As the Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress approaches, some (aka me) will be inspired to look into the history of Eucharistic Congresses, especially those held in the United States, and especially the 1926 Congress in Chicago. If you want a brief introduction, this is a good one.
So, I was reading this article from the U.S. Catholic Historian – available at JSTOR (and remember al you have to do is register at the site and you can read it) – “Appealing to the “Movie Mind”: The 1926 International Eucharistic Congress and the Rise of Epic Film in America.”
It’s an exercise in correlating social and cultural phenomenon – the rise of the epic film with the way that the Eucharistic Congress was planned, reported and received. Nothing groundbreaking, but interesting.
Anyway, in the article, the author mentions “The Cardinals’ Train.” From another website:
Chicago Archbishop George William Mundelein was about to put his town, and the United States, on the map — at least with the Roman Catholic Church. It was a tremendous coup for the Chicago Archdiocese to be chosen to host the event, and over one million people attended from June 20-24, 1926.
These were the days before the Pope traveled internationally, and Papal Legate Cardinal Bonzano, the Pope’s personal representative, was to travel from Italy to Chicago to address the faithful.
Enter the Cardinal’s Train. To transport a trainload of clergy from Manhattan to the Chicago site, the New York Central Railroad and the Pullman Company teamed up to operate a special train along most of the route of New York Central’s 20th Century Limited from New York’s Grand Central Terminal to Chicago’s Park Row Station (a special detour onto the Illinois Central Railroad).
Seven Pullman cars were repainted in cardinal red and gold for the special train — pulled by a New York Central steam locomotive — that carried Cardinal Bonzano, Cardinal Hayes of New York, and seven visiting foreign cardinals (and their substantial entourages) to Chicago in almost exactly 24 hours, leaving New York City at 10 AM on Wednesday June 16, 1926.
The special train left New York’s Grand Central Terminal in New York City at 10 AM and basically followed the route of the New York Central Railroad’s 20th Century Limited. The train was pulled by an electric locomotive to Harmon, NY where the change was made to a Pacific-type steam locomotive.
Sixty-six people were aboard, among them engineer John A. Hoyt, fireman W.P. Kelly and two Chicago Policemen — Hugh McCarthy and John Leddy. The Pullman conductor was James A. McNamara.
Luminaries on the train included Papal Legate Cardinal Bonzano from the Vatican, George William Mundelein the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Patrick O’Donnell of Ireland, Cardinal Patrick Hayes of New York, Allessius Charost the Archbishop of Rennes, France, Henry Reig Y Casanova of Toledo, Spain, Louis Ernest DuBois the Archbishop of Paris, Michael Von Faulhaber the Archbishop of Munich, Gustave Frederick Piffl the Archbishop of Vienna and John Czernoch the Archbishop of Hungary.
The train stopped in Utica for 10 minutes where 10,000 people showed up. Then Syracuse where 25,000 people greeted the train. At Rochester (from 7:50 to 8:15PM) 30,000 people were reported. Arriving in Buffalo at 10:42 PM, 5,000 people were on hand. A change of locomotives was made (to another Pacific-type steam locomotive) and the train continued on.
Each car had a name, either after figures – Father Marquette, Pope Pius IX – or a place – St. Mary of the Lake (the location of the recently opened seminary, now called Mundelein, and a site of some Congress events)
A quick search failed to turn up any good photos of the train, but Lionel has released a model version – which can be yours for a little over 2k!
With its bright red and gold paint gleaming, this train is sure to attract attention and comments. The complete seven car consist is available including a four car set, add on cars and StationSounds diner. The locomotive features LEGACY and Bluetooth control along with all of the other great features found in the Pacifics shown on pp. The set will have a gloss finish to replicate the high polish of its one day in the sun.
What would be the equivalent today? Suggestions welcome. Be nice.
From a previous post on some EC ’26 trivia:
I came across these recordings of a 30,000 voice children’s choir singing the Kyrie and Sanctus from the Mass of the Angels at the 1926 Eucharistic Congress in Chicago.
Indeed, the EC of 1926 was some kind of Whoop-De-Doo. In the mid-1960s, while a student in my Catholic grade school, I perused a commemorative book about the event stuffed into a shelf in my classroom (and still lying around forty years later). As I recall, the large hardcover book was published shortly before or after the congress and was lavishly illustrated with photographs. It would be fun to look at again. Now I have to look on Ebay!