“MERCI” CAR RESTORATION CELEBRATION AT
THE RAILWAY VILLAGE ON OCTOBER 10TH
The historic “Merci” Car, also known as the 40&8 Car, is a French railroad boxcar built
in France in 1886, and is now part of the collection at the Boothbay Railway Village
museum. The Car, filled with over 1,000 personal gifts from French citizens to the
citizens of Maine, arrived in Maine in 1949 as part of The Gratitude Train, a French
response -- a collective “merci,” or thank you -- for 700 box cars, called the Freedom
Train, filled with relief supplies from the people of the United States. The relief supplies
in the Freedom Train were sent to France in 1947 to help alleviate the devastation caused
by the ravages of the Nazi occupation in World War II.
The Gratitude Train, or “Merci” Train, was also a response of the French people to the
sacrifices made by Americans to protect France in WWI, and to liberate France from the
Nazi occupation in WWII. Most of the gifts contained in the Maine Merci Car are
preserved at the Maine State Museum in Augusta.
2009 marks the 60th Anniversary of the arrival of the Maine Merci Car in Maine. This
historic boxcar was one of a 49 car railroad train, one for each of the then 48 States and
one for the “territories” sent by the French people in February of 1949. It is only one of
39 such cars known to exist today. To mark the 60th Anniversary, the Boothbay Railway
Village, with the help of volunteers and over twenty individual and organizational
donors, is restoring the superstructure of the boxcar to look as it did when it arrived in
1949. The car was festooned with 46 plaques and banners, including the crests of each of
the 40 French provinces that existed in 1949. The Railway Village is also launching a
donor drive to raise additional funds to build a protective pavilion for the Maine Merci
Train and a small endowment for its future preservation and for educational programs. A
list of current donors may be found on the Railroad Village website,
www.railwayvillage.org.
The restoration unveiling and ceremony on Saturday, October 10th at 1 pm, will open
with a presentation of the flags of the United States, France, Maine and the “La Societe
des Quarantes Hommes et Huit Cheveux,” (the 40&8 Society) a philanthropic
organization of American veterans organized after WWI in 1921, by an honor guard of
the Society. The “40&8” designation refers to the fact that the boxcar could carry forty
men (“hommes”) or 8 horses (“cheveux”).
The Honorable, M. Christophe Guilhou, Consul General of France in Boston, will greet
the attendees in French and English.
Mr. Joseph R. Phillips, Director of the Maine State Museum, where the gifts from the
people of France to the people of Maine are preserved, will also speak on the history of
the Maine Merci Car. Photos of some of the gifts will be available for viewing.
Mr. Earl Bennett, of Florida, a catalyst behind the restoration of the Merci/40&8 Cars
throughout the United States, and founder of the website www.mercitrain.org, will also
talk about the history of the Merci and Gratitude Trains.
The ceremony is expected to last forty minutes and will take place during the first day of
the annual Fall Foliage Festival and Fair, considered one of the top Fall Fairs in the
northeast. Gates to the Railway Village on Rte 27 South in Boothbay open at 9:30 am,
and there is a nominal admission charge of $2.00, which supports the work of the
Boothbay Civic Association and the Boothbay Railway Village. Additional contributions
are welcomed.
The Boothbay Railway Village is a non-profit, 401 3(c) cultural and historical
organization, located at 586 Wiscasset Road (Rte 27 South), Boothbay, Maine. To find
out more about this event, or the work of The Railway Village, see their website,
www.railwayvillage.org, or call 207-633-4727.
PHOTO: Maine Provincial Crest
The plaque of the crest of the Province of Maine, France, one of forty provincial crests,
which will adorn the historic, restored Maine Merci/Forty&8 Railroad Car being restored
at the Boothbay Railway Village. Mr. Severin Beliveau, Honorable Consul of France for
the State of Maine, sponsored this crest. Details of this and all sponsors of this restoration
effort may be viewed on The Village website, www.railwayvillage.org.