One of forty-nine cars in the French Gratitude Train, Arizona’s Merci Train boxcar was sent to the United States in 1949 after more than six million French families contributed gifts from their own possessions to thank Americans for help during and after World War Two. Once filled with fifty tons of gifts distributed to each state, Arizona’s car included items such as a Peugeot bicycle, military helmets, a silk wedding gown, about sixty wind-up toy Renault cars, a handmade lace bonnet, a mother-of-pearl fan, and deeply personal notes, including a November 13, 1948 message from Mme. Florine Combe offering a gold-framed portrait of a nun and her friendship to the American people. Arizona’s boxcar was welcomed in February 1949 at the Capitol in a ceremony featuring French officials and Drew Pearson, who had sponsored the Friendship Train to France, and after months of public display the gifts were stored beneath the Carnegie Public Library in downtown Phoenix. The boxcar was later kept at Pioneer Village and then moved on November 7, 1987, to McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park under the guidance of volunteer John Muller, where it was protected by a ramada and restored to 1949 condition through the efforts of Scottsdale resident Zina Kuhn, whose 1985 trip to Paris helped secure replacement coat of arms for the long-neglected car. It stands as a reminder of friendship between France and the United States and of two countries that fought for liberty and the dignity of man.