The Freedom Train

The American Freedom Train was part of the nationwide bicentennial celebration. In 1975 and 1976, a train carrying some of the country’s most historic documents and other exciting memorabilia traveled the entire country, stopping in most major cities, including Peoria. The train was in Peoria at the foot of Water Street from July 18-21, 1975.

Days before it arrived in a big city, the train’s route was publicized so residents in small towns could watch the highly decorated train come through their village.  The train was scheduled to go through Washington on July 17 around 4:00 p.m.

Large crowds gathered on the 17th around 4:00, especially around City Hall on Jefferson Street. Hundreds of residents lined the tracks, so police officers had to be called in to keep people out of the road and off the tracks. But there was another problem…

When passing through Kankakee, Illinois, it seems that the train encountered a very sharp curve, which the engineer deemed too sharp for the train to handle. After discussing this with the local authorities, who told the engineer that the curve was the only way through town, the train proceeded very slowly and derailed on the curve.

This set the train’s schedule back hours, and it was 9:30 before the train’s whistle was first heard in Washington.  The train crept through town on the TP&W rail at around 10 miles per hour to a swollen throng of cheering Washingtonians who had patiently waited for hours.