VERDUGO VIEWS:Freedom Train stopped in Glendale

In April 1975, as citizens across the United States were preparing to celebrate the bicentennial of the nation’s founding, a commemorative train filled with historic American artifacts set off across the country.

Known as the American Freedom Train, the expedition was the brainchild of Ross Rowland Jr., a New York commodities broker and train enthusiast.

He first sought financial assistance from the U.S. government, then gained support from several large corporations, including Pepsi, General Motors, Prudential Insurance and Kraft Foods. At this point, President Richard Nixon authorized the national archives to make its contents available to the project, according to the freedom train website, www.freedomtrain.org.

Twelve baggage cars were converted into a traveling museum, with a moving sidewalk installed in 10 of the cars to guide viewers along the exhibits. The others were fitted with huge windows so that large items could be seen from the outside.

The train carried more than 500 pieces of Americana, including documents such as George Washington’s copy of the U.S. Constitution and the original Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland’s dress from the film “The Wizard of Oz,” Joe Frazier’s boxing trunks, a rock from the moon and Martin Luther King Jr.’s pulpit and robes, according to the website.

The train, pulled by a restored engine, left the East Coast in April 1975, embarking on a trip across the northern United States.

It arrived in Sacramento in late November and spent several weeks in the state.

When Glendale resident Vic Pallos read that the train would stop here in late December 1975, he and his wife, Barbara, along with their daughter Emilie, who was 6 years old at the time, decided to go see it.

Pallos, a self-described “train nut,” brought his camera to record the historic event.

“The train rolled into Glendale two hours late,” Pallos recalled, but “hearing the whistle blow was worth it.”

Although more than 30 years have passed since the train came to town, Pallos has vivid memories of hearing the train’s distinctive whistle in the distance long before it pulled into the station.

As the train first appeared round the bend from the north, plenty of gray and white smoke was belching from the engine, he said.

“We boarded the cars and saw the exhibits secured behind glass,” he said. “They included Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hat and one of Babe Ruth’s bats. The engine, old 4449, was famous.”

“It was painted on the side with red-and-blue stripes, with two small American flags on poles framing the headlights. It was immense, with driving wheels five to six feet in diameter,” he said.

Pallos recalled that it was quite a media event, with camera crews from several TV stations in attendance.

“I’d guess there were about 200 people at the station,” he said. “It stopped maybe for an hour, then continued on to Union Station.”

The train left the state in late January 1976 and spent the entire bicentennial year traveling a southerly route back to the East Coast.

The freedom train’s website called it the “only nationwide celebration of the bicentennial.”

More than 7 million people visited the train during its tour of all 48 contiguous states, and millions more stood trackside to see it go by, according to the website.

Pallos was also at the Glendale station earlier that year when U.S. Treasurer Francine Neff came through Glendale by train.

“It was the summer of 1975 and she was promoting the sale of savings bonds.”

The train that brought her had an engine and caboose painted in patriotic colors. Pallos snapped several shots of Neff schmoozing with people at the station, he said.

“I think I still have a $1 bill autographed by her,” he said.

READERS WRITE

George Natsume came to Glendale in the early 1920s with his parents and lived near the corner of San Fernando Road and Grandview Avenue.

“When we went out the backdoor, we would see acres of vineyards. Looking toward Griffith Park, San Fernando Road was lined with huge eucalyptus trees and across the railroad tracks was an airport. I remember seeing them build the Slate dirigible — Kinner Motors was there, too. One day there was a fire at the airport so they had to attach the fire hose to a hydrant up on San Fernando Road and laid it across the tracks and ran the hose as close as they could to the hanger. A few minutes later, a freight train came along and cut the hose into pieces.”

Natsume also recalled watching pilots high in the air, skywriting the words “Lucky Strike.”