John
Finnin Gallery 1
Unless
otherwise noted, all images © copyright Mr. John Finnin
and may not be used elsewhere without his permission.
Finnin
Gallery 1 2
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To call
John Finnin a "fan" of the American Freedom Train
would be a laughable understatement. In the years I've know
John, he's been instrumental in my research on the train
and in getting it modeled accurately by more than one manufacturer.
He has quite a collection of AFT memorabilia, including
some extremely rare crew-only items. But it is my guess
it's the models that he likes best...
-- Todd Schannuth
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THE
BANNER SAYS IT ALL.
Seen
here in April 2004 at a train show in Cherry Hill, NJ.
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Flag
carried on the pilot of AFT #1 (former Reading 2101) during
the summer of '76.
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John's
O Scale model of the AFT.
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John's
K-LINE GS-4 model and his AFT video collection.
Note
his collection of patches. The largest -- with the big #1
-- was T-1 crew-only. The smaller one in the lower right
corner is even rarer. (That's my way of saying I don't have
one.)
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Another
view.
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The
poster at center was a "generic" poster sent to
host cities. The bottom quarter of the poster was left blank.
Host committees would the customize the posters with date
and location info for their city. They would end up in store
windows around town.
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Note
John's AFT belt. Not too many of those still around.
Also
note his model of AFT #200 - the heavyweight "Splendid
Spirit" I made for him a few years ago as thanks for
all his help researching the AFT. It's based on a K-LINE
heavyweight observation car. Today
the 'real' car sits just outside St. Louis at the AFC plant
(painted differently).
The
blue film container holds John's 16mm copy of All Aboard
America, the award-winning documentary about the AFT produced
and directed by Ralph Weisinger. Not too many of those still
around, either.
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Close-up
of AFT #200 - "Splendid Spirit". The real car
was used to promote the idea of an AFT as far back as 1973.
It was the first car to be lettered "American Freedom
Train". The car was part of the touring AFT for a few
days in 1975 (while in Ohio). It was AFT originator Ross
Rowland's private car, formerly lettered "Brothers
Two". Later it was renamed "Independence",
the name it still wears.
Image
© copyright Todd Schannuth
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A
rare AFT poster. This type poster also had room for customizing
in the thick white band at the bottom (obscured here).
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Some
of John's custom work.
The
crew car #PNWC76, flat cars #30, 31, and 32, and the concessions
car #20 are all John's handiwork.
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A
better shot of the last flat car.
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John's
take on concessions cars #20 and 33.
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John's
also a fan of the 1947 Freedom Train. Seen here is his Lionel
model of the train. L. Andrew Jugle gets credit for helping
Lionel with their research. It's the most accurate model
of the train ever manufactured in any scale.
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A
better shot of locomotive crew car PNWC76 at upper left.
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Two
rare posters.
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Note
the AFT soft drink cups. Amazing they have survived.
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More.
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Still
more.
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AFT
crew coveralls. Among the rarest in his collection of very
rare things.
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John
displays only a fraction of the paper goods he's collected
-- including envelopes, first day cancels, ticket stubs from
across the country, AFT newsletters, posters, newspaper clippings
and more.
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Great
patches.
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Box
of first day cancels (special AFT envelopes with special AFT
cancels from each city visited).
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The
ALL ABOARD AMERICAN film in the blue canister.
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The
slightest hint of his collection of AFT images.
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Lionel's
O Scale PA-1 locomotive.
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John's
K-LINE AFT locomotive.
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Lest
you be left with any doubt about the depth of John's affection
for his memories of the American Freedom Train.
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