New Jersey The whereabouts of the New Jersey boxcar are unknown. Some sources say it was destroyed by fire. According to Nicholas P. Ciotola, Curator of Cultural History at the NJ State Museum, New Jersey officials accepted the boxcar on February 5, 1949 at the War Memorial building in Trenton, across from the New Jersey State House. The New Jersey State Museum displayed artifacts from the Merci boxcar in a popular public exhibition from February 22 until March 27, 1949. At the exhibition's end, some of the items were accessioned into the State Museum's permanent collection. Additional artifacts from the Merci Train were donated to individuals, schools, and cultural organizations around the state. Image: Newspaper coverage of the boxcar's arrival in NJ. |
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Artifacts still in the New Jersey State Museum's collection include dolls, commemorative medals, artwork from French school children, and a World War I era bugle. Some of the items still retain original Merci Train donation slips indicating the donor (in France) of each individual gift. The New Jersey State Museum in Trenton houses some of the artifacts removed from the Merci Train 40 & 8 boxcar that arrived in the Garden State in 1949. Image: Exhibit of some of the boxcar's contents held at the New Jersey State Museum. |
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Image: Bronze fob from 1951 depicting the boxcar on tires for transport by road.. |
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