McKeen railmotor
McKeen Railmotor | |
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![]() McKeen railmotor in Wodonga, Australia, 1911. | |
Manufacturer | McKeen Company of Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A. |
Designer | McKeen Company |
Constructed | 1914 |
Number built | 152 |
Specifications | |
Car length | 55 ft (16.76 m) and 70 ft (21.34 m) |
Prime mover(s) | Gasoline |
Engine type | Distillate fueled engine |
Cylinder count | 6 |
Power output | 100 hp (75 kW) |
Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) and 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) |
The McKeen Railmotor was a 6-cylinder self-propelled railcar or railmotor. When McKeen Company of Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., first unveiled the car in 1905, the McKeen was among the first engines with a distillate-fueled motor.[1] Revisions to the McKeen car led to the modern self-propelled gasoline rail-motor vehicle, and the "contours of the porthole windows, the front-mounted gasoline engines, and other features anticipated the streamline concept."[2]
Design
Two lengths were offered, 55 and 70 feet (17 and 21 m), and both could be configured with either a large mail and express area ahead of the center doors, a smaller mail and express area, or fully fitted with seats, which provided a maximum passenger capacity of 64 or 105 respectively. Cheaper and more powerful than
In Service
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/McKeen_car_2.jpg/220px-McKeen_car_2.jpg)
Canada
Two McKeen cars were operated by the
[5]United States
The McKeen was popular from 1915 through the 1930s throughout the
Victoria, Australia
ABCL cars | |
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Manufacturer | Victorian Railways |
Specifications | |
Car body construction | Steel |
Car length | 66 ft (20.12 m) over body 69 ft 5+1⁄8 in (21.16 m) over coupling points |
Width | 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) |
Height | 11 ft 9+3⁄16 in (3.59 m) |
Weight | 24 LT 16 cwt 3 qtr (25.24 t) |
Bogies | 40 ft 2 in (12.24 m) centres 9 ft 5 in (2.9 m) former engineroom end bogie 9 ft (2.7 m) former passenger-end bogie 44 ft 7 in (13.59 m) total wheelbase.[6] |
Track gauge | 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) |
Two McKeen railmotors were purchased by the Victorian Railways, and delivered in 1911. They were used to run the Ballarat to Maryborough and Hamilton to Warrnambool services, and briefly, between March and April 1913, the Maryborough to St Arnaud service.[7][8]
The railmotors proved to be very unreliable, and only lasted for about three years as self-propelled vehicles. They were de-engined in 1919, and converted to passenger cars numbered as 1 & 2 ABCL, for use on the
Queensland, Australia
In June 1911,
By 1920, Car No 1 was out of commission. Cars No 2 and 5 were modified as Tourist or Day Inspection Cars, which included luxury appointments and seating for 32 passengers. All five units were written-off between 1929 and 1931, and were broken up soon after at the Ipswich workshops.[9][10]
Withdrawal
The
References
- ^ O'Connell, J. (1954) Railroad Album: The Story of American Railroads in Words and Pictures. Popular Mechanics Press. p 79.
- ^ Klein (1989) p 298 as cited in Grant, H.R. (2005) The Railroad: The Life Story of a Technology. Greenwood Press. p 83.
- ^ Grant, H.R. (2005) The Railroad: The Life Story of a Technology. Greenwood Press. p 83.
- ^ "Alberta and Great Waterways Railway". The McKeen Motor Car Company Historical Society.
- ^ "Skunk Train on Great Waterways Railway, Lac La Biche". Atlas of Alberta Railways, University of Alberta Press.
- ISBN 978-0-9775056-8-5, p.54
- ^ "Steam Car". The Argus. 28 February 1913. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ "New Steam Car". The Argus. 29 April 1913. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ Stubbs, Greg (27 August 2006). "QR's Unusual McKeen Cars". Commissioner's Notebook. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ Knowles, John, The McKeen Cars of Queensland, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, October 2002, pp. 363-371
External links
- McKeen Rail Motor Cars Operating Manual from Victorian Railways
- Historic photo
See also
- Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad
- Railroads in Omaha
- Victorian Railways
- Weitzer railmotor, Europe's first railmotor produced in considerable numbers, at the same time as the McKeen Railmotor.