[Albany NY]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

I vote for a white 1979 Toyota Corolla. I think I also see a Mercedes and Buick from the early-mid '70s. The brown hat is somewhat of a "red herring."

After seeing that ominous cloud of smoke approaching, I wonder how many of those people pictured had to immediately run home and shower!

1976 - Freedom Train (Clearly not a Traditional Steam Locomotive)
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics21/00060148.jpg

I know a lot of my contributions have fallen flat, but this one I'm sure of. The photo above is from 1947-1949. The Freedom Train pictured above was an early diesel, built in 1947 in my hometown of Schenectady, NY, at the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) Works, only a couple of miles from the large GE plant (and a couple of miles from my childhood neighborhood). The locomotive was used as the "Spirit of 1776" only from September 17, 1947 to January 22, 1949, and is the only train to have visited all 48 contiguous states. ALCO designer Chester Mack's original design for the locomotive called for a large stylized gold eagle on either side of the engine (as shown above). The emblems were fabricated, but his supervisor nixed the idea, saying the eagles reminded him of those he had seen on German officers' uniforms in WWII. Though the train started its tour without the eagles, Mack soon managed to get them reapplied by pleading his case up ALCO's chain of command.

The Spirit of 1776 shortly after its construction, without the eagles.
freedomtrain.org

I remember during the summer of 1976 there was a train that traveled the country with a large bicentennial display inside. I saw it in Albany NY. It was called the "American Freedom Train" (not to be confused with the "Freedom Train" shown above).