This Merci Boxcar is located in Hays, KS at the Veterans Memorial park.

France sent 49 boxcars to the United States as a thank you for the food and and other supplies that the US sent to France and Italy in 1947.  The boxcars arrived February 3, 1949 in New Jersey, filled with  thousands of gifts of gratitude that included a variety of toys, clothes, furniture, statues and ornamental items.

The boxcars were referred to as forty-and-eight.  They hauled 40 men or eight horses to and from the front lines during WW 1.

The 49 boxcars were distributed among the 48 American states.  The remaining boxcar was shared between Washington DC and Hawaii

Here is a link about the boxcars and you can look up the one for your State Merci America