The 40 and 8 Boxcar was one of forty-nine cars in the merci, or gratitude, train, a gift from the citizens of France to the American people. Pennsylvania received its car at a ceremony in Harrisburg on February 6, 1949. Each of the forty-eight states received a boxcar filled with gifts ranging from humble offerings to priceless art and antiques, while the District of Columbia and the Territory of Hawaii shared the forty-ninth car. These gifts expressed gratitude for America’s liberation of France in two world wars and for the Friendship Train, a $40 million food relief effort carried out by American volunteers in 1947 that saved many French citizens from starvation. The 40 and 8 boxcars took their name from their capacity to carry either 40 men or 8 horses, and they had transported soldiers and horses to and from French battlefields during World War I, with many World War II soldiers riding them as well. The merci train boxcars came to symbolize the sacrifices and bravery of American veterans who served in France and the friendship and gratitude between the people of the United States and France.