My dad was raised by his five maiden aunts; the bicentennial was a big deal in that house. So in the leadup to July 4, 1976 The Aunts ( that is their proper name as a group) bought bicentennial bedsheets, bicentennial plates, bicentennial swizzle sticks, a spirit of '76 transistor radio (AM only), tiny liberty bells, a minuteman chess set, and on and on. And on.
Needless to say there was a Lionel set in all of this. Sometime in 1975 the Liberty Bell Special arrived on Newport Ave. Dad claims he bought it with his money but I've also seen a picture of the box under the Christmas tree. For ages that red white and blue alco was the only Lionel diesel I knew.
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