New Jersey's Merci Train boxcar, a long-lost gift from France to New Jersey in 1949, lost since 1958 and thought to be destroyed, is returning tom New Jersey

Lost since 1958, the car was identified in 2024 as New Jersey’s and is set to return for restoration and preservation by the Boonton-based United Railroad Historical Society of NJ after spending decades in a warehouse in Kansas City, Missouri.

the boxcar was used in World War I to transport troops and supplies. Known as a “40 and 8” car, it could carry 40 soldiers or eight horses in cramped conditions. It became a symbol of wartime sacrifice

A part of France’s "Merci (or Gratitude) Train." Each state, along with Washington, D.C., and the Territory of Hawaii, eventually received one. All were filled with gifts from French citizens, the gifts — including fine china, furniture and a wedding gown — were distributed to individuals, schools and cultural organizations across the state. I posted about these in 2022 https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2022/03/in-february-1949-boxcar-from-frances.html

Since 1993, however, it had been hiding in plain sight. That year, a similar boxcar was discovered in a Tennessee field by officials with the National WWI Museum and Memorial, who moved it to their home of Kansas City for preservation and possible restoration as a WWI-era 40 and 8. 

Over the next two years, the organization plans to secure grant funding and attempt to have the car listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. The goal, Phalon said, is to restore the exterior to its 1949 appearance while preserving as much original wood as possible. 

With adequate funding, restoration could be completed by Memorial Day 2027, when the boxcar is expected to debut as a mobile museum highlighting the railroad’s role in both world wars and the Merci Train’s history, he said.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2025/03/28/missing-wwi-boxcar-gifted-to-nj-by-france-in-1949-has-been-found/82672336007/

A list of all the known boxcars, and photos of them currently, is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merci_Train

http://mercitrain.org/Oregon/