William Riley McKeen Jr. Papers: Finding Aid
Finding aid prepared by Suzanne Oatey.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical
Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2017
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: William Riley McKeen Jr.
Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1871-1928
Bulk dates: 1895-1915
Collection Number: mssMcKeen
Creator:
McKeen, William R.,
Jr., 1869-1946
Extent:
12 boxes (7.5 linear ft.)
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains the personal and professional papers
of American railroad mechanical engineer and innovator William Riley McKeen Jr.
(1869-1946), who developed some of the first gasoline-powered railroad motor cars,
beginning in 1905 for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1908, he became president of
the McKeen Motor Car Company, which built over 150 of the pioneering motor cars
through 1917. The materials are primarily focused on the McKeen motor cars and the
history of their promotion and production, 1905-1917. Materials include promotional
booklets and ephemera, news clippings, scrapbooks, operating manuals, McKeen’s
personal notebooks and over 300 photographs.
Language: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], William Riley McKeen Jr. Papers, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation, September 1, 2008.
Custodial History
This collection was previously owned by Donald Duke and forms a subset of the
Huntington's Donald Duke Collection of Railroad Photographs and Ephemera. Duke
received the papers from William R. McKeen Jr. in 1946, when Duke was 18 years
old. In his acknowledgements in
RDC: The Budd Rail Diesel Car by
Donald Duke and Edmund Keilty (Golden West Books, 1990), Duke wrote: “My
interest in railcars goes back to my high school days where I developed an
interest in the McKeen Motor Car. I found out William R. McKeen, Jr. was still
alive and living in Santa Barbara. I visited him several times. On his death, he
left his personal files and illustrations to my custody.”
Processing/Project Information
This collection came with an inventory created approximately 1999, indicating
several oversize blueprints of car and part drawings and technical data tables,
which did not come with the rest of the collection. The whereabouts of these
items are unknown. A copy of this original inventory is kept in the collection
file.
Biographical and Historical Note
American railroad mechanical engineer and innovator William Riley McKeen Jr.
(1869-1946) was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1869. His father, William Riley
McKeen (1829-1913), was a banker and president of the Terre Haute & Indianapolis
Railroad. McKeen Jr. graduated from Rose Polytechnic Institute and Johns Hopkins
University, then studied at a technical university in Berlin, 1890-1891. In 1892, he
apprenticed in the mechanical shops of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St.
Louis Railway in Columbus, Ohio. The next year, he began work as master car builder
for the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad in Indiana. In 1898, he joined Union
Pacific Railroad as district foreman at North Platte, Nebraska, a position he held
until May 1901, when he became master mechanic of the Wyoming division of Union
Pacific. In 1902, he was promoted to Superintendent of Motor Power and Machinery for
Union Pacific in Omaha, Nebraska.
At the behest of Union Pacific head E. H. Harriman, McKeen led a team of company
engineers to design an economical gasoline-powered rail car with an internal
combustion engine, a technology still in its infancy. The first motor car was
created in March 1905 and was soon put into service carrying passengers. By 1908,
demand for the distinctively designed motor cars with porthole windows and other
advanced features led to the formation of the McKeen Motor Car Company, with McKeen
as president. The company was created as a Union Pacific subsidiary and operated out
of Union Pacific shop buildings in Omaha, Nebraska. By 1912, fewer new cars were
being ordered, and in 1917 the last cars were built. In 1920, Union Pacific took
control of the company’s assets. In the 12 years of production, over 150 McKeen
motor cars were built, operating on several railroads in the United States, with
exports to Canada, Cuba, Australia and Mexico.
McKeen retired to Santa Barbara, California around 1923, where he died in 1946.
McKeen was survived by his third wife, Carmen T. McKeen. His first two marriages, to
Elizabeth New in 1893, and Mary L. Hull in 1911, ended in divorce.
