David E. Early dearly@mercurynews.com

(File photo Kirstina Sangsahachart/ Bay Area News Group) Maliyah Thomas is seen here waiting to board a Caltrain Freedom Train as it pulled into the University Avenue train station in Palo Alto in Jan. 2013. This year the Freedom Train will depart from Diridon Station Jan. 19 at 9:45am for its last ride down the rails to San Francisco. ( Kirstina Sangsahachart )

SAN JOSE -- America's final Freedom Train chugged out of San Jose's Diridon Station and into the history books Monday, ending three decades of tributes on the nation's rails to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s enduring legacy.

After years of declining interest, the chartered Caltrain roared to San Francisco on what organizers say was its last journey with a rejuvenated spirit and about 1,500 passengers -- five times more than last year.

Packed joyously in 10 train cars, the multicultural mix of pilgrims sang civil rights hymns, read MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech and shared personal stories. Michelle Geary's mother, Arlee Geary, made sure their family was onboard.

"My mom called me and said, 'I grew up on Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy, and if this is going to be the last train I want all of us to ride it," said Michelle Geary of San Jose, whose son and husband were also part of the final ride.

King's widow, Coretta Scott King, started the Freedom Train celebrations in dozens of cities across the country to commemorate the historic civil rights march her husband led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

But with so many new competing events over the years marking MLK's birthday, the train journeys faded away, leaving the Bay Area's as the lone survivor. This year, after the police killings of unarmed black men in Missouri and New York, the traditional day of service also became a day of civil rights protests.

"All those people protesting these days, they ought to be demanding the continuation of the Freedom Train because losing this is a really a shame," said Charles Herndon, who was the conductor on the first 25 years of MLK trains before retiring. He rode the farewell train as a passenger Monday.

At 54 miles, from station to station, the San Jose-to-San Francisco trip was about the same distance King and his fellow marchers traveled five decades ago.

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MLK Day: Bigger crowd for final year of Freedom Train