Hi Guys,
Just found this on ebay. Is this one of the 48 sent to the US by France as a gift after WW1?

Dave

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Wood-Railro ... 53e9b35c0a

Not with US patent dates found on the hardware as listed in the eBay text of the listing itself.
Looks awfully small for a std gauge 40/8 car to me...

Looks like a USATC narrow gauge "knockdown" boxcar. These were built to be easily transported overseas during WWII. There were also standard gauge versions of these cars.

While the car has the "look" of the famous Merci Train cars, it is a tad too small and is mising other details.

Most of the 40 and 8 cars sent over here by France after WWII have been accounted for, with only a couple (if I remember correctly) missing, lost and/or destroyed.

I think this car has been discussed here before - but I am searched-impaired at the moment.

Wesley

I thought we discussed it before too... same pix on the e-bay listing... but can't find it either.

The French didn't seem to have much use for diagonal bracing on their cars, unlike the body on e-bay. See photos here:

http://www.mercitrain.org/

This has been on here several times before, the owners clearly think its worth something.

Mike Pannell

WWI French boxcar on ebay from March 2011