Happy Veteran's Day on November 11th!
This box car is one of 49 original cars of the 1949 "Merci Train."
After helping out France during WW2, US citizens gathered food and relief supplies for the hungry post-war French. It was gathered on train cars and shipped over in 1948.
In 1949, grateful French citizens sent back these box cars in the Merci ("Thank you" or "Gratitude") Train. There was one for each of the lower 48 states, plus one for Hawaii and D.C. to share. French citizens put in whatever they could think of to show their gratitude: their own military medals, dolls, wedding dresses, and all sorts of things.
Different states kept the boxcars in different states of fitness. Some have disappeared completely. Many states kept the gifts, however, often at state capitol buildings.
This car is Arizona's, located at the McCormack Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale, suburban Phoenix. A few of the gifts are at a building at this park. Other artifacts are at the state capitol.
Some years, this area has hosted Scottsdale's Veterans' Day events.
This interesting park has old train cars, old depot buildings from across the state, and a model train building with many sizes of models. There is also the rare "C" scale train, the largest size considered a model; at this size, the model is rideable!
Have a wonderful Veteran's Day.
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| O Scale Merci Car, McCormack Stillman |
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