The American Freedom Train in Kansas City, Kansas

The AFT display in KCK at the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant March 27-30, 1976.

It was an unusually warm few days for March in the Midwest.

General Motors was one of the initial million-dollar sponsors of the AFT, so it was no surprise the plant was chosen as a display site.

Image: Todd Schannuth collection

The train was spotted in place by one of Union Pacific's Centennial locomotives -- the largest diesel locomotives ever built -- and a GM product.

This big yellow diesel, number 6909, would be scrapped ten years later.

Photo: Tom Nosera

Display site memo for KC.

Be sure not to miss item #14.

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Memory Lane

The Kansas City stop is one that your editor is quite familiar with. This is where I saw the train as a kid. This was my first connection to the train and the people who ran it.

In the winter of '76 I was all of nine years old. My dad had heard the train was coming to town and took my sister and me to see it.

We made the trek from our home in Independence, Missouri "over to the Kansas side" on a Saturday afternoon.

My most vivid memories of the day were the huge steam locomotive and the NOISY power cars we passed by ever-so-slowly as we waited in line to go through the train.

Dad bought us a couple of souvenir shirts afterwards.

I was a walking billboard back then. If it wasn't Wacky Packages or the Royals, it was the American Freedom Train.

I don't think I took that T-shirt off for six months. Seriously. It's in my school photo the following year.

Safe to say: the train symbolized a lot of stuff to me, even if I didn't understand it all. It left a big impression. And here we are.

At right: Todd, age 9, and Tina, age 6.

Photo: Armin Schannuth, age 36.