Friendship Train

The 1947 U.S.-to-Europe or American Friendship Train collected foodstuffs from American donors for transport to the people of France and Italy. Contemporaneous with the Marshall Plan, it provided desperately needed assistance in the aftermath of World War II, but was primarily a token gesture of goodwill, with stops across the U.S. ending at New York City, where it was received with a ticker tape parade prior to shipment to Europe.

Conception

The idea of the train was proposed by Washington journalist Drew Pearson in his daily column "The Merry-Go-Round", and the cause was taken up by other newspapers around the U.S.cite web|url=http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/events/friendship_train.htm|title=French Friendship Train of 1947]

Stops

The train began from Los Angeles on November 7, 1947, and proceeded through Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, Stockton, Oakland, Sacramento (California), Reno (Nevada), Ogden (Utah), Green River, Rawlins, Laramie, Cheyenne (Wyoming), Sidney, North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island, Fremont, Omaha (Nebraska), Council Bluffs Boone, Ames, Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Clinton, Sterling, and Chicago (Illinois). From Chicago the main route passed through Fort Wayne (Indiana), Mansfield (Ohio), Pittsburgh, Altoona, Lancaster, and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and Trenton (New Jersey) before reaching New York City in 11 days. A northern branch assembled cars of aid as it passed through South Bend and Elkhart (Indiana), Toledo, Cleveland, and Ashtabula (Ohio), Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany (New York) before joining the train at New York City.

The United States Lines' American Leader was rechristened the Friend Ship prior to carrying the first shipload of the train's cargo to Havre, France. [cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/12/19/edold.t_47.php|title=1947: American Gifts : IN OUR PAGES:100, 75 AND 50 YEARS AGO]

Cargo

Originally hoped to collect 80 train car loads of food, the train ultimately collected over 700 cars ($40 million value) of food, clothing, and fuel, paid in part by monetary donations. Many of the donations were made by individuals, such as individual cans of evaporated milk collected from junior high students. Described at the time as a "token gift", the aid was symbolic of the Marshall Plan effort.cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2681|title=Merci Train] cite web|url=http://www.wwiifederation.org/igmr_history.html|title=History of Fort Indiantown Gap] The train was described at the time not only as effective propaganda for the ideological conflict with the Soviet Union, and its proposal as a characteristically Quaker act by Drew Pearson. Roscoe Drummond of the Christian Science Monitor called it "One of the greatest projects ever born of American journalism".cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799488-7,00.html|title=Querulous Quaker|date=1948-12-13]

Cultural references

The Friendship Train was reciprocated by the Merci Train, a group of 49 French train cars (Forty-and-eights) loaded with gifts for the U.S. which arrived in New York Harbor on February 2, 1949. Many of the gifts remain on display at local museums throughout the U.S.

The phrase has been used more recently for other purposes, such as the 1967 "Friendship Train" from the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation to the Soviet Union, the 1969 song "Friendship Train" written by Norman Whitfield and performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips, and the "Friendship Train" on which Sergei Abramov led a Chechen delegation to Russia in 2004.

References

Bibliography

"The Friendship Train" (1948), a 14-minute black and white short film recently presented on [http://www.tcm.com/schedule/month/ Turner Classic Movies] , presents a detailed and moving account of the progress of the train through cities across the U.S.

See also

"Hearts and minds"