The McKeen Motor Car Company of
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, was a builder of
internal combustion-engined railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
motor cars (
railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...
s), constructing 152 between 1905 and 1917.
Founded by
William McKeen, the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
's Superintendent of Motive Power and Machinery, the company was essentially an offshoot of the Union Pacific and the first cars were constructed by the UP before McKeen leased shop space in the
UP's Omaha Shops in Omaha, Nebraska. The UP had asked him to develop a way of running small
passenger trains more economically and McKeen produced a design that was ahead of its time. Unfortunately,
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...
technology was not and the McKeen cars never found a truly reliable powerplant.
The vast majority of the cars produced were for
E. H. Harriman
Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive.
Early life
Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergyman ...
's empire of lines (
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
,
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
and others). Harriman's death in 1909 lost the company its major sponsor and investor and Harriman's successors were less enthusiastic about the McKeen cars.
Many McKeen cars ended up being re-engined with a variety of drive mechanisms — gasoline-mechanical, gasoline-electric, diesel-electric or even steam power.
Most, although not all, McKeen cars had the distinctive "wind-splitter" pointed aerodynamic front end and rounded tail. The porthole windows were also a McKeen trademark, adopted allegedly for strength after the 7th production car. A dropped central door, as pictured, was also present on the majority of the cars. Two lengths, 55 and 70 feet, were offered; either could be fitted out with a large mail and express area ahead of the center doors, a smaller mail/express area, or the car could be all seats for a maximum capacity of 64 or 105 respectively.
History
Anatomy of a McKeen car
Carbody
Engine
Originally, McKeen cars used engines from the
Standard Motor Works of
Jersey City, New Jersey, but switched to an engine of their own design from the eighth car produced, ''M8'' on the Union Pacific.
All engines were
straight-6 in configuration, of power ratings between on the first car (''M1'') and a maximum of on the most powerful later cars. The cylinders were vertical and the engine mounted transversely across the car in all McKeen cars and locomotives produced. The majority of McKeen motors were
distillate
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heating ...
fueled.
All engines were equipped to be run in either direction, as is not uncommon with marine engines; there was no reverse gear. To run in reverse, the engine had to be stopped, the camshaft shifted by the
motorman to the reverse cam set and the engine restarted in reverse. A flywheel located on the left side of the lead truck spun in the direction the engine was operating, whether or not the car was in motion. The flywheel aided in the engine momentum and operated the electric generator for lighting.
Starting was by compressed air.
Motor truck
The lead truck of the car was the powered truck; the engine was rigidly mounted atop this truck and moved with it when it turned. Only the front axle was powered (via a chain drive) a design decision which contributed to the car's poor adhesion characteristics. The front wheelset had a 42-inch diameter, while the three other wheelsets were 33-inch diameter.
Interior
McKeen cars were generally wood-panelled on the interior and fitted with transverse bench seats with a central aisle. The rounded rear was fitted with a semi-circular bench seat. Lighting was originally
acetylene.
Problems with McKeen cars
Most of the problems experienced with McKeen cars involved the powerplant and
drivetrain
A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...
. As with many other attempts to bring marine engine technology to the rails, engines that were reliable on the stable platform of a ship when attended to by experienced technicians and operators proved less so when exposed to the vibration, indifferent maintenance and less careful handling they found on the railroad.
Starting the engine was a problem on the early cars; with no independently powered compressor, the compressed-air starting relied on the limited reserves of the car's reservoirs. There were many reports of cars being started by being pushed or towed by locomotives or even horses, after the compressed air ran out. Later cars, with an independent gasoline-driven compressor which could be hand-started, did not suffer from these problems.
The lack of a reverse gear also caused problems. The engine had to be stopped, the camshaft shifted to a set of reverse cams and then started in the opposite direction. This was acceptable shipboard, perhaps, but deeply disliked by railroad operators. Accounts exist of engineers' elaborate schemes for avoiding the necessity to reverse.
The transmission was a common problem; a clutch did not seem to exist which combined the ability to withstand on a regular basis with the ability to give a smooth start. Clutch failures were commonplace. Competitor GE's cars used an electric transmission and that or a hydraulic
torque converter
A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling that transfers rotating power from a prime mover, like an internal combustion engine, to a rotating driven load. In a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the torque converter connects the power ...
have been used on the vast majority of successful internal combustion-engined rail vehicles since.
