40 & 8 Boxcar
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.
Marker is at the intersection of Fisher Avenue and Clement Aveune, on the right when traveling east on Fisher Avenue.
Courtesy hmdb.org
