Merci Train

The French Gratitude Train (French: Train de la reconnaissance française), commonly referred to as the Merci Train, are 49 early 20th century "forty and eight" boxcars gifted to the United States by France in response to the 1947 U.S. Friendship Train. It arrived in Weehawken, New Jersey on February 3, 1949.

Merci Train
Photograph of boxcar from French "Merci train," a gift from France to the United States in grateful recognition of U.S. aid to France after World War II.
Capacity40 men or 8 horses or 20 tonnes (19.7 long tons; 22.0 short tons) of supplies
Operator(s)French Army and French railways
Specifications
Weight7.9 tonnes (7.8 long tons; 8.7 short tons) tare
Braking system(s)Air
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

Background

The idea to send a "thank you" gift to the United States for the $40 million in food and other supplies sent to France and Italy in 1947 came from a French railroad worker, and World War II veteran, named Andre Picard.[1] Donations from the Merci Train came from over six million citizens of France and Italy in the form of dolls, statues, clothes, ornamental objects, furniture, and even a Legion of Honour medal purported to have belonged to Napoleon.[2]

History
Main article: Forty-and-eights
"Merci train" ceremony in 1949.

The boxcars were "forty-and-eights" used during both world wars. The term refers to the cars' carrying capacity, said to be 40 men or eight horses.[3] Built starting in the 1870s as regular freight boxcars, they were originally used in military service by the French army in both World Wars, and then later used by the German occupation in World War II and finally by the Allied liberators.

In 1949, France sent 49 of those boxcars to the United States (one for each state and the Territory of Hawaii) laden with various treasures, as a show of gratitude for the liberation of France. This train was called the Merci Train, and was sent in response to trains full (over 700 boxcars) of supplies known as the American Friendship Train sent by the American people to France in 1947. Each of the Merci Train boxcars carried five tons of gifts, all of which were donated by private citizens.[4]

The Train and all 49 cars arrived aboard the Magellan on February 3, 1949, with over 25,000 onlookers in attendance. On the side of the gift-laden French freighter was painted, "MERCI AMERICA".[4] Immediately the trains were distributed amongst the states.

Boxcars

Many of the trains were opened and turned into exhibits before distributing the objects as each state saw fit. Most states continued to exhibit the boxcars to the public after their gifts were distributed.

Various websites (see external links) count 43 of the 49 boxcars still in existence. The state boxcars of Massachusetts, Illinois, Nebraska, Connecticut, and New Jersey are known to have been destroyed. The Colorado boxcar has been missing since 1954, and its fate remains unknown. Most of the surviving boxcars are displayed in various parks and museums in their respective states; such locations include:

State Image Location City or town Notes
Alabama U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum
34.692051°N 86.586194°W / 34.692051; -86.586194		 Huntsville The Alabama “40 & 8” Boxcar arrived in Montgomery on February 11, 1949.[5]
Arizona McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park
33.5375°N 111.923333°W / 33.5375; -111.923333		 Scottsdale The Arizona Capitol Museum has the contents of the car and a scale model.[6]
Arkansas American Legion Post 41
34.527528°N 90.588361°W / 34.527528; -90.588361		 Helena–West Helena The Museum of Fine Arts at Little Rock has some of the contents of the car.[7]
California American Legion Post 509
36.782337°N 119.772787°W / 36.782337; -119.772787		 Fresno
Colorado Unknown
Connecticut Destroyed
Delaware American Legion Post 6
38.6441014°N 75.6092105°W / 38.6441014; -75.6092105		 Seaford Owned and maintained by Forty and Eight Voiture 1320 of Sussex County[8]
Florida Holly Hill City Hall
29.244416°N 81.040179°W / 29.244416; -81.040179		 Holly Hill The city hall has some of the original contents of the car and a scale model.[9]
Georgia Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History
34.024°N 84.6144°W / 34.024; -84.6144		 Kennesaw
Hawaii Hawaiian Railway Society
21.331897°N 158.0461048°W / 21.331897; -158.0461048		 Ewa Beach
Idaho Old Idaho State Penitentiary
43.6027°N 116.162°W / 43.6027; -116.162		 Boise
Illinois Missing, presumed scrapped
Indiana Veteran's National Memorial Shrine
2122 O'Day Road		 Fort Wayne
Iowa Antique Acres Campground
7610 Waverly Road		 Cedar Falls The State Museum in Des Moines has a collection of gifts from the boxcar.
Kansas American Legion Post 173
1305 Canterbury Drive		 Fort Hays The Prairie Museum of Art and History in Colby, KS has a doll from the Kansas boxcar on display.website
Kentucky Kentucky Railway Museum New Haven
Louisiana Old Louisiana State Capitol Baton Rouge
Maine Boothbay Railway Village Boothbay website
Maryland B&O Railroad Museum Baltimore website
Massachusetts Missing, presumed scrapped
Michigan The Forty & Eight Society
2949 South Waverly Highway

http://mercitrain.org/Michigan/

 Lansing Artifact collection at Michigan History Museum, 702 W. Kalamazoo Street, Lansing, Michigan
Minnesota Minnesota Military Museum Little Falls
Mississippi Behind the restored Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (GM&O) train depot,
618 East Pearl Street		 Jackson website
Missouri Missouri State Fair Grounds Sedalia Maintained by 40/8 Voiture 333
The Merci Boxcar Historical Marker
Montana Montana Military Museum, Fort Harrison Helena website
Nebraska Missing, presumed scrapped Information and pictures of the gifts in Nebraska's boxcar
Nevada Nevada State Railroad Museum Carson City website
New Hampshire Reed Street near Bremer Street Manchester
New Jersey Destroyed by fire.
New Mexico Expo New Mexico Albuquerque website
New York Oneida County 40&8
5163 Judd Road		 Whitesboro
North Carolina North Carolina Transportation Museum Spencer website
North Dakota 612 E. Boulevard Avenue Bismarck website
Ohio Near the Camp Perry Lodging and Conference Center Camp Perry The boxcar has been refurbished three times since 1949.[10]
Several of the gifts are now housed at the Ohio Historical Society.[11]
Oklahoma J. D. McCarty Center
2002 East Robinson Street		 Norman
Oregon Sherman Park
1220 Sherman Avenue		 North Bend Coos Historical & Maritime Museum
Pennsylvania Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Facility
Intersection of Fisher and Clement Avenues		 Fort Indiantown Gap 40 & 8 Boxcar Historical Marker
Rhode Island Museum of Work and Culture
42 South Main Street		 Woonsocket website
Fully restored in 2004[12]
South Carolina South Carolina Cotton Museum and Lee County Veterans Museum Bishopville website
Previously in Greenville and Columbia[13]
South Dakota South Dakota State Fairgrounds Huron
Tennessee American Legion Post 145 Bristol
Texas Texas Military Forces Museum[14] Camp Mabry Boxcar's own website or museum website (though the museum website apparently does not mention the boxcar)
Utah Utah State Railroad Museum Ogden French Boxcar Historical Marker
Vermont Camp Johnson Colchester
Virginia Virginia War Museum Newport News
Washington Sarg Hubbard Park Yakima Information, Map: the Merci Car
West Virginia Veteran's Park Welch
Wisconsin National Railroad Museum Ashwaubenon
Wyoming American Legion Post 6
2001 E Lincoln Way		 Cheyenne Restored by American Legion members in 2017[15]

References
  1. "Merci Train".
  2. "WWII Encyclopedia: The Forty and Eight".
  3. "What is the 40 & 8".
  4. "The "Merci" Train". Life Magazine. 26 (9): 72–74. February 28, 1949. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  5. "Merci Train 40 & 8 Boxcar". U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  6. "December 20, 2013 – Arizona State Capitol". Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  7. "Merci Train roster". The Story of the 1949 Merci Train. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  8. "Forty & Eight Boxcar". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  9. "Florida". Merci Train. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  10. Herbert, Lou (February 14, 2012). "The Valentine Heard Round the World Stopped in Toledo". Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  11. "Whatever Happened to Ohio's Gratitude Train?". Ohio History Connection Collections Blog. Ohio History. May 11, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  12. Lewis, Richard C. (December 6, 2004). "Historic French Boxcar finds R.I. home". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  13. Wilkinson, Jeff (October 4, 2017). "How a WWI-era boxcar — a gift from France — is moving from Columbia to Bishopville". The State. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  14. Barnes, Michael (September 4, 2016). "Merci Train brought thank-you gifts from France to Austin". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  15. Zoellick, Sarah (April 9, 2017). "Restoration of Merci Train outside American Legion Post 6 complete". Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
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