No. 10497 Lima GS-4 Class 4-8-4 "Northern" Type Steam Locomotive, heading up the "American Freedom Train" - Private Train with Corporate Sponsorship

Faced with declining passenger traffic as a result of the Depression, the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1933 launched an all-out effort to revitalize its passenger service.

Working with car builder Pullman-Standard and locomotive manufacturer Lima (Ohio) Locomotive Works, the Southern Pacific set high design standards for a revolutionary new train. The result was often called "The Most Beautiful Train in the World" the streamlined "Daylight," inaugurated on March 21, 1937, operating on the 470-mile Coast Line between Los Angeles and San Francisco (see No. 10298).

To power the new train, Southern Pacific designer Charles Eggleston applied a dramatic red, orange, and black streamlined shroud over Lima's GS-2 class 4-8-4 "Northern"-type steam locomotive, a design so good it would spawn an entire family of dependable motive power to haul other prestige Southern Pacific trains.

Now let's fast forward to 1975 and America's celebration of its 200th birthday, the highly acclaimed Bicentennial, offering the opportunity to create the "American Freedom Train." And what locomotive was chosen for the honor to head up this unique train for most of its cross-country journey? Southern Pacific's Lima built GS-4 Class streamlined "Northern," of course, restored handsomely in red, white, and blue, No. 4449. (The GS-4 was a later, improved version of the GS-2).

The "American Freedom Train" traveled 25,833 miles in 1975 and 1976, through all 48 contiguous states, and more than 7 million visitors viewed its 512 historical artifacts, that represented the heritage of America from its founding in 1776. While the train ran with a consist of 26 cars, including two showcase cars and ten display cars, this model of the "American Freedom Train" is necessarily simplified, eliminating such elements as train crew cars. But the model retains all the display cars with the conveyor belt that moved the 7 million visitors through the train - the heart of the "American Freedom Train." No. 10497 represents an accurate scale model of Lima's GS-4 Class 4-8-4 "Northern"-type streamlined steam locomotive, heading up the 13-car streamlined "American Freedom Train" in red, white, and blue, as it would have been seen on its run around the country in 1975 and 1976 (Nos. 10498-10505). The train is in "0"gauge by K- Line.

The Museum of America's Freedom Trains is dedicated to the preservation of the memory of the 1947-1949 "Freedom Train" and the 1975-1976 "American Freedom Train." Established in 1998 by a group of volunteers in Southern California, the museum is currently working to create a permanent exhibit of the artifacts displayed on the two trains, housed in two converted baggage cars. The museum is located in Boron, California, and has a web site at www.freedomtrain.org.

Included with this model train is a two-part VHS video documentary covering the entire Bicentennial journey of the "American Freedom Train," two hours long and in color, fully narrated.

As a footnote, Southern Pacific's GS-4 locomotive No. 4449, mostly used to head up the "American Freedom Train," is the property of the city of Portland, Oregon. It was repainted in "Daylight" colors after the Bicentennial and pulled a consist of matching cars from Portland to New Orleans for the World's Fair in the 1980s. Today, she is painted jet black as originally delivered by Lima.