Operated by Catholic, Episcopal and Baptist organizations, these chapel cars were hauled by both freight and passenger trains from 1890 to the 1940s. Missionaries and priests started new churches in over 3,000 towns and ministered in rail towns where crime, gambling and prostitution were rampant. They faced opposition and suffered personal hardships. Chapel cars were caught in hurricanes, struck by lightning, set afire and surrounded by floods.

The first chapel car was the Episcopal Cathedral Car of North Dakota built in 1890. Two more Episcopal cars would roam the wilds of Michigan.In 1891, the American Baptist Publication Society built Evangel, the first of seven cars. Cars were promoted by posters, much like circuses of the day. The Catholic Church Extension Society would build three chapel cars.