William Riley McKeen Jr. Papers: Finding Aid

Container List

Personal and professional papers. 1871-1922

Physical Description: 5 boxes

Box 1

Personal and professional papers

Folder 1

Childhood drawings. Approximately 1874

The drawings are in a ledger with entries by McKeen’s mother: “Ann F. McKeen, Treasurer, Ladies Aid Society.” The entries are mostly legible, and are dated 1871-1880.

Folder 2

School notes. Approximately 1882

Folder 3

Geometry workbook. 1885-1886

Folder 4

Rose Polytechnic Institute, student drawings. 1888

Folder 5

Rose Polytechnic Institute, “Notes on Rankine by W. R. McKeen Jr. Class ’89, Terre Haute, Ind.” [engineering workbook]. 1889

Folder 6

Johns Hopkins University, “Electricity Practice” workbook. 1889-1890

This school book also contains some personal accounting entries of McKeen’s, such as taxes and bills 1903 – 1907.

Folder 7

German technical university catalogs [also lab notes written in German]. 1882; 1890

Note: McKeen studied in Berlin 1890-1891. Contains:

General provisions for Koniglichen Technischen Hochschule, Berlin, 1882.
List of courses in machinery and engineering, Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg, 1890.

Folder 8

Rose Polytechnic Institute yearbook. 1905

(McKeen does not appear; he graduated in 1889.)

Folders 9-11

Building of residence on West Leavenworth St., Omaha, Nebraska. 1911-1912

Personal notebook of house specifications and bill of materials; typescript of specifications by architect George B. Prinz (1911); sketches; news clippings (1912).

Folders 12-13

“Hull vs. Mr. and Mrs. W. R. McKeen, Jr.” lawsuit. Clippings and related documents [Charles W. Hull, plaintiff]. 1912

This lawsuit was of a personal nature, brought by McKeen’s second wife’s ex-husband, Charles W. Hull. Includes some news clippings and one piece of correspondence from N. H. Loomis, Union Pacific Railroad Law Dept. to McKeen.

Also contains a detective’s transcript of witness statements regarding character of Charles W. Hull, gathered as potential evidence in the case of Charles W. Hull vs. Mary L. McKeen and W. R. McKeen, Jr., in Omaha, Nebraska. Note: This document is topically out of the range of the rest of this collection, but is valuable as a historical research document for candid statements by prostitutes (with names), and brothel activities in Omaha, Nebraska, 1912.

Box 2

Personal and professional papers

Folders 1-4

Misc. personal items. 1890-1921

Includes two half-tone photographs of 1) McKeen and 2) E. H. Harriman.

Folder 5

McKeen family history

Three-page handwritten genealogy of the McKeens and news clippings on W. R. McKeen, Sr. (1889-1897).

Folders 6-12

Estate papers of William Riley McKeen, Sr. and related correspondence. 1913-1918

Documents and correspondence regarding the settling of the estate of McKeen’s father, who died in 1913. Most of the correspondence is among attorneys and the four sons: W. R. McKeen, Jr., Benjamin McKeen, Frank McKeen, and Samuel C. “Crawford” McKeen, with a few letters from their sisters, Mary “Mamie” J. Pugh (and husband Horace C. Pugh), Anna E. Shuler and Edith M. Cutler. Issues discussed include selling of property, tenants, insurance, stock sales and investments, and personal allowances. Several letters written on McKeen Motor Car Co. letterhead.

Box 3

Personal and professional papers

Folder 1

Personal notebooks. 1893-1895

3 notebooks. Writings include costs of materials and repairs for railcar parts and labor, lists of employees by occupation.

Folder 2

Personal notebooks. 1895

4 notebooks. Writings include lists of employees, drawings, ledger of work hours, railcar specifications.

Folder 3

Personal notebooks. 1896-1898

3 notebooks.

Folder 4

Personal notebooks. 1900-1912

3 notebooks. First three pages of “1905-1912” book have a written timeline of McKeen’s job titles and personal events (divorces, health issues).

Related Material

See also: Box 1, f. 6 school workbook with personal entries dated 1903-1907.

Folder 5

Address and memo book. Approximately 1890-1919

Contains typewriting, handwriting, pasted-in notes and clippings. Includes:

Copies of letters on earnings of motor cars and grade-climbing performance, 1909.
“Drugs” – notes on medications for sciatica.
Notes: “B.A. Worthington. Trip over Great Northern, Oct. 1904.” Details of weight, fuel, engines on trains.

Folder 6

Address book. Approximately 1897-1901

Stamped on inside cover “W.R. McKeen. Master Car Builder.”

Folder 7

Diary. Approximately 1898-1910

Some letters and notes folded inside.

Box 4

Personal and professional papers

Folder 1

Notebook on local sporting contests. Approximately 1898-1909

Unidentified clipping inside says “Union Pacific against Citizens of County.”

Folder 2

Personal stock receipt book. 1901-1912

Includes list of officers and trustees of the Railway Employees Building & Loan Association, 1901.

Folder 3

Correspondence and receipts. 1892

List of books purchased through Home Library Association, Chicago, and bookseller A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1892

Folder 4

Correspondence and receipts. 1893-1899

Folder 5

Correspondence and receipts. 1900-1902

Folder 6

Correspondence and receipts. 1904-1907

Copy (not original) of letter to McKeen from E. H. Harriman, September 6, 1907.

Folder 7

Correspondence and receipts. 1915-1922

Folder 8

Terre Haute & Indianapolis R.R. Co. annual report. 1891 (published 1892)

Folder 9

Railroad workers union booklets. 1892-1910

7 booklets.

Folder 10

Convention album, Master Car Builders and Master Mechanics, Atlantic City, New Jersey. 1906 June

Contains portraits and titles of members present at convention, including McKeen.

Folder 11

Souvenir program, 1883 – 1907 Silver Anniversary, Division 88, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. 1907

2 copies. McKeen profiled on p. 57.

Folder 12

Writings and speeches by McKeen. 1907

“Gasoline Motor Cars for Railway Service,” pgs. 669-683, Official Proceedings of the New York Railroad Club Meeting, April 19, 1907.

Folder 13

Writings and speeches by McKeen. 1912

1) “The Internal Combustion Engine, with Special Reference to Its Use as Motive Power on Railway Locomotives,” an address delivered before the Committee of Investigation on Smoke Abatement and Electrification of Railway Terminals, Bulletin II, Vol. II, Chicago, May 31, 1912. (2 copies)
2) “The Internal Combustion Engine, Its Use and Development,” Committee of Investigation on Smoke Abatement and Electrification of Railway Terminals, Bulletin III, Vol. II, Omaha, August 1912. (2 copies)

Folder 14

Writings and speeches by McKeen. 1915

“The Value of Motor Cars on Railroad Systems,” pgs. 4074-4098, Official Proceedings of the New York Railroad Club Meeting, October 15, 1915.

Box 5

Personal and professional papers

Folder 1

Writings and speeches by others. 1911

“Edward Henry Harriman” by Otto H. Kahn, an address delivered before the Finance Forum in New York, January 25, 1911. (2 copies)

Folder 2

Writings and speeches by others. 1912

“The Railroad Man, the Selected Servant of the Public,” by H. W. Sheridan, an address to students of University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, December 4, 1912.

Folder 3

Writings and speeches by others. 1913

“Self-Propelled Railway Passenger Cars” by S. T. Dodd and B. H. Arnold, presented at Fifth Annual Convention of the International Railway Fuel Association, 1913. Includes discussion of McKeen motor cars.

Folder 4

Writings and speeches by others. 1915

An address by Mr. A. L. Mohler, President, Union Pacific R.R. Co. and Oregon Short Line R.R. Co., at a hearing before the Committee on Railroads of the House of Representatives, Nebraska Legislature, Lincoln, Nebraska, March 3, 1915.

Folder 5

U.S. Patent Office documents on McKeen patent cases. 1907

Includes fold-out exhibits and technical drawings.

Folder 6

U.S. Patent Office documents on McKeen patent cases. 1911

(2 copies)

Folder 7

U.S. Patent Office documents on McKeen patent cases. 1911-1912

Final hearing and appellant’s brief.

McKeen motor cars: promotional and operating materials. 1905-approximately 1919

Physical Description: 2 boxes

McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad. 1905-approximately 1919

Includes promotional booklets and brochures, operating manuals, operating costs and specifications.

Box 6 (Folders 1-5)

McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad.

Folder 1

McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad - Brochures. 1905-1906

6 items.

Folder 2

McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad – Promotional booklet, titled “Motor Cars on Union Pacific Railroad.” 1907

32 pgs., illustrated with photographs of motor cars and map of the “Union Pacific Overland route and Connections.” Descriptions of motor car nos. 1 – 13. (2 copies)

Folder 3

McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad – “Statement of cost of operating Motor Cars on Colorado Division, June 1908.” 1908 June

1 pg. describing details of operating costs, including repairs, fuel, wages.

Folder 4

McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad – Operating instructions manual. Approximately 1909

32 pgs., titled “Instructions for the Guidance of Motormen and Conductors operating Motor Cars, Union Pacific Railroad Co. Approved, W. L. Park, General Superintendent and C. E. Fuller, Superintendent M.P. & M.”

Folder 5

McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad – “Common Standard Specifications for Material“ manual (1904-1912) with index and supplement (1919); blank Union Pacific payroll sheet (approximately 1905). 1904-1919

Manual approximately 150 pgs.

McKeen Motor Car Company. 1909-1917

Includes promotional booklets, brochures and ephemera, clippings and testimonials.

Box 6 (Folders 6-14)

McKeen Motor Car Company.

Folder 6

McKeen Motor Car Company – “Instruction Book No. 1, McKeen Gasoline Motor Car." 1912

58 pgs., with photographs and a fold-out mechanical drawing. Also 7 loose pages titled “Supplement to Instruction Book for Motor Car 3 ft. 6 in. Gauge” (undated).

Folder 7

McKeen Motor Car Company – Hospital Fund booklet. 1910-1911

Folder 8

McKeen Motor Car Company – Promotional booklets. 1909

44 pgs. (2 copies). Notes on car specifications and speeds pasted into back of one book.

Folder 9

McKeen Motor Car Company – Promotional brochures. Approximately 1910-1911

Folder 10

McKeen Motor Car Company – Promotional booklets. 1911

60 pgs. (3 copies and blueprint version).

Folder 11

McKeen Motor Car Company – Transparencies of some pages of 1911 booklet. 1911

Folder 12

McKeen Motor Car Company – Spiral-bound copies of 1911 booklet. 1911

(2 copies)

Folder 13

McKeen Motor Car Company – Promotional brochures. Undated (approximately 1911-1915)

16 pgs. (7 copies)

Folder 14

McKeen Motor Car Company – Promotional brochures. 1912; 1914

1912: 75 pgs. (2 copies); 1914: 4 pgs. (3 copies)

Box 7

McKeen Motor Car Company.

Folder 1

McKeen Motor Car Company – Promotional ephemera. Approximately 1910-1911

17 items including calling cards, bookmarks and 1 box of custom-made cigarettes (1910)

Folder 2

McKeen Motor Car Company – Advertisement inside “Souvenir of Fort Omaha,” Nebraska. 1917

Folder 3

McKeen Motor Car Company – Printed testimonials from railroad company officials and others. 1911-1914

Folder 4

McKeen Motor Car Company – News clippings. 1905-1912

Photocopies and 2 reprints.

Folder 5

McKeen Motor Car Company – News clippings. 1914; 1917

“Patent News” (Washington D.C., Nov. 1914); “Midland Magazine” (Kansas City, Oct. 1917 - 2 copies.)

Folder 6

McKeen Motor Car Company – Original company envelopes containing news clippings. (Clippings are very brittle: please use photocopies in Folder 4)

4 envelopes.

Folder 7

Weed Burner for railroad track maintenance – Promotional brochures. Undated

4 pg. leaflet (4 copies) and 1 booklet (2 copies).

Scrapbooks. 1895-1928

Physical Description: 3 scrapbooks in 2 boxes. Fragile.

Box 8

Scrapbooks A-B

Volume A

Personal ledger and scrapbook. 1895-1928

Physical Description: Approximately 200 pgs. (12 x 7 ¾ inches)

Ledger pages for 1895–approximately 1908 are pasted over with clippings; ledgers for 1909–1928 are legible, listing income, income taxes, expenses, stocks and bonds. Several stocks are in railroad companies. The remaining pages contain newspaper and magazine clippings, and misc. notes. Clippings are mostly personal topics, such as McKeen’s divorces of 1909 and 1921 (also pasted in is a legal divorce notice, 1921), and articles on self-improvement, health, divorce, and other items in the news. A few clippings concern McKeen Motor Car Co. or McKeen’s business career. There are a few clippings at the back that date from McKeen’s retirement to Santa Barbara: from the Los Angeles Times, 1924, and the Santa Barbara News, 1925.

Volume B

“McKeen Motor Cars” scrapbook. 1906-1920

Physical Description: Approximately 385 pgs. (16 x 12 inches)

The first 24 pages of clippings have come loose and are in a separate folder; these clippings date from 1906–1917. The scrapbook album begins on page 25 with clippings dated 1908–1920. It has a typed title: “McKeen Motor Cars” and contains clippings from newspapers, periodicals and industry publications. Advertisements for motor cars are also included for years 1912–1917.

Box 9

Scrapbook C

Volume C

McKeen motor cars in Australia scrapbook. 1911-1912

Physical Description: Approximately 100 pgs. (14 ½ x 10 ¾ inches)

Includes 33 photographs with captions, showing workers on ships transporting McKeen motor cars to Australia, and cars on railroads in Australia. Also contains news clippings on McKeen cars in Australia.

Photographs. 1905-1915

Physical Description: 313 photographs in 3 boxes

Union Pacific Railroad Company photographs of McKeen motor cars. 1905-1911

Physical Description: 217 photographs, most approximately 10 x 13 inches; some smaller.

Views of McKeen-designed motor cars and other types of Union Pacific cars, shop buildings, engines and production views. All photographs are stamped on the back: “Office [of] Chemist and Engineer of Tests. Union Pacific. Negative No.__ Date__” and have handwritten numbers and dates. Photographs are in chronological order, beginning January 17, 1905, with views of Union Pacific Motor Car 1, the first gasoline-powered car McKeen designed. McKeen appears in several photographs, along with other employees.

Box 10

Photographs. 1907-1907

Physical Description: 116 photographs

Folder 1

Union Pacific neg. no.: 6, 12, 12a, 15, 20, 25

No. of items: 6

(1905) Union Pacific Motor Car 1. Two views with Union Pacific Chair Car no. 615 and group of people, including W. R. McKeen, at far right, in door of Motor Car 1 (20, 25).

Folder 2

Union Pacific neg. no.: 29, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50

No. of items: 12

(1905) One view of McKeen and group with Union Pacific Motor Car 1. Views of car, engine, interior, and overhead production views of floor frame and body frame in shop.

Folder 3

Union Pacific neg. no.: 51, 52, 62, 62a, 63, 64, 66, 70, 72, 73

No. of items: 10

(1905) Body frame in shop, engine parts. Union Pacific Motor Car 2 interior and exterior (63 – 73).

Folder 4

Union Pacific neg. no.: 83, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99

No. of items: 8

(1905) McKeen (in overalls) and large group in front of Union Pacific Motor Car 2. Detail views of car, motorman in engine compartment, smashed end of car. One satirical cartoon titled “Another Richmond in the Field” showing a “gasoline car” and “trolley car” at battle.

Folder 5

Union Pacific neg. no.: 105, 106, 107, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 114a, 115, 116, 117, 118, 121, 123, 124

No. of items: 17

(1905 – 1906) Union Pacific Motor Car 4, Motor Car 5, Motor Car 6 and Motor Car 7. U.S. Mail-Express-Baggage trailer T-1 and interiors showing mail sorting boxes [of T-1?]. McKeen and group standing in front of Motor Car 5. Models of car shops, 13-story office building and model of Motor Car 7. Cars on turntable.

Folder 6

Union Pacific neg. no.: 131, 141, 142

No. of items: 3

(1906) Photomontage of written summary: “Record Runs. E. H. Harriman Special. May 6 & 7, 1906,” with views of three locomotives. Two views of a motor truck in shop.

Folder 7

Union Pacific neg. no.: 185, 186, 187, 187a, 189 (2), 190a, 190b

No. of items: 8

(1906) Union Pacific Motor Car 10 parade model in front of shops office, and decorated in street. Union Pacific Motor Car 8 and Motor Car 9.

Folder 8

Union Pacific neg. no.: 201, 202a, 204, 204a, 209, 212 (2), 212a, 212b, 212c (2), 212d (2), 213, 213a

No. of items: 15

(1906) Union Pacific Motor Car 8 with people boarding. Union Pacific Steel Box Car 72850 and Weed Burner (213-213a).

Folder 9

Union Pacific neg. no.: 261, 261a, 261b, 261c, 280, 280a (2), 280b (2), 280c, 280d (2), 282a, 286, 287 (2)

No. of items: 16

(1907) Weed Burner, Union Pacific Steel Box Car 72851. Three views of “Motor Cars” shop buildings and grounds, with Motor Car 10.

Folder 10

Union Pacific neg. no.: 319, 320, 321 (2), 322 (2), 323 (2)

No. of items: 8

(1907) Construction of shop building, showing frame and grounds. Drawings: Motor Car floor plan, motor truck, “Howe Truss” and motor car side frame, mail and baggage trailer elevation and floor plan.

Folder 11

Union Pacific neg. no.: 361, 362, 364, 370, 371, 377 (2), 378 (2), 379 (2), 380 (2)

No. of items: 14

(1907) Detail views of castings. Construction of shop building, showing frame and grounds. Interiors of motor car, with stained-glass detail. Motor cars in production in shop, showing steel frame.

Box 11

Photographs. 1907-1911

Physical Description: 101 photographs

Folder 1

Union Pacific neg. no.: 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388 (3), 389

No. of items: 9

(1907) Interior and exterior of Union Pacific no. 1229 steel U.S. Mail Railway Post Office car (383-386). Union Pacific steam locomotive no. 1824 and tender. One technical drawing of a 200 H.P. gasoline engine.

Folder 2

Union Pacific neg. no.: 411 (2), 412 (2), 414 (2), 417 (2), 418 (2), 419, 421, 434, 469, 470, 471, 472, 483, 484, 485, 492, 493a, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 502

No. of items: 28

(1907) Production views of steel passenger car, unfinished. Sets of wheels in yard, with shop buildings in background. Union Pacific Weed Burner 02902, Union Pacific steam locomotive no. 107 and tender. Technical drawing of Union Pacific motor car heating system (May 11, 1907). Interior of engine shop and motor truck assembly line. U.P. Motor Car 10 spotting boxcars and coal car (McKeen in image 492, with group). Hand colored views of tracks after Weed Burner passed over.

Folder 3

Union Pacific neg. no.: 508, 509, 510, 517, 554, 554b, 555, 556, 557, 574

No. of items: 10

(1907) Construction of shop buildings. Detail views of air compressor used on motor cars, with specifications. U.P. steel passenger car no. 499 designed by McKeen.

Folder 4

Union Pacific neg. no.: 609, 611, 613, 615, 618, 620, 621, 622, 623, 635, 677, 686, 687

No. of items: 13

(1908) Shop buildings completed. Construction of intake on Missouri River. Oregon Short Line Railroad three-level stock car no. 13860. U.P. steam locomotive no. 1717 being built in shop, with workers. Interiors of a motor car, with stained glass detail.

Folder 5

Union Pacific neg. no.: 736, 740, 741, 742, 745, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 757, 758, 759, 768, 769 (2), 772, 773

No. of items: 21

(1908) McKeen and group in front “Motor Cars” shop buildings and a motor car. (See also #1077 - same people in close-up group portrait.) Interiors of motor car. U.P. Motor Car 19. Series of views (748-759) all captioned “The first McKeen 6 car motor train, taken at [various stops], Nebraska, Aug. 27, 1908” - Southern Pacific Railroad Motor Car 23 leading train. Silver Peak Railroad motor car “Mary”; Southern Pacific Railroad Motor Car 20, Motor Car 29 and Motor Car 30 with caption “The second McKeen 3 car motor train, taken at Omaha, Nebr. Oct. 3, 1908.”

Folder 6

Union Pacific neg. no.: 975, 986, 986a, 988

No. of items: 4

(1909) Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Motor Car M100 draped with sign “Built by McKeen Motor Car Co. Omaha, Neb.”; Motor Car 2 “Kulshan” of the Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad Company.

Folder 7

Union Pacific neg. no.: 1039, 1074, 1077

No. of items: 3

(1909) Northern Pacific Railroad A1 motor car. St. Joseph & Grand Island Railway motor car 110. Group portrait of McKeen and others, all named in caption, in front of motor car (1077).

Folder 8

Union Pacific neg. no.: 1132, 1162

No. of items: 2

(1909) U.P. motor locomotive with McKeen standing on footboard. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Motor Car 9020.

Folder 9

Union Pacific neg. no.: 1250, 1332, 1346, 1348, 1446, 1456, 1486

No. of items: 7

(1910) McKeen motor cars: Norfolk & Southern 90 U.S. Mail Railway Post Office “Southern Express”; Woodstock & Sycamore Traction Company 711; Chicago Great Western 1000; Pennsylvania 4701; Southern 3; Denver, Laramie & Northwestern “Greeley.” One view of McKeen Motor Car Co. shop buildings with six motor cars in front.

Folder 10

Union Pacific neg. no.: 1544, 1586, 1651, 1677

No. of items: 4

(1911) McKeen motor cars: Chicago Great Western 1001; Sand Springs Interurban Railway 1; Peoples Electric Railway “The Joe Haskell”; one view of railcar with caption: “Victorian Railway’s Motor Car. Shipped to Australia Nov. 29, 1911.”

McKeen motor cars and other railroad views. Approximately 1905-1915

Physical Description: 62 photographs of various sizes, mounted on paper album pages or board.

Includes views of cars in use on several different railroads; train collisions and wrecked cars; interiors of railcars; detail views of engines and parts; passengers, workers and shop buildings.

Only a few of the photographs are dated (1910-1915); some photographs appear to be earlier. Photographers identified: Omar F. Hawkins (M36-M37), and Albert A. Reichert (M11-M12, M42). Photographs kept in original arrangement as received, in order of the “M” numbers assigned by the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation.

Box 12 (Folders 1-6)

McKeen motor cars and other railroad views.

Folder 1

(M1 – M10)

“Pennsylvania” railcar built by Pressed Steel Car Company, Pittsburg, PA. (M9-M10). Stamped on back: Union Pacific.

Railroad companies: Motley County Railway Company (Texas); Minneapolis & Northern Railway Company; Southern Pacific Railroad Company (at Sacramento, Ca.)

Folder 2

(M11 – M19)

Series of four views, April 14, 1910, showing a McKeen car in production in the shop yard, with typed captions documenting an accident involving a worker named Dan McNeil (M13 – M16)
View of Union Pacific Railroad’s Julesburg, Colorado depot (M17)

Railroad companies: St. Joseph & Grand Island Railway; Union Pacific Railroad Company; Central New York Southern Railroad; Oregon Short Line Railroad Company

Folder 3

(M20-M29)

Railroad companies: Texas City Terminal Railway Company ; Weatherford, Mineral Wells & Northwestern Railway; Morgan’s Louisiana & Texas (Railroad)

Folder 4

(M30-M40)

Passengers disembarking McKeen railcar at Union Station, Omaha, Nebraska (M35)
Union Pacific wreck in Randolph, Kansas, Oct. 16, 1915, showing a McKeen car half submerged in water and the body of a man on the ground (M36-M37)

Railroad companies: Union Pacific Railroad Company

Folder 5

(M41-M46)

Railroad companies: Union Pacific Railroad Company

Folder 6

(M47 – M53)

McKeen Motor Car Co. building in Omaha, with boxed motor cars marked for shipment to Australia, and then shown being loaded on ship. One view of McKeen car for Queensland Railways.

Views of trucks and parts, United Motor Truck Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Two interior views of McKeen Highway Coach vehicle. 1915 and undated

Physical Description: 34 photographs disbound from an album

Views of trucks, engine parts, road trials, factory buildings, and two interior views of a McKeen Highway Coach (M86-M87). Photographer: James Bayne Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan (except M86-M87, uncredited). Background note: The McKeen Highway Coach, a passenger vehicle introduced in 1915, was installed on a truck chassis built by the United Motor Truck Company.

The photographs were disbound from an album imprinted “W. R. McKeen, McKeen Motor Car Co., Omaha, NEB.” (Covers not in collection; information about original binding received from the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation.) Photographs kept in original arrangement as received, in order of the “M” numbers assigned by the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation.

Box 12 (Folders 7-8)

Folder 7

(M54-M71)

Trucks and parts, United Motor Truck Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1915.

Folder 8

(M72-M87)

Trucks and parts, United Motor Truck Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1915. Two interior views of a McKeen Highway Coach (M86-M87).

Collection Contents