Railroad chapel car

As Americans made their way across the country to the West aided by the railroads, many Christian religious denominations saw this as an opportunity to expand their mission services to those living in these areas. The Baptist, Episcopal and Roman Catholic faiths used specially fitted railroad cars called chapel cars, to provide religious services and information via these special cars from the 1890s to the 1930s. The cars were designed to provide both a place for religious services and as living quarters for the missionary pastors. The fronts of the cars were fitted out as churches on wheels with altars, pews, and in some cases, stained glass windows.

The concept

William David Walker was appointed Episcopal Bishop of North Dakota in 1883 and was faced with overseeing an enormous territory with few settlers and the fact that Western towns often were born or died as a result of the fortunes of those living in them.. A discovery of gold could mean that a town would spring up almost overnight as others sought to become part of the newly found riches; merchants established businesses to cater to those connected with the mining. Conversely, the news that the ore vein was spent meant people would move on to the next opportunity, merchants needed to close their doors due to lack of business, and the town was in danger of becoming deserted. With this type of volatile situation, if money could be donated to establish a church in a town, there was no guarantee there would continue to be enough people and donations to sustain it.

After an 1899 tour of Siberia and visiting the chapel cars of the Trans-Siberian Railway, Walker had the idea of building a railroad chapel car that could travel through his diocese which would conduct services and other business of the church. He thought that while most non-mobile churches would not survive if built, a traveling church car would be able to accomplish the same tasks and be sustainable. Walker took his idea to those in the East with a plea for contributions to build this type of railroad car. The Episcopal Church was inspired by Walker's concept and held many fund-raising events for the chapel car throughout their Eastern dioceses. He also received a large donation for this purpose from Cornelius Vanderbilt, himself the president of the New York Central Railroad. When Walker had raised $3,000, he was ready to build his chapel car and ordered it from Chicago's Pullman Company, naming it The Church of the Advent-The Cathedral Car of North Dakota.

Episcopal chapel cars

The Church of the Advent-The Cathedral Car of North Dakota

The car, measuring 60 feet in length, had two sections, one for worship services, complete with an organ, and the other for living quarters and an office for Walker. It was ready for transport to Fargo, North Dakota on November 13, 1890, and Walker hosted a number of Chicagoans who toured the car before it made its way to North Dakota. Walker was able to travel his diocese by the local railroads' willingness to pull the chapel car without charge. He would notify locales in advance of his arrival, and the car would be pulled to a siding near the local railroad station, where he would then conduct services.

When the car was retired from service in 1899, Walker and his successor, Bishop Edsell, had traveled 70,000 miles throughout North Dakota with it. The car was permanently based in Carrington, North Dakota before being sold in 1901; St. Mary's Church in Guelph, North Dakota received the baptismal font and lectern from the chapel car.

Diocese of Northern Michigan Chapel Cars

Bishop Mott Williams, head of the diocese of Northern Michigan, faced the same problems as Bishop Walker regarding reaching communicants who were often far from a church. He did not have the same financial opportunities, so his choice was to purchase two retired rail coaches and have them converted into chapel cars, which served this diocese from 1891 to 1898. When a fire destroyed most of the town of Ontonagon, Michigan in 1898, the town's churches were also lost. The Chapel Car of Northern Michigan provided a temporary home for services to all faiths whose churches had been destroyed.

Baptist chapel cars

By 1891, the first of the American Baptist Publication Society chapel cars made its debut. Based on the research regarding children's attendance of Sunday schools and increasing church membership by Boston W. Smith, businessmen Charles L. Colby and Colgate Hoyt donated the funds to build and outfit the Society's first chapel car, Evangel, built by Barney & Smith. Hoyt, whose brother, Wayland, was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis, was also a vice-president and board member of many American railroads. While on a cross-country railroad trip, a discussion between the two brothers became the beginning of the Baptist chapel car project. Hoyt also organized other wealthy businessmen into what was known as the "Baptist Chapel Car Syndicate"; one of these members was John D. Rockefeller.

The Baptist chapel car fleet grew to a total of seven cars, all built by Barney & Smith during the years 1890 to 1913. Thomas Edison, though not a member of the church, donated phonographs for all the chapel cars.

Evangel

The Evangel was similar to the Episcopal The Church of the Advent-The Cathedral Car of North Dakota in size and in layout, with half of the car used as a chapel and the other half for living quarters. The car was dedicated May 23, 1891 at Cincinnati's Grand Central Depot and it made its way to St. Paul, Minnesota, where local church members provided linens, rugs, silver and dishes. The Baptist young peoples' societies raised the money to have the car's windows screened, which sent it back to the shop for a time while they were fitted. The Estey company donated an organ.

Boston Smith, who was initially aboard Evangel, had been provided with a letter from William Mellen, the general manager of the Northern Pacific Railway, which granted him and the chapel car free passage throughout the railroad's system. However, just as Smith was to set out on his first trip, railroad officials inquired whether the chapel car had been fitted with special wheels designed to prevent accidents. The railway's rules were that all special cars be fitted with them instead of the ordinary iron wheels used by other railroad cars. The Evangel was equipped with plain iron wheels but was allowed to travel as far as Livingston, Montana before the wheels had to be changed.

At Portland, Oregon in December 1891, Smith turned the car over to its first missionaries, the Wheelers. By 1892, the chapel car was called upon to serve the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1894, Evangel was brought to serve the Southern United States. From 1901 until 1924, the chapel car traveled the rails of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska before being retired to Rawlins, Wyoming, where the old car was incorporated into the design of the local Baptist church by 1930.

Emmanuel

The car was being built during the financial panic of 1893. While Barney & Smith were able to build the Evangel at cost, they were now a public corporation and were struggling to stay solvent. The price quoted for the car did not include any of the interior necessities. Many items that went into the building of the Emmanuel were donations from corporations: brakes from Westinghouse Air Brake Company, various springs and wheels, along with flatware, blankets and a range for cooking. Still others were donated by the various Baptist organizations; the car's furnishings were a gift from the women of the First Baptist Churches of Oakland and San Francisco. The car, which was ten feet longer than the Evangel, was dedicated in Denver, Colorado on May 24, 1893.

The Wheelers, who were the first missionaries aboard the Evangel were also the first to travel with Emmanuel. In 1895, the chapel car was sent into the shop for repainting and repairs, making it necessary for the Wheelers to vacate it while the work was done. While making their way home to Minnesota, the train they were aboard was involved in a wreck and Mr. Wheeler was killed. As a memorial to him, a stained glass window was created and mounted in the door leading to the living quarters section of the car.

The car traveled in the Western and Northwestern states and territories until 1938, where it sat on a spur in South Fork, Colorado. In 1942, a decision was reached to move the aging chapel car to a Baptist camp at Swan Lake, South Dakota, where it sat for thirteen years before being sold for scrap. The old car was then used for storage by an engineering company. While there, a carpenter for the Prairie Village park saw the car and realized its potential to be restored. The Emmanuel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and was fully restored by 1982. Its permanent home is at Prairie Village.