Freedom Train stopped in A-K Valley to mark nation's bicentennial

One of the main memories of America’s Bicentennial in the Alle-Kiski Valley was the arrival of the Freedom Train in Brackenridge on July 11-12, 1976.

The Freedom Train included 10 railroad cars hooked up to a steam locomotive.

The cars were filled with memorabilia chronicling our nation’s first two centuries connected by a moving walkway.

Each car had a name from “The Beginning” to “Sports” to “Performing Arts” to “Conflicts and Resolution.”

There were 11,000 residents who showed up on the first day of the display, a Sunday, exactly one week after the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Among the oldest documents on display was an original copy of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” a rebellious pamphlet that served as a call to action for Revolutionary War patriots that was kept in Rhode Island.

Another notable display was the handwritten manuscript by Emma Lazarus that appears at the entrance to the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus wrote the piece in 1883, three years before Lady Liberty made her way to New York harbor.

It was a veritable treasure trove of historical items that included documents by physicist Albert Einstein, composer Irving Berlin and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Another notable artifact was Julia Ward Howe’s original composition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” written shortly after the start of the Civil War when Howe visited various military camps in the Washington, D.C., area.

Thomas Edison’s inventions were displayed, including the first incandescent light bulb, a phonograph called the “Amberola 30” and a dictating machine.

The original drawing of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s biplane from 1903 also was displayed.

For sports fans, there was the bat and ball used by Hank Aaron when he tied Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record in 1974, along with Jesse Owens’ gold medal from the 1936 Olympics.

On display was the 1904 Oldsmobile, called “Old Scout,” that won the nation’s first continental auto race. The vehicle traveled 4,000 miles in 44 days.

Films, some grainy, showed Turtle Creek High School graduate Leon Hart leading Notre Dame to the 1949 national championship over Kyle Rote and Southern Methodist University.

Another featured Olympic swimmer Johnny Weismuller breaking the 1-minute barrier in the 100-meter freestyle in 1922 at 58.6 seconds.

Powering the Freedom Train was a Reading T-1 locomotive, found in a Baltimore scrapyard.

Peter Spurney of the American Freedom Foundation said “a hundred or so railroad buffs volunteered their time to put the locomotive in running condition.”

GRS&W Inc. of Pittsburgh’s East Liberty section assembled the cars from November 1974 to February 1975.

The train was parked on the tracks beside the PLEBEG Co., then known as Liberty Mirror.

The train found its way to the area because of sponsorship from Tarentum and Brackenridge boroughs, along with Harrison Township.

Congress recently authorized funds for the 250th anniversary celebration set for 2026, but there is no word on whether the Freedom Train will be revived.