McKeen railmotor

McKeen Railmotor
McKeen railmotor in Wodonga, Australia, 1911.
ManufacturerMcKeen Company of Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A.
DesignerMcKeen Company
Constructed1914
Number built152
Specifications
Car length55 ft (16.76 m) and 70 ft (21.34 m)
Prime mover(s)Gasoline
Engine typeDistillate fueled engine
Cylinder count6
Power output100 hp (75 kW)
Track gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), 4 ft 8+12 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]

  1. ^ O'Connell, J. (1954) Railroad Album: The Story of American Railroads in Words and Pictures. Popular Mechanics Press. p 79.
  2. ^ Klein (1989) p 298 as cited in Grant, H.R. (2005) The Railroad: The Life Story of a Technology. Greenwood Press. p 83.