NEWS

The big news, really, is we have new decals -- enough for the entire 26-car American Freedom Train, including the flat cars and the 10 wagons that rode on them.

It's been a long haul. I started working on these in 2001, but only really took up the task in the summer of 2007. John Lewis who moderates the AFT Yahoo Group had been pushing me to get-it-in-gear and they finally got done.

A few words about the new decals:

Accuracy: The decals are the result of over 200 hours of work pouring over hundreds of images and writing many dozens of emails to former AFT staffers and railfans. Naturally, the display cars came easy - those have been photographed extensively by lots of folks. But the ancillary cars and the wagons carried on the flatcars were another matter. I owe quite a debt of gratitude to the AFT staff and crew that helped piece together the details on all the wagons. At this point I’m quite confident the decals represent the real American Freedom Train to a very high degree of fidelity. With that said, the decals are in some ways “idealized”. The AFT was a work in progress its whole life. The way it looked on opening day was different from the way it looked at the midpoint or at the end of its journey. Cars joined the train. The train was repainted at least twice. Windows were slowly added to the Bunk Car. Stickers were used on the train for lettering, car numbers and emblems. These stickers came and went, changed or popped up in new positions. A couple cars even swapped numbers. I've endeavored to create a set of decals that show each piece of the train in its most complete and pleasing livery. Where significant variations ought to be noted, they are. Car #33 has the option of either "AFT" or "SOUTHERN" lettering. The PNWC76 can be lettered "Splendid Spirit" (or not). The observation car sheet has two different drumheads, each in two sizes.

Flexibility: The decals are designed to give you some flexibility in what commercially available model train cars you choose to make your model from. The display car decal sheets include stripes meant to fit fine on the Lionel AFT cars produced in the 1970s, but the sheets also have an alternate set of stripes should you prefer to convert Rivarossi or Con-Cor baggage cars into display cars. In the case of the Tool Car, the decals will cover either a 70’ baggage car (easy to find at the hobby shop) or a prototypical 80’ baggage car (you may have to custom build one). Suggestions for what commercially available HO models to base the wagons, flats and passenger cars on are included. Each 8.5" x 11" decal sheet comes with a datasheet telling about the prototype and depicting decal placement, plus helpful (or at least well intentioned) modeling tips. Total: 28 decal sheets, 28 datasheets and 2 Sticker sheets to cover the whole train.

At last, a real train for your PCM AFT Reading T-1 or Bachmann GS-4 to pull! (Downhill.) It's been fun. Hope you enjoy them. Send pics of your model! ~Todd

The decals are printed with oil-based inks on clear decal paper. Water will have no effect on the art.