Scope and Content
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of American railroad
mechanical engineer and innovator William Riley McKeen Jr. (1869-1946) who developed
some of the first gasoline-powered railroad motor cars, beginning in 1905 for the
Union Pacific Railroad. In 1908, he became president of the McKeen Motor Car
Company, which built over 150 of the pioneering motor cars through 1917. The
materials are primarily focused on the McKeen motor cars and the history of their
promotion and production, 1905-1917. Materials include promotional booklets and
ephemera, news clippings, scrapbooks, operating manuals, McKeen’s personal notebooks
and over 300 photographs.
Series 1 begins with McKeen’s youth and schooling, with examples of some of his
engineering notes and workbooks. There are also notes on designing his house, a
genealogy of the McKeen family, and his father’s estate settlement papers, which
include correspondence between McKeen and his siblings. McKeen’s professional work
and concerns are reflected in several notebooks he kept during his career, with
detailed notes related to employees, design issues and other work in the railroad
mechanical shops. There are only a few letters of business correspondence, and just
one copy of a letter from E. H. Harriman (no original).
Among the personal papers is a file of documents related to a 1912 lawsuit brought
against McKeen and his second wife, Mary, by Mary's former husband, Charles Hull, in
Omaha, Nebraska. This file contains documents that would be of interest to medical
and social history researchers: a detective’s transcript of observations of
prostitutes and activities at brothels (collected to disparage Mr. Hull).
Series 2 contains McKeen motor car materials, primarily promotional brochures and
ephemera (including a package of custom cigarettes), operating manuals, production
statistics, news clippings and articles. See also Series 3 and 4 for clippings and
photographs of McKeen motor cars.
Series 3 contains three scrapbooks: A) a personal ledger, with clippings; B) a
scrapbook of over 100 clippings about the McKeen Motor Car Company, 1907 – 1920; and
C) a scrapbook of photographs and clippings about McKeen motor cars in Australia,
1911-1912.
Series 4 contains photographs, including a set of Union Pacific company photographs
of McKeen motor cars over the years 1905-1911. McKeen appears in some photographs,
and there are some views of employees, Omaha shop buildings, engines and production
views. Other photographs show McKeen motor cars on various railroads, some wrecks,
engine parts, and views of the McKeen Highway Coach, a passenger vehicle introduced
in 1915.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Donald Duke Collection of Railroad Photographs and Ephemera (Call number:
645950)
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in the following 4 series:
- Series 1. Personal and professional papers, 1871-1922
- Series 2. McKeen motor cars: promotional and operating materials,
1905-1919
- Subseries A. McKeen motor cars on Union Pacific Railroad
- Subseries B. McKeen Motor Car Company
- Series 3. Scrapbooks
- Subseries A. Ledger and scrapbook, 1895-1928
- Subseries B. McKeen Motor Cars scrapbook, 1906-1920
- Subseries C. McKeen motor cars in Australia scrapbook,
1911-1912
- Series 4. Photographs
- Subseries A. Union Pacific Railroad photographs of McKeen motor
cars, 1905-1911
- Subseries B. McKeen motor cars and other railroad views,
approximately 1905- 1915
- Subseries C. Views of trucks and parts, United Motor Truck
Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1915. Two views of McKeen Highway
Coach vehicle.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
McKeen, William R.,
Jr., 1869-1946 -- Archives.
McKeen Motor Car
Co.
Terre Haute &
Indianapolis Railroad Company -– History.
United Motors
Company.
Union Pacific Railroad
Company -– History.
Electricity -- Study and teaching.
Internal combustion engines --
History.
Railroad engineering.
Railroad cars -- Design and
construction.
Railroad motorcars.
Railroad passenger cars.
Railroads – Australia.
Railroads -- United States.
Prostitution -- United States -- History
-- 20th century.
Forms/Genres
Ephemera.
Letters (correspondence).
Manuscripts.
Notebooks.
Photographs.
Promotional materials.
Scrapbooks.
Workbooks.
Additional Contributors
Duke, Donald, 1929-2010, former
owner.
Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay),
1890-1967, photographer.
Reichert, Albert A., 1876-1963,
photographer.
James Bayne Co.,
photographer.
McKeen Motor Car Co.
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
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
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
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
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
Folder 13
McKeen Motor Car Company – Promotional
brochures.
Undated (approximately
1911-1915)
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)
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.
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.
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.
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).
