In 1976, the United States celebrated its 200th birthday– the Bicentennial. Spirit of '76 mania was rampant, and it seems like everyone got into the act with red, white and blue star-spangled displays.

The railroads of the U.S. were no exception. Many U.S. railroads re-painted one or more of their freight locomotives in festive commemorative schemes to help celebrate the nation's birthday. Some of these paint schemes were spectacular, and others were, well, not.

But either way, it was a lot of fun, and fortunately for us, these commemorative locomotives were captured on film and the pictures published as postcards.

The postcards in this collection are loosely organized into thematic groups; we'll start with "Stars", and then move on to "Stripes". Next is a larger section of locomotives called "Stars and Stripes" (I think you can see a pattern here!).

We'll stop here and take a look at the Freedom Train– the ultimate Bicentennial railroad.

Finally, we'll end with "Stars and Stripes Forever"– the Editor's Picks, including the Best in Show.

Let's get started!