Many operators found the McKeen car to be lacking in power and traction, the latter unsurprising since only one of four axles was powered.
Unusual McKeen products
The vast majority of McKeen products followed the pattern set out above, but some unusual ones were also rolled out.
Victorian Railways cars
The
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
, the government-run system of the state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
in
Australia, ordered two McKeen cars in 1911, these being delivered in 1912. These were the only
broad-gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
cars, built to the VR gauge of . They were fitted with
buffers and
hook and chain couplers, and were built with the rounded-nose body type, rather than knife-nosed. Since VR stations uniformly had car-level
platforms, the usual dropped entranceway was instead raised into the roof.
Queensland Railways cars
In 1911, the
Queensland Railways
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
of the state of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
,
Australia, ordered five McKeen cars which were delivered in May 1913. These were to the QR gauge of , and were the only
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
McKeen cars. They were issued running numbers 1 through 5.
Like the Victorian Railways cars, the cars were fitted with the more rounded nose and with buffers; however, the typical McKeen dropped center door was retained to permit easy passenger access without a raised platform. The cars, unlike most, had the same size of wheels on both axles of the lead truck and a chain drive linking them, making all 4 wheels driven.
These cars were approximately long and originally seated 75; this was soon reduced to 69 by dividing the car into a non-smoking section (seating 55) and a smoking section (seating 14).
The five cars were based at
Woolloongabba
Woolloongabba is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Woolloongabba had a population of 5,631 people.
Geography
Woolloongabba is located south of the CBD. It contains the Brisbane Cricket Ground ('the Gabba') and t ...
for most of their lives, and handled services to the
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
suburbs of
Corinda and
Sunnybank as well as between
Manly and
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.
The cars proved no more reliable in Queensland than elsewhere; by 1920 car No.1 was out of service and cars Nos. 2 and 5 were modified as Tourist and Day Inspection cars, with luxury accommodations for 32 passengers. They were still expensive to run, at an estimated double the running costs of a steam-hauled train; the Great Depression finished them off, and the five cars were withdrawn between 1929 and 1931 and scrapped at QR's Ipswich shops.
Southern Utah Railroad #100
The
Southern Utah Railroad took possession in 1916 of the most powerful McKeen motor car ever produced, with a six-wheel
leading truck
The leading wheel or leading axle or pilot wheel of a steam locomotive is an unpowered wheel or axle located in front of the driving wheels. The axle or axles of the leading wheels are normally located on a leading truck. Leading wheels are used ...
.
[Keilty (1979) p.54]
Two of the three axles in that truck were powered, connected by
side rod
A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have them. The coupling rods transfer t ...
s; the engine developed . Unlike most McKeen cars, it had a rounded front end instead of the knife-edge prow normally favored; it also featured roof-mounted radiators in addition to those in the normal location behind the
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
.
Despite the extra power, this was only a car with a capacity of 48 passengers. The additional power was needed for the severe grades (max. 4.92%) and curvature of the line between
Price
A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the ...
and
Hiawatha
Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwathaaa or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some account ...
for which it was intended.
The car was apparently not a success and did not last long in service,
being withdrawn from service in June 1917 and dismantled, the engine and power truck being sold.
The carbody was used as a shop employee locker room at Martin until it was dismantled in 1990.
In the mid '90s the dismantled #100 was then purchased by a ranch owner in Utah. There, he cut it in half at the vestibule and used the rail car as two separate storage units. In 2015, the two halves were then traded for two sea containers by Bently enterprises LLC. It was then moved to Minden, Nevada and is undergoing restoration.
Locomotives
The company produced at least one gasoline-engined locomotive. A locomotive was produced in about 1913 and worked around the company shops in Omaha;
A locomotive (probably the same one) was tested in the UP's Aspen Tunnel. A locomotive, numbered 5 but possibly again the same one, was documented in the contemporary trade press, photos of which are below.
It is described as being of
0-4-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement with no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. While the first locom ...
wheel arrangement
In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...
, with the engine mounted across the car as normal and driving the rearmost driving axle in the normal McKeen fashion. Siderods transferred the drive to the other pair of driven wheels. The arrangement was largely identical to the three-axle lead truck on the unique
Southern Utah Railway McKeen car.
Zeitler
documents this locomotive as having a
tractive effort
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion.
