andrechapelon Sir Madog The term "40 and 8" is a new one to me. In Germany, they were referred to as "covererd freight wagon", for which the letter "G" was used. In railroader slang, they were called G10´s or G20´s, G for "Gedeckter (covered) Güterwagen" and the 10 resp. 20 indicating the first year of manufacture. They were called 40 and 8 because they would hold 40 men or 8 horses. Andre
Sir Madog The term "40 and 8" is a new one to me. In Germany, they were referred to as "covererd freight wagon", for which the letter "G" was used. In railroader slang, they were called G10´s or G20´s, G for "Gedeckter (covered) Güterwagen" and the 10 resp. 20 indicating the first year of manufacture.
The term "40 and 8" is a new one to me. In Germany, they were referred to as "covererd freight wagon", for which the letter "G" was used. In railroader slang, they were called G10´s or G20´s, G for "Gedeckter (covered) Güterwagen" and the 10 resp. 20 indicating the first year of manufacture.
... maybe in the US or the UK, but not here.
George:
Thanks for sharing that very interesting bit of WWII history. I had never heard of the gift trains before.
Cheers!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Here's what looks to be a French version:
Ed
After WWII the French people sent 49 40 and 8 boxcars to the US with "gifts of gratitude" for the relief goods sent from the US to France. There was one car for each of the 48 states with the 49th shared by the District of Columbia and Hawaii Territory. There is a website that gives the history of the Merci cars with links each state with information about that state's car. Unfortunately, most of the cars have fallen into disrepair and many were scrapped. The Maine Merci car is on display at Boothbay Railway Village, and was restored in 2009 to mark the 50th anniversary. The artifacts from that car are in the Maine State Museum in Augusta; some are shown in the second link, below.
http://www.mercitrain.org/
http://mercitrain.org/Maine/
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Woo Hoo!
Thanks MD!
Harvey
During WW II, Deutsche Reichsbahn used just about any type of "covered freight car" to move men and material they could get hold of in the occupied countries, in addition to own stock.
Typical box cars would be either this one:
or this one
or this one:
Note that the lettering does not show the period emblem.
They are not available as kits.
They are made by Piko and available through reynaulds.com in the US.
I don't know about kits, which have gone out of fashion, but there are plenty on Ebay if you search European Boxcar...Roco, Fleischman, Marklin.
If you are ever in DC be sure to see the Holocaust Museum.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
The "Forty and Eight" boxcar (so named because it could hold 40 men or 8 horses) was used extensively in both WWI and WWII and was the standard boxcar during that period. It was used for hauling everything from war materials to POWs. However, regardless that this was the most common boxcar in early to mid 1900's, I can't seem to find any in a kit. I would at least expect an European manufacturer to make one.
I've had this dream of recreating the train seen in the 1965 Von Ryan's Experss movie since I first saw it over 50 years ago and would sure like to find a dozen or so of the boxcar kits in HO (preferably in easy-to-build plastic).