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.
"[3] 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, Clinton (Iowa), Sterling, and Chicago (Illinois).
From Chicago the main route passed through Fort Wayne (Indiana), Mansfield (Ohio), Pittsburgh, Altoona, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and Trenton (New Jersey) before reaching New York City in 11 days.
The project of the friendship train which started in Los Angeles with a spectacular sendoff by Hollywood producers and celebrities instantly became a joint endeavor of the people of the United States: "The governor of distant Hawaii came to transmit, on behalf of his fellow citizens, 72 tons of sugar.
Finally, on November 18, the main train reached New York, its locomotives towing 240 wagons of food and medicine and being welcomed by a crowd of 25'000 persons.
Prior to carrying the first shipload of the train's cargo to Le Havre, France, the United States Lines' American Leader was rechristened the "Friend Ship".
Nous espérons qu'ils vous aideront jusqu'au jour où vos moissons seront à nouveau abondantes et belles.
[1][7][8] The train was described at the time as effective propaganda for the ideological conflict with the Soviet Union, as well as a characteristically Quaker act by Drew Pearson.