In railway engineering, the term t ...
of . The frame was cast steel, and the superstructure constructed of steel, with sufficient solidity to add structural strength; the horizontal cast steel engine bed was also described as a structural member. The
straight-6 engine had an
bore and
stroke, for a total
displacement
Displacement may refer to:
Physical sciences
Mathematics and Physics
* Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
of ; it developed .
Image:McKeen Gasoline Switching Locomotive.jpg, Locomotive, lettered for "McKeen Locomotive" and numbered "5".
Image:McKeen Gasoline Locomotive Drawing.jpg, General arrangement drawing
Schopp documents that a locomotive was sold to the
Motley County Railroad in 1915, and speculates that this may also have been the same single locomotive.
In the same article, he recounts a locomotive reported as being stored at the Omaha shops in 1917 that may have been the same locomotive once more.
Another McKeen locomotive was created by the
Charles City Western Railway of
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
by building a wooden
boxcab superstructure atop a McKeen power truck.
Surviving McKeen products
The
Nevada State Railroad Museum has restored a full McKeen car,
Virginia and Truckee Railway Motor Car 22
Virginia and Truckee Railway Motor Car 22, also called McKeen Motor Car 70, is a gasoline-powered railcar at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City in the U.S. state of Nevada. It was built for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in 1910 ...
, a 1910-built 70 foot car.
This was one of the last McKeen cars to be still running with its original motor. It made its last run in September 1945 and its body was sold in 1946 for service as a roadside
diner, later to be used for a plumbing supply store in
Carson City, Nevada. Donated to the Museum in 1996, its first run was on May 9, 2010, the car's hundredth anniversary of construction.
The original powerplant did not survive and no other McKeen engines could be located. Consequently, a modern diesel engine was fitted to allow the car to operate up to the original maximum speed. The fully restored McKeen motorcar was put back into operation on May 9, 2010, right on schedule for its 100th anniversary of its construction. The motorcar is now being used at the Nevada State Railroad Museum In Carson City Nevada for special occasions such as Independence Day and Nevada Day
The NSRM also owns the remains of a second McKeen car which was converted into a diesel-electric switching locomotive.
Another McKeen body, construction number 83/103, survives in
Romona, California. It originally belonged to the
San Diego Cuyamaca & Eastern Railroad then was later sold to the
Yuma Valley Railroad before arriving in Alaska around 1921, being re-engined and round-nosed in 1924, converted to an unpowered trailer in 1935 and finally retired in the late 1940s after serving in the 714th Railway Battalion during WWII.
The car, originally named the "Cuyamaca", is now undergoing restoration by Madison Kirkman of the McKeen Motor Car Company Historical Society.
Two unpowered McKeen trailers survive; one is a storage shed in
St. Helena, California
St. Helena ( ; Wappo language, Wappo: ''Anakotanoma'') is a city in Napa County, California, Napa County, in the Wine Country of California. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the ...
.
while the other is at the
Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago.
Overview
Hist ...
.
Owning railroads
U.S. customers
*
Ann Arbor Railroad – 5 cars
*
Arizona Eastern Railroad – 2 cars;
[Keilty (1979) pp.55–57] to Southern Pacific
*
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
– 4 cars
*
Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad
Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad was built in the northwestern part of Washington, between the town of Whatcom, now Bellingham, then to the town of Sumas, to connect with the Canadian Pacific Railway for a continental connection.
H ...
– 1 car;
to Bellingham Northern; to
Milwaukee Road
*
Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad
The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad is a class II railroad that operates in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.
The railroad's main route runs from the Lake Erie port of Conneaut, Ohio, to the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, Pen ...
– 1 car
*
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway
The Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway was one of the more than ten thousand railroad companies founded in North America. It lasted much longer than most, serving communities from the shore of Lake Ontario to the center of western Penns ...
– 1 car
*
Central New York Southern Railroad – 2 cars
*
Charles City Western Railway – 1 car
*
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
– 1 car
*
Chicago Great Western Railway
The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesot ...
– 4 cars
*
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At the end ...
– 5 cars
*
Denver, Laramie & Northwestern Railroad – 2 cars, Greeley & Denver to Great Western RR
*
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...
– 3 cars
*
Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway
The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway (B.B.B.C. or B.B.B. & C.), also called the Harrisburg Road or Harrisburg Railroad, was the first operating railroad in Texas. It completed its first segment of track between Harrisburg, Texas (now a ...
