An effort to revive the famed American Freedom Train to celebrate this year’s semiquincentennial has failed. On April 15, the American Freedom Train Foundation 250 announced it was suspending its effort to operate a steam-powered exhibit train across the country in 2026 after it couldn’t secure operating agreements with railroads or corporate sponsors.

Ross Rowland Jr., the man behind the bicentennial version of the AFT, was the driving force behind the initial plan to revive the project. When Rowland died in 2025, steam preservationist Jason Johnson and others quietly picked up the mantle and tried to push the project forward. But it ultimately proved fruitless.

“In spite of committed efforts by the AFT Foundation 250’s board and its supporters, and despite a great appetite on the part of the American citizenry to see the train and to experience its planned onboard exhibits, this ambitious project unfortunately could not be brought to fruition,” the foundation said in a press release.

The money raised by the foundation is now being donated to the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, which is currently restoring Reading Company 4-8-4 No. 2100, which had been expected to lead the revived AFT.

—Justin Franz