describe the conditions of boxcars and the length of time spent in them

From the text:

Soon there were so many people crowded in, she couldn't move at all. It was worse than the worst subway jam she'd ever been in, shopping with her Aunt Eva in the city.

It was pretty dark inside the car, with only small patches of light where the boards did not quite fit together. And it was airless. And hot.

The stench in the crowded boxcar was overwhelming, a powerful stew of human perspiration and fear and the smell of children being sick