– 2 cars;
to Texas and New Orleans Railroad
*
Hocking-Sunday Creek Traction Company – 1 car
*
Houston and Texas Central Railroad
The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC), was an 872-mile (1403-km) railway system chartered in Texas in 1848, with construction beginning in 1856. The line eventually stretched from Houston northward to Dallas and Denison, Texas. with branch ...
– 1 car
*
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...
– 1 car
*
Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad
Incorporated on April 17, 1886, at Marblehead, Ohio, the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad (L&M) was a short standard gauge railroad that spanned about seven miles (11.3 km) in length. It extended from Marblehead through Lakeside to a connec ...
– 1 x 55-ft car, #5, built 1916)
*
Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad
The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad , familiarly known as the "Ma and Pa", was an American short-line railroad between York and Hanover, Pennsylvania, formerly operating passenger and freight trains on its original line between York and Balt ...
1 car as a trial, returned to manufacturer
*
Maricopa and Phoenix Railroad – 2 cars;
to Arizona Eastern; to Southern Pacific
*
Morgan's Lake Railroad – 2 cars; to Texas and New Orleans Railroad
*
Minneapolis, Anoka and Cuyuna Range Railroad
The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific ...
– 2 cars;
to Union Pacific
*
Minneapolis & Northern Railway – 2 cars to Minneapolis, Anoka and Cuyuna Range Railroad to Union Pacific
*
Norfolk Southern Railroad
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...
– 1 car
* North Coast Railroad – 2 cars; to Oregon-Washington Railway and Navigation
*
Northern Pacific Railway – 1 car
*
Oregon and California Rail Road – 2 cars; to Southern Pacific
*
Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company
The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a railroad that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a ...
– 3 cars
*
Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company
The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a railroad that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a ...
– 3 cars; to Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company
*
Oregon Short Line Railroad
The Oregon Short Line Railroad was a railroad in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Oregon in the United States. The line was organized as the Oregon Short Line Railway in 1881 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railway. The Union Pacific int ...
– 6 cars; 3 to Union Pacific Railroad
*
Pennsylvania Railroad – 1 car
* People's Electric Railroad, Muskogee, Oklahoma – 2 cars
*
Riviera Beach Railway received a McKeen Car from
Sand Springs Railway
The Sand Springs Railway (originally the Sand Springs Interurban Railway) is a class III railroad operating in Oklahoma. It was originally formed in 1911 by industrialist Charles Page to connect his newly formed city of Sand Springs to Tulsa ...
*
Salem, Falls City and Western Railway – 1 car
*
San Diego, Pacific Beach and La Jolla Railway (later
Los Angeles and San Diego Beach Railway
LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to:
Science and technology
* Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation
* Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers
* Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
)
*
Sand Springs Railway
The Sand Springs Railway (originally the Sand Springs Interurban Railway) is a class III railroad operating in Oklahoma. It was originally formed in 1911 by industrialist Charles Page to connect his newly formed city of Sand Springs to Tulsa ...
– 2 cars
*
Silver Peak Railroad
*
Southern Pacific Company
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, ...
– 31 cars
*
Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad
The Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, a railroad of in length in the U.S. state of Nevada, offered point-to-point service between Mina and Goldfield, running over the Excelsior Mountains and parallel to the Monte Cristo Range. It operated from ...
*
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
– 20 cars
*
Virginia and Truckee Railroad
The Virginia and Truckee Railroad is a privately owned heritage railroad, headquartered in Virginia City, Nevada. Its private and publicly owned route is long. When first constructed in the 19th century, it was a commercial freight railroad ...
– 1 car
*
Woodstock and Sycamore Traction Company – 3 cars
Export customers
*
Ferrocarril Norte de Cuba – 1 car
*
Ferrocarril del Sonora, Mexico – 1 car
*
Queensland Railways
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
, Australia – 5 x gauge cars (the only narrow-gauge McKeen cars)
*
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
, Australia – 2 x gauge cars
See also
*
Railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...
*
Diesel multiple unit
*
Doodlebug, a common term for self-propelled railcars in the USA
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mckeen Motor Car Company
Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States
Defunct companies based in Omaha, Nebraska
Rail transportation in Nebraska
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Nebraska