American Freedom Train Puffing Through

Image by oswegocountytoday.com.

The Mission

This website was developed to inspire government organizations and railroads to help promote patriotism by getting the Freedom Train ready before 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States becoming a nation. This event can be a means of reuniting Americans and reigniting the flame of patriotism in the hearts of many.

History of the Freedom Train

In 1947, after World War II, a private group called the "American Heritage Foundation" worked with the railroads and institutions of the nation to put together a special train that would visit each of the 48 states of America. Known as the Freedom Train, it carried many different exhibits inside of it, including a copy of the Bill of Rights, a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, and a copy of the Mayflower Compact.

Throughout the course of a few years, the train traveled to each of the 48 states, igniting the flame of patriotism in the hearts of many Americans. Even after the national tour ended in 1949 and the exhibits were returned to their institutions, people still had the fond memories of how it felt to have one love for the one country that they lived in. The event even inspired the publication of a book entitled Freedom Train, a story about how a black family had a positive experience relating to the train.

Freedom Train Book

↑ Image by thriftbooks.com.

← Image by www.freedomtrain.org.

Original Freedom Train

In 1975, for the United States Bicentennial celebrations, another train was put together with similar exhibits as before, this time underneath the name of the American Freedom Train. The train carried the exact same exhibits, including a few new ones such as a replica of the Liberty Bell and one of the early lunar rovers. The train ran until 1976, and it again left a positive impact on the citizens, reuniting them in one love for the country in which they lived.

Image by www.4449.com.

Daylight at Freedom Train

With the 250th anniversary of the United States of America around the corner, it is our mission to get the American Freedom Train up and running before 2026. We want to give Americans the same patriotic fire their grandparents felt when the first two Freedom Trains ran. However, there is much to be done in the next two years to reach our goal. A few of the tasks that we need to complete include choosing a locomotive for the event, working with different organizations to figure out what will be displayed in the train, and working with the different railroads to map out the route that the train will go through in order to visit all 48 states.

Here is a timeline showing how far the planning track we have gone:

Timeline with train tracks

We have begun to get a bit more progress in! If you want to read a copy of the promotional letter, you can read it here.

We just got a response from Roger Marshall, one of the US Senators. If you would like to read his response, and the follow-up letter that was sent, you can view it here.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: We are starting to recruit train enthusiasts and patriots who are interested in seeing the American Freedom Train run again. If you want to help out in this campaign, fill out our volunteering form.

Have any questions or want to verbalize your support? Fill out the contact form below: