My name is Madison Kirkman, and I am the founder of the McKeen Motor Car Company Historical Society. My current project is to restore the McKeen Car "Cuyamaca" which is currently in Alaska. I am working on moving it down to San Diego, Calif., It's home town, to complete a running, factory restoration. You may have heard on here about the Southern Utah McKeen Car #100, which is a project I started, and I am also their historical adviser. My project is a different car, the oldest of the three existing McKeen Car in the world, and is also possibly the oldest aerodynamic vehicle in the world. It is also the only known piece of equipment from the S.D.C.&E.Rwy.

I would like to ask if you have any information you have on the McKeen Cars. I am trying to obtain as much information (photos, advertisements, catalogs, articles, letterheads, etc.) as possible from the McKeen Motor Car Company, which made products like motor cars, trailer cars, weed burners, switcher engines, boxcars, and even buses. Any information at all would be greatly appreciated. After I finish my restoration, I will write a compendium on the McKeen Motor Car Company encompassing everything they ever built, and I hope to learn as much as possible before then.

If you'd like to read up on my story, you can visit these links...
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/oct/22/teen-playing-trains-real/
https://www.gofundme.com/mckeencarcuyamaca

And if you're interested in the McKeen Cars in general, then you can visit these pages...
https://www.facebook.com/McKeenMotorCar
http://www.mckeencar.com/

The Nevada State RR Museum in Carson City has a restored McKeen car that they run from time to time. The main variation from the original car is the propulsion system, which was one of the trouble spots in the original version. The Carson City crew installed a Caterpillar diesel engine; as I recall it drives the car through an hydraulic system. I haven't been there since it was restored to running condition (at that time the engine was still in a crate) but a fellow railway enthusiast shared some photos from his visit.

Thank you, I believe their drive is a Diesel Hydraulic, 240H.P. I've visited them three times, last time was late last month. I got to climb under the car and take a bunch of photos.

That's a fantastic project! I wish you the very best in your endeavor.

Regards,

Art S.

Just curious, but was the Utah McKeen car body the one that was at the Utah Railway Price shops complex? I remember a 1976 copy of Railroad Modeler that did an overview of the shops and showed the car intact at that point.

A great project to restore another of these venerable machines.

Micheal Seitz
Missoula MT

For relevant information, I offer a few links to older threads, which have more details...
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32326
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4123
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37501
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19767

For other questions, I have found the members of the Doodlebugs yahoo group to be rather well informed, perhaps they could pinpoint other resources:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/doodlebugs/info

Yes, the Southern Utah McKeen Car was on their property in '76. I believe it was inside the wye at Helper, Utah. The car couldn't have been saved without the help of Mr. Hamaker, an employee for quite a few years at that railroad who offered the car to the local railroad museums before taking it himself. Sadly he did have to cut it in half to transport it, but he damaged the least amount of material by cutting it in the vestibule.

Here is a link with a few photos of the car...
http://www.mckeencar.com/gallery-2/s/southern-utah-railroad/

And thank you Art for your support.