The Philadelphia Chapter of the

National Railway Historical Society

Established in 1936

In the planning stages for months, the information regarding the "Liberty Limited" had been restricted due to the sensitive nature of the move. However, it had been announced at a major railroad historical society meeting last spring and its existence had been talked about since. Still, many who knew about the train kept it low key. As the day approached, inquisitive people started asking questions and informative people started posting answers, none of it proprietary and all of it valuable for the many people who were not in the loop. Those in the loop were not saying anything due to a nondisclosure agreement in force.

Unfortunately, with the collusion of a website bulletin board owner, during the week prior to the event, those in charge deleted any posts that were even indirectly related to the train. One post remarked that private cars were on the move on two Amtrak trains, another was about a sighting of the PRR E8's on the NEC, and a third asked the simple question "What is the Liberty Limited?" All were deleted within hours. The apparent attempt was to suppress information that was already in the open, as it could be found on postings on other web boards, a mention in a historical society magazine and an article in Trains Magazine that arrived in subscriber's mailboxes two days before the event. Combine the widely known origin and destination with one simple published fact, kickoff time, and almost anyone could estimate the route and the schedule. Regretfully for some railfans, this lack of information caused them to miss seeing what could be called "the train of the century (so far)".

These actions should not detract from the great job done by many to pull off what was a tremendous salute to our veterans. People may differ on their views of war, but most share the same pride for the men and women who serve in our armed forces.

UPDATE: Good news, Santa updated the site and dropped off the missing pictures.

The Liberty Limited (aka OCS-101, Amtrak 802 and CSX P954) consist: Juniata Terminal Pennsylvania Railroad E8A 5711 and 5809, private varnish cars Southern Pacific "Birch Grove", Ohio Central "Sugar Creek", Louisville & Nashville "Ohio River", Chesapeake & Ohio "Chapel Hill", Missouri-Kansas-Pacific #403, High Iron Travel "Caritas", "Railforce One - United States of America" (aka North Star), Charter "Golden Moon", Charter "Imperial Leaf", Morristown & Erie "Birken", "Silver Shore", Louisville & Nashville "Oliver Hazard Perry", Lancaster & Chester "Golden Tower", "Greenwich Harbor", Virginia Rail Investments "Kitchi Gammi Club" and Juniata Terminal's "Little Juniata Rapids", "Warrior Ridge" and "Pennsylvania" (aka "PRR 120").

All pictures December 4 2005 Copyright © 2005 John P. Almeida

Photographs for personal use only. All rights reserved by original owner of image. Reproduction or redistribution in any form without express written permission is prohibited.