The 1949-1950 New York State Freedom Train

Timeline for the 1949-1950 New York State Freedom Train

*	*	*	This timeline is very much a work-in-progress. Any additions or corrections, please email.
STOP	CITY	DATES	NOTES
*	*	Fall 1948	The New York State Freedom Train came together quickly. All the cars were repainted and modified at New York Central's West Albany shops.
*	Albany, New York	January 26, 1949	The train was dedicated in a snowstorm at Union Station by Governor Dewey. After the ceremony, the train departed for Schenectady to start its year-long tour.
1	Schenectady	January 26-30, 1949	The train displayed in Schenectady for five days before heading up the NYC main line toward Buffalo, with stops along the way. The idea was to then tour south-central NY in the spring and return to Albany. During the summer the train would move through the north, and in the fall would proceed down the Hudson Valley to New York City.
2	Amsterdam	February 1-3 , 1949	*
3	Johnstown	February 4, 1949	*
4	Gloversville	February 5-7, 1949	Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville RR
5	Canajoharie	February 8, 1949	*
6	Little Falls	February 9, 1949	*
7	Herkimer	February 10-11, 1949	*
8	Utica	February 12-17, 1949	*
9	Rome	February 18-20, 1949	*
10	Oneida	February 21-22, 1949	*
11	Canastota	February 23, 1949	*
12	Syracuse	February 24-March 7, 1949	*
13	Auburn	March 5-8, 1949	*
14	Seneca Falls	March 9, 1949	*
15	Geneva	March 10-11, 1949	*
16	Canandaigua	March 12-13, 1949	*
17	Penn Yan	March 14, 1949	*
18	Lyons	March 15, 1949	*
19	Newark	March 16, 1949	*
20	Palmyra	March 17, 1949	*
21	Rochester	March 18 - April 1, 1949	Displayed at the Barge Canal Terminal
22	Caledonia	April 2-3, 1949	*
23	Batavia	April 4-5 , 1949	*
24	Brockport	April 7, 1949	*
25	Albion	April 8, 1949	*
26	Medina	April 9-10, 1949	*
27	Lockport	April 11-13, 1949	*
28	Niagara Falls	April 14-17, 1949	*
29	North Tonawanda	April 18, 1949	*
30	Buffalo	April 19- - May 11, 1949	*
31	Lancaster	May 12, 1949	*
32	Lackawanna	May 13-15 , 1949	*
33	Hamburg	May 16, 1949	*
34	Gowanda	May 17, 1949	*
35	Jamestown	May 18-19, 1949	*
36	Salamanca	May 20, 1949	*
37	Fredonia	May 21-22, 1949	*
38	Dunkirk	May 23-24, 1949	*
39	Westfield	May 25, 1949	*
40	East Aurora	May 26, 1949	*
41	Franklinville	May 27, 1949	*
42	Olean	May 28-30, 1949	*
43	Wellesville	May 31 - June 1, 1949	*
44	Hornell	June 2-3, 1949	*
45	Perry	June 4-5, 1949	*
46	Danesville	June 6, 1949	*
47	Wayland	June 7, 1949	*
48	Bath	June 8, 1949	*
49	Corning	June 9, 1949	*
50	Watkins Glen	June 11-12, 1949	*
51	Dundee	June 13, 1949	*
52	Naples	June 14, 1949	*
53	Elmira	June 15-17, 1949	*
54	Waverly	June 18, 1949	*
55	Ithaca	June 19-21, 1949	*
56	Owego	June 22, 1949	*
57	Endicott	June 23-24, 1949	*
58	Johnson City	June 25-26, 1949	Erie Railroad
59	Binghampton	June 27-28, 1949	*
60	Greene	June 29, 1949	*
61	Norwich	June 30, 1949	*
*	Utica	July 1, 1949	Layover en route to White Plains
*	Mott Haven	July 2, 1949	Special cleaning for White Plains showing
62	White Plains	July 3-4, 1949	The first of three stops not on the original itinerary. This special stop was for the 173rd anniversary of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
63	Cortland	July 5-6, 1949	*
64	Tully	July 7, 1949	*
65	Fulton	July 8, 1949	*
66	Oswego	July 9-11, 1949	Sponsored by the Palladium Times Newspaper on display on West Utica Street
67	Pulaski	July 12, 1949	*
68	Watertown	July 13-15, 1949	*
69	Morristown	July 16-17, 1949	*
70	Ogdensburg	July 18, 1949	*
71	Massena	July 19, 1949	*
72	Potsdam	July 20, 1949	*
73	Canton	July 21, 1949	*
74	Gouverneur	July 22, 1949	*
75	Carthage	July 23-24, 1949	*
76	Lowville	July 25, 1949	*
77	Lyons Falls	July 26, 1949	*
78	Thendara	July 27, 1949	*
79	Tupper Lake	July 28, 1949	*
80	Saranac Lake	July 29, 1949	*
81	Malone	July 30-Aug 1, 1949	The train was visited by 5052 people over 3 days.
82	Plattsburg	August 2-3, 1949	*
83	Port Henry	August 4, 1949	*
84	Ticonderoga	August 5, 1949	*
85	Whitehall	August 6-7, 1949	*
*	Rensselear	August 8-11, 1949	Closed to the public.
86	Ravena	August 12, 1949	*
87	Catskill	August 13-14, 1949	*
88	Saugerties	August 15, 1949	*
89	Kingston	August 16-17, 1949	Displayed at Greenkill Avenue Siding
90	New Platz	August 18, 1949	*
*	Kingston	August 19, 1949	*
91	Highland	August 20-21, 1949	*
*	West Haverstraw	August 22-23, 1949	Closed to the public.
92	West Haverstraw	August 24, 1949	*
93 *	Arlington, Staten Island	August 25-29, 1949	*Exhibition Cancelled. Train held at Weehawken, NJ
93	Suffern	August 30, 1949	*
94	Spring Valley	August 31, 1949	*
95	Middletown	September 1, 1949	*
96	Port Jervis	September 2, 1949	*
97	Callicoon	September 3, 1949	*
*	Callicoon	September 4, 1949	Closed to the public for cleaning.
98	Syracuse	September 5-9, 1949	The second of three stops not on the original itinerary. This special stop was for the Syracuse State Fair at the request of the governor.
99	Cooperstown	September 10-11, 1949	The thrid of three stops not on the original itinerary. This special stop was to incorporate the train into the Golden Anniverary celebration of the New York State Historical Society.
100	Sidney	September 12, 1949	*
101	Oneonta	September 13, 1949	*
102	Stamford	September 14, 1949	*
103	Arkville	September 15, 1949	*
104	Cobleskill	Sepetember 16, 1949	*
105	Saratoga Springs	September 17-19, 1949	*
106	Ballston Spa	Sepetember 20, 1949	*
107	Mechanicville	September 21, 1949	*
108	Troy	Sepetember 22-25, 1949	*
109	Albany	September 26-30, 1949	*
110	Chatham	October 1-2, 1949	*
111	Glens Falls	October 3-4, 1949	*
112	Port Edward	October 6, 1949	*
113	Hudson	October 6, 1949	*
114	Poughkeepsie	October 7-8, 1949	*
115	Beacon	October 9, 1949	*
116	Peekskill	October 10, 1949	*
117	Ossining	October 12, 1949	*
118	Tarrytown	October 13, 1949	*
119	Yonkers	October 14-19 , 1949	*
120	New York City	October 20-30, 1949	Grand Central Terminal
121	Mott Haven	October 31 - November 6, 1949	*
122	Fordham	November 7-9, 1949	*
123	Williamsbridge	November 10-11, 1949	*
124	Mt. Vernon	November 12-13, 1949	*
125	White Plains	November 14, 1949	*
126	Chappaqua	November 15, 1949	*
127	Mt. Kisco	November 16, 1949	*
128	Brewster	November 17, 1949	*
129	Pawling	November 18, 1949	*
130	Mt. Vernon	November 19-20, 1949	*
131	Portchester	November 21, 1949	*
132	Harrison	November 22, 1949	*
133	Mamaroneck	November 23, 1949	*
134	New Rochelle	November 24-27 , 1949	*
135	Brooklyn	November 28 - December 19, 1949	Displayed at Brooklyn Army Base
*	*	*	Note that 1949 would have seen 136 display cities, if not for one cancellation in August (above). Nonetheless, the train's written records begin 1950 with display city 137, not 136.
*	Brooklyn, NY	December 20, 1949 - January 2, 1950	Train put into storage
137	Amityville	January 3, 1950	*
138	Babylon	January 4, 1950	*
139	Bay Shore	January 5, 1950	*
140	Patchogue	January 6, 1950	*
141	Southampton	January 7, 1950	*
142	Greenport, Long Island	January 8, 1950	*
143	Riverhead	January 9, 1950	*
144	Farmingdale	January 10, 1950	*
145	Huntington	January 11-12, 1950	*
146	Hicksville	January 13, 1950	*
147	Glen Cove	January 14, 1950	*
148	Oyster Bay	January 15, 1950	*
149	Roslyn	January 16, 1950	*
150	West Hempstead	January 17-18, 1950	*
151	Hewlett	January 19, 1950	*
152	Freeport	January 20-21, 1950	*
153	Valley Stream	January 22-23, 1950	*
154	Elmont	January 24-25, 1950	*
155	Far Rockaway	January 26-27, 1950	*
156	Jamaica	January 28-29, 1950	*
157	Flushing	January 30-31, 1950	*
158	West Nyack	February 1-2, 1950	*
159	Walden, Long Island	February 3, 1950	The tour ends, having hosted 970,299 visitors.
*	*	*	*