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In 1895 a different kind of railroad car rolled into Texas, bringing the "good news" of the evangelical Gospel to transient railroad workers and far-flung communities alike. A ministry to railroad men and their families lay at the heart of chapel car work, which over a period of fifty years saw thirteen rail chapel cars minister to thousands of towns, mainly west of the Mississippi. Author Wilma Rugh Taylor's portrayal of this ministry for the one car, Good Will, which served Texas, provides a view of life in towns such as Denison, Texline, Marshall, San Antonio, Laredo, Abilene, and Dalhart. The railroads that carried the Texas chapel car included the Texas & Pacific; the Missouri, Kansas & Topeka; the Southern Pacific; the International & Great Northern; and the Mexican International. Taylor writes about the travels of Good Will with fondness and an eye for detail. She describes the car itself (its living area was just nine by eighteen feet with a decorative rococo stencil on the ceiling), the missionary couples who traveled in it, and the services they held. She considers the philanthropists who supported the mobile chapel and the guilt and other motives that moved them. She looks at the issues the chapel car faced as it rolled into town: temperance, turbulent religious rivalries, racism and immigration, the role of Masons and other lodges in rural society, and even the devastating Great Storm of 1900 in Galveston. A novel window into Texas and railroad history, this book tells a warmly human story set on a larger stage of charitable works, evangelical fervor, and social change.
About the author
WILMA RUGH TAYLOR, an author, historian, and former journalism teacher, is an active member of the American Baptist Historical Society and National Railroad Historical Association. With her husband, she is the co-author of a previous book on chapel cars, This Train Is Bound for Glory: The Story of America's Chapel Cars. Their research encouraged the restoration of chapel car Grace, which is currently in progress at the Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Summary
A novel window into Texas and railroad history, this book tells two stories set on a larger stage of charitable works, evangelical fervor, and social change. The author's portrayal of the ministry for the one car, Good Will, which served Texas, provides a view of life in towns.
