The Freight-cars of Friendship & Boxcars of Love

by Emma M. Sedore, Tioga County Historian Copyright ©2025 All rights reserved by the author

This incredible piece of history needs to be told and never forgotten. After the German Nazis defeated the French military forces, they occupied Paris from 1940-1944. The people were traumatized from violent physical treatment, most of their food supplies were used to feed the occupied German army, and anything of value was either stolen or ruined beyond repair. Finally, in August 1944, Paris was liberated. Spirits were lifted and hopes were high! But not for long.

Three years went by, and in 1947, conditions were appalling. The roads were in terrible shape from being bombed. Because the Nazis took all the machinery from their factories to send them back to Germany, there was no way the French could get businesses restarted quickly enough to ease the situation. Their most immediate concern was food. The people were still starving, but they did their best with help from other foreign countries, especially from America. Our temporary relief agencies were shipping tons of food to them, but the Russian Communists would print their own country’s name on the sacks of wheat and other items, then tell people that the Americans were doing nothing to help them. All the while, Stalin was relentless in trying to divide Europe by spreading Communism, and the U.S government feared that they could take over France.

In addition, the Black Market was rampant. And shameful to say, it included our GIs. The May 1945 Yank Magazine’s cover story, The Lowdown of GI Racketeers in Paris, compared them to the “Chicago-style gangs and Al Capone.” It was led by former American Soldiers who were either dishonorably discharged or deserters who stole truckloads of American supplies and sold them at prices that the French could barely afford, if at all. The U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigative Branch (CBI) was kept busy, handling thousands of cases, most involving theft. Some were even court-martialed.

It was a grave situation, and America knew it. In June 1947, under the leadership of the newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. George C. Marshall, a landmark aid plan was in the works, called the Marshall Plan. It would provide foreign countries with much-needed medicine, food, money, and other necessities, but it took far too long for Congress to pass a bill to enact it.

Newspapers kept reporting how deplorable conditions were in Europe. They informed the public that children were suffering from malnutrition and their parents were picking through garbage cans to feed them. American citizens were increasingly concerned and began to write to their elected officials and the newspapers, pleading for someone, or some way, to get help to them as soon as possible. And one of the letters hit its target!

It was sent to Drew Pearson, famous radio broadcaster and newspaper journalist. His column, Washington Merry-go-Round, was published in 600 newspapers and aired on his daily NBC radio program, Drew Pearson’s Comments.

Once he learned of the critical situation, he devised a brilliant idea to use a train to travel across the country, pulling freight cars for citizens to fill with food and supplies for the impoverished in France and Italy. On October 11, 1947, he began to ask his audiences to donate whatever they could from their homes and gardens. However, one big thing he did was to let his audience know that the project would not be from the US government but straight from the hearts of the American people. The train would be dubbed the “Friendship Train.”

He had a lot of influential friends, and the first one he contacted was Harry Warner, the Chief Executive of Warner Bros. Studio, in California. Warner volunteered to be chairman of the Friendship Train committee and started things with flair, including filming many Friendship Train activities. A massive send-off was held in Los Angeles, and there was a huge parade, with bands, dozens of movie stars, and politicians eagerly joining in along with thousands of everyday citizens. On November 7ththe first eleven railroad cars full of food, clothing, and other desperately needed items started on their cross-country trip across America, heading for New York State, where they would be unloaded on a ship to France.

Pearson also helped organize a committee of farmers, labor unions, businessmen, service clubs, and railroad officials. Little did he know that it would turn out to be one of the most humanitarian events that ever took place in our country.

 His radio and newspaper audiences numbered in the millions, and the average American responded with unexpected enthusiasm and great benevolence! They gave all they could, and what they didn’t have to provide, they sponsored fundraising events all over the country for the Friendship Fund.

As it headed east, it picked up many more loaded freight cars. Radio stations made daily announcements about where and when the train would arrive or pass through. It gave people a “heads-up” so they could have their donations ready to connect with the Friendship Train, and waited in long lines for hours so they wouldn’t miss it. School children of all ages brought small donations such as a can of milk, a bag of beans, a Raggedy Anne doll, a box of Animal Crackers, or any other thing they could afford, if that was all they had, and they were proud and happy to do it. They would bring it to the railroad station and watch the adults pack them into cartons to load onto the train. The hundreds of towns, villages, and cities that weren’t on the Friendship’s line would telegraph ahead to have their freight cars or trucks ready to meet at a junction so they wouldn’t miss the connection.

It traveled through eleven states, but instead of one train, it had seven different sections and five railroads. Every state in the union, including the territory of Hawaii and Washington, DC, donated to the Friendship Train, and all who volunteered did it for free with no government assistance!

The train started with eleven cars in California; eleven days later, it reached New York City on November 18, 1947. By then, the number of vehicles had increased to 700. The estimated value was $40 million, in part with monetary donations.

 A crowd of 25,000 noisily welcomed it to New York City with a ticker-tape parade. The first group of cars was unloaded onto the U.S. ship S.S. American Leader, which was rechristened the S.S. Friendship just for that occasion. The Friendship was the first of four boats to leave for France and Italy, but before leaving, two railway barges loaded with food took victory laps around the Statue of Liberty. It was a small gesture to acknowledge Frances’ gift to America.

For months, donations continued to pour into New York, where other ships delivered them to 14 European nations, including some of our former enemies.

The Friendship Train docked in Le Havre, France, on December 17th. It was immediately unloaded onto ten different trains and trucks, with the first fifty trucks going straight to Paris, where they drove through its famous streets.

Even though it was a cold winter day, thousands of shivering, but happy school children, waved American and French flags while a band played both national anthems. They cheered and smiled with unabashed gratitude as the trucks made their way, filled with the desperately needed food. It would be the first time many children tasted treats such as lollipops, bubble gum, and other penny candies sent to them by American boys and girls.

A reception was held at the Paris city hall, and officials from America and France gave speeches, including President Charles de Gaulle’s brother, Philippe de Gaulle, Drew Pearson, and his wife, Luvie Pearson, who were especially welcomed. By the end of the day, the atmosphere was filled with warm camaraderie, and “Thank you” was heard repeatedly, but none more sincerely than when the French people said, “Merci.” It was an exciting, joyful day that they would remember for a long time, and they did. Two years later, they found a unique way to do more than say, “Merci.”

THE MERCI/GRATITUDE TRAIN 1949

People's gratitude for the Friendship Train couldn’t have been more genuine, especially from a French war veteran and railway worker named Andre Picard. Like Drew Pearson, he started a movement for a way to thank the Americans for their role in the Liberation of Paris by sending a train of their own to thank them. The difference would be that instead of tons of food and supplies like the Friendship Train brought, the French train would be filled with thousands of gifts from anyone who wanted to show gratitude, regardless of age or class. Thousands of French and Italian citizens loved the idea and were more than willing to thank America personally.

Picard suggested that since there were 48 states in America in 1949, they would use 48 boxcars, one for each state, plus one extra to be shared between the Territory of Hawaii and Washington, DC. making 49. The boxcars were unique because they were built in the 1870s and used by the French in World War I and World War II. They were known as 40 and 8, denoting their capacity of 40 men or eight horses. Before Paris was liberated, the occupying German forces used the cars for a more reprehensible reason: they carried thousands of civilians to concentration camps.

After France was liberated, they transported allied soldiers and materials to the front through the war’s end in 1945.

Each car was refurbished and decorated with 40 colorful coats of arms representing France's provinces. A ribbon with the colors of the French flag was painted on a diagonal slant, and each car had a plaque denoting which U.S. state it would go to, plus a plaque with a painting of an American Eagle. On the front of the steam engine and each car was a drawing of colorful flowers, symbolic of Flanders Field, where many American Doughboys from World War I are buried. This symbol was also printed on tags that were placed on every one of the gifts.

Although most people didn’t have much to give, they donated important family treasures that would make a personal connection. Gifts from various boxcars ranged from a simple hairnet to dozens of silk wedding dresses; a doll from a little girl who cut off her hair to make a wig for it; a church bell, cast in the city of Annecy, France with a label addressed to the attention of Cardinal Spellman and to be placed in St. Patrick’s Church in New York City; toys made from bullet casings; an ash tray made of a broken mirror; and a sexy set of black lingerie intended “for a beautiful blond;” priceless works of art; forty-nine miniature mannequins dressed in fashions from 1706-1906; cases of wine; military medals; an eleven-foot statue of the Winged-Victory Nike, just like the one in the Louvre; and too many more to mention.

 The French boxcars were loaded with 52 thousand gifts on the ship, S.S. Magellan, with “MERCI AMERICA” painted on its hull. When it was packed, nine thousand gifts had to be left on the docks because there wasn’t enough room for them.

The Magellan arrived in America through the Port of Weehawken, N.J., on February 2, 1949, and then to the Battery of New York on February 3rd. It was greeted by a flotilla of boats and Air Force planes roaring overhead. Before docking, the ship sailed around the Statue of Liberty, which was given to America by the French in 1886 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of its independence and the alliance between the Americans and the French.

Many Americans called it the Merci Train, but even more called it the Gratitude

Train, both meaning “Thank you.” Our New York boxcar was paraded down Broadway with a ticker-tape parade. In contrast, the boxcars for other states were unloaded and transported on flatcars because their wide wheel axles were incompatible with the width of our tracks in America. They were sent off to the rest of the nation, where each state committee had a reception eagerly waiting for them before they were opened and distributed. Some states did not distribute them, but put them in their museums for safekeeping.

The gifts from the New York State car were first sent to Albany by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, who appointed a New York City politician, Grover Whalen, to distribute the rest of the gifts to the counties. Mayor William O’Dwyer noted that most gifts would be distributed to museums and other institutions where they would remain as souvenirs, saying it was “the most heart-warming event in recent international history.”  

Each state got to keep its boxcar. They were initially placed at Veteran posts, municipal parks, railway museums, and at fairgrounds, to name a few. As time passed, many of them were moved to different locations. Some were damaged and sat in disrepair and/or vandalized. However, at least 43 of them still exist. Our New York State boxcar, 40 & 8 #92, is at the corner of Judd & Halsey Roads, Whitesboro, N.Y., in Oneida County.

It is also essential to know that the French were not the only ones to express gratitude for the Friendship Train. As mentioned, Italy received food and supplies in 1947 and documented everything on film. The film was shown in movie theaters across America. To help with their country’s reconstruction after the war, the Italian government sent a gift of four giant bronze equestrian sculptures weighing about 80,000 pounds.

Before being shipped to America, the four groups were on exhibition in Italy and transported aboard the SS Rice Victory from Milan to Norfolk, Virginia. At Norfolk, they were loaded on a U.S. Navy barge and taken up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C. Two sculptures were installed on the northeastern end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, and the other two were placed near the bridge in Potomac Park. The inauguration of the four groups was held on September 26, 1951.

This beautiful, touching piece of history should never be forgotten, because it seems unlikely ever to happen again.

 About the author: Emma Sedore has been the Tioga County Historian since 2001 and is a Registered Historian with the Association of Public Historians of NYS. She was awarded the DAR History Award Medal for her book, Hiawatha Island, Jewel of the Susquehanna, which was placed in the DAR National Library, Washington, DC.

Source:

Much of this history is from a manuscript written by Earl R. Bennett, Sr. (The Merci Train, a Big Thank You from France, 1999) and various state websites, history books, and newspapers.