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American Freedom Train Locomotive #4449 Former Southern Pacific Daylight locomotive 4449 was pulled from Oaks Park in Portland, OR on December 14,1974 to begin restoration to pull the American Freedom Train. A local railfan named John Monterey (Jack) Holst had for years kept the locomotive's critical parts oiled in hopes it might one day steam again. He didn't live to see the day his efforts paid off. Jack died on August 26, 1972. He was 38. There is now a brass plaque inside the locomotive's cab in his memory. Image: Tom Nosera collection. 1971 |
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4449 was the locomotive of choice to pull the AFT through the west and south. The locomotive's clean lines, large size, and pulling power (especially at speed) made it the perfect candidate for the AFT. Wile pulling the AFT its number boards on the smokebox read X4449. While pulling the Southern Steam Special in 1976 and most of the Amtrak Transcontinental Steam Excursion in 1977 the number boards read simply 4449. Image: Tom Nosera at Hialeah, Florida 1977 |
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4449 wore her original orange and red "Daylight" paint scheme through most of the 80's and 90's, and appeared this way in the 1986 Disney film 'Tough Guys' with Burt Lancaster, Michael Douglas, Eli Wallach, Charles Durning, and Dana Carvey. (Doyle L."You're Crazy -- Nobody Robs Trains Anymore" McCormack played the train engineer -- as he did on the AFT.) Image: Todd Schannuth, 1996 Portland, OR. |
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In the late 1990s, the locomotive was painted almost completely black.
Image: Jim Fitzgerald, June 2001, Portland, OR. |
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After 9/11, the Daylight locomotive was repainted to American Freedom Train colors for a couple of years. The only visible difference was the silver metal stripes on the pilot. In 1975-76 the stripes had been painted-on in white. The number boards were brought forward to their AFT position. Image: Todd Schannuth at Hillsboro, OR 2002
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Today, the locomotive is back to its original "as delivered" orange and red Daylight paint. The locomotive still runs in excursion service nearly every year. More on the locomotive today can be found here. |
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