40 & 8 Boxcar

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This 40 & 8 Boxcar is one of forty-nine cars that comprised the merci or gratitude train, a gift to the American people from the citizens of France. Pennsylvania received it at a ceremony in Harrisburg on February 6, 1949. All forty-eight states received a boxcar filled with gifts, ranging from humble offerings to priceless art and antiques. The District of Columbia and the Territory of Hawaii shared the forty-ninth car. Gifts of sacrifice from individuals conveyed each donor's depth of gratitude to America for liberating France in two world wars and for sending the friendship train, a $40 million food relief effort carried out by American volunteers in 1947, which saved many French citizens from starvation. The 40 & 8 boxcars, so named because of their capacity to hold either 40 men or 8 horses, transported soldiers and horses to and from French battlefields during WW I. Many WW II soldiers rode the boxcars as well. The merci train boxcars now stand as a tribute to sacrifices and bravery of American veterans who served in France in two world wars and as a symbol of friendship and gratitude between the people of the United States of America and the citizens of France.

www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=12546