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Southern Utah Railroad's McKeen Car

This page was last updated on Fegruary 21, 2011.

Additional Information

Southern Utah operated a McKeen car in 1917; ordered in June 1916 and delivered at Price on January 1, 1917. (91,000 pounds operating weight; 58 feet 3 inches long; 300 horsepower; six-wheel power truck).

The following is from Interurbans Without Wires by Edmund Keilty (Interurban Press, 1979), page 54:

"One noteworthy accomplishment was production of the biggest McKeen car ever built—for the Southern Utah Railway in 1916. This car had two driving axles coupled by outside rods, and a 300-hp engine with chain drive to the axles. It replaced steam trains between Price and Hiawatha, Utah—18 miles of sharp curves and 4.92 percent grades. The 58-foot car weighed 91,000 pounds."

During the spring of 1916 the Southern Utah was losing $10,000 a year. An official of the company stated that the steam locomotives may be replaced by "gasoline motor service" or that the Southern Utah may be electrified. (The Sun, April 14, 1916, p. 1)

In mid June 1916, A. B. Apperson, vice president and general manager of United States Fuel, announced that his company had purchased a motor car from the McKeen Motor Car Company of Omaha, Nebraska, to be operated between Price and the mines for the benefit of the company's employees. (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 15, 1916, p. 18, "Coal Notes & Personals") (Also in News-Advocate, June 23, 1916)

The following comes from Electric Railway Journal (photocopy, no date):

McKeen "Mallet" Motor Car Sold to Southern Utah Railroad

An application of gasoline motor car service which will be especially interesting to lines having unusual grades is announced by the Southern Utah Railroad Company, price, Utah, which has purchased one of the McKeen Motor Car Company's "Mallet" motor cars. This car will operate in place of the present Consolidation locomotive and combination coach train between Price and the mines at Hiawatha, Utah. This is an 8-mile run of continuous 2-1/2 per cent and 3 per cent grades, with frequent curves and a maximum grade of 4.92 per cent. In order to obtain ample surplus power for ascending these grades, the car will be equipped with the builder's gasoline locomotive-type power unit consisting of a 300-h.p. engine from which the power is transmitted to the driving axles. In this design a third speed is added to the transmission, and the driving wheels are connected by side rods. The car is 58 ft., 2-3/4 in. long over all and contains a 10-ft., 3-in. baggage compartment, and a main compartment with seats for forty-eight passengers. The paln and elevation are shown in the accompanying illustration. (photo) (plan)

Southern Utah engineer J. M. Riley was sent to Omaha in mid November 1916 for two to three weeks to learn the maintenance and operation of the "new electric motor" that was to be used on the Hiawatha Branch. (News-Advocate, November 22, 1916)

On January 1, 1917, the Southern Utah received its new McKeen gasoline motor car, with road number 100. The "Gasoline Car" arrived under its own power from Omaha on Monday, January 1, 1917. It stood at Price all day Monday and ran out to Hiawatha on Tuesday the 2nd. Mr. Riley was the engineer. (News-Advocate, January 4, 1917, "Gasoline Car Here")

By mid January, the new gasoline motor car was not yet in operation; it was found to be "not efficient enough". (News-Advocate, January 18, 1917)

Later, the reason given was that the car had been a "failure" on the Southern Utah grades, which varied from 0.54 percent to 4.9 percent at East Hiawatha. (The Sun, July 13, 1917; Condensed Profile of the Southern Utah Railroad)

This car was the largest and most powerful, at 300 horsepower, McKeen car ever built, and the only one built using a six-wheel power truck. The power truck had two driving axles, rather than the normal one axle, with these two axles connected through the use of outside drive rod. The car was 58 feet long and weighed 91,000 pounds. (Keilty, p. 54)

In mid January 1917, just two weeks after its arrival, there were statements that the McKeen motor car was not efficient enough. (News-Advocate, January 18, 1917)

During the two weeks immediately following the June 25th flood caused by the break of Mammoth Dam, the Southern Utah continued to operate its passenger, express and mail traffic with the McKeen gasoline car. The car ran down to the washed out bridge, where the passengers and mail were transferred to automobiles and taken into Price over the county highway. On July 11, 1917, sixteen days after the Mammoth dam break that washed out its Price River bridge, the Southern Utah Railroad ended the operation of its line. All trains were operated over the Utah Railway, using