Freedom Train. Didn’t we have a similar one in 1976? I seem to remember going to a railroad siding in Fredericksburg to view documents. Perhaps it was in conjunction with the nation’s bicentennial?

— Scott Walker, Fredericksburg, Va.

Many strange things happened in the 1970s — Pet Rocks, leisure suits and disco music among them — but it was also the decade in which America threw itself a huge birthday party. And what better way to celebrate turning 200 than by filling a train with historical and cultural artifacts and taking it across the country?

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{This is the AFT at Alexandria, Virginia, stopped at the Alexandria station. The camera is aimed in the direction of Braddock Road, but this is well before the Metrorail came through. The locomotive is the Reading T1 2101, used in the eastern United States.}

By John Kelly
John Kelly writes John Kelly's Washington, a daily look at Washington's less-famous side. Born in Washington, John started at The Post in 1989 as deputy editor in the Weekend section.follow on X@JohnKelly

"ALL ABOARD AMERICA" 1976 U.S. BICENTENNIAL FREEDOM TRAIN PROMOTIONAL FILM 54694

PeriscopeFilm
754K subscribers

27,655 views Nov 28, 2019 #610 #2101
All Aboard America is a short 1976 film about the bicentennial celebration train, the American Freedom Train, discussing the project’s inception, design and construction, layout and route. The film shows some illustrations of America’s founding fathers, images from the Civil War, and early footage of an automobile, World War I, and Franklin D. Roosevelt addressing a crowd. John Warner, head of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, shows off the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights at the National Archives (03:50). A steam locomotive pulls a 24-car train (04:55). A man dressed in a colonial-era costume boards the train. Aerial footage shows the train cruising along railroad tracks. The train passes a windmill, drives through towns and over bridges, and cuts through farmland. At an old converted railroad station in New Jersey (07:13), American Freedom Train founder Ross Rowland speaks to the camera about his vision (08:20). In Venice, FL craftsmen modify old baggage cars into the cars that would become part of the American Freedom Trian (09:00). In Richmond, CA, People work on train cars for a west-coast train in Richmond, CA (09:58), cutting steel and welding the cars. Barry Howard of Larchmont, NY works on designs that will turn the old cars temporary display cars featuring the various exhibits (10:53). In 1974, people pull one of the old great “Iron Horse” locomotives, a Southern Pacific Daylight engine, from its pedestal in Oaks Park, located in Portland, OR. The former Reading Company T-1 class 4-8-4 #2101 engine is revamped for the eastern U.S. train (11:50). Designers shape a replica of the box in Ford’s Theatre where Lincoln sat when shot (12:20). Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner record a version of “Freedom Train” in a Nashville studio (12:37). Curator for Documents and Artifacts Ruth Packard speaks to the camera about the ten exhibit cars (13:35). Private Collectors catalog artifacts they are sending to be a part of the American Freedom Train (13:57). Actor and civil rights activist Ossie Davis records audio for the train. Radio City Music Hall producer Leon Leonidoff speaks to the camera from his living room about the potential of the Freedom Train. The display cars are readied for final inspection (15:20). Design fabricators install the equipment, artifacts, and documents. Viewers see a 1904 Oldsmobile Scout and an 1849 fire engine loaded into a car in Alexandria, VA (16:10). President Gerald Ford waves to the crowd at the start of the grand opening of the American Freedom Train. The film takes viewers aboard the finished train. In Car 1 (17:00), viewers see priceless documents from American history; Car 2 features early Native American artifacts and depictions of America’s expansion west. Car 3 is a visual display of various American developments (18:00), while the next car features life-like mannequins who represent immigrants. The fifth car is filled with the works of American inventors, including some original inventions. Car 6 showcases the writings of everyday Americans. The next car is filled with sports heroes as well as different memorabilia such as baseball bats. In the eighth car, viewers see a world of entertainment, with photographs of movie stars, excerpts and video clips of movies, sheet music, and more. Car 9 features painters and sculptors (20:28), while the final car illustrates key moments in history, such as John F. Kennedy’s presidency and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s civil rights work. A band plays on 1 April 1975 in Wilmington, DL during the grand opening (21:23). People line up to walk through the train. Kids pose in old costumes. Train engineer Doyle McCormack speaks about being a part of the project. There are shots of the train passing through towns and cities, including Sioux Falls and Chicago. The film concludes with people riding on and posing in front of the train.

The American Freedom Train toured the country in 1975–76 to commemorate the United States Bicentennial. The train was powered by three newly restored steam locomotives. The first to pull the train was a former Reading Company T-1 class 4-8-4 #2101. The second was former Southern Pacific 4449, a large 4-8-4 steam locomotive that is still operating in special excursion service today. The third was former Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 #610, which pulled the train in Texas. Due to light rail loadings and track conditions on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, diesels hauled the train from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama. Diesels were also required in Chicago after the steam locomotive derailed attempting to negotiate tracks by the Chicago lakefront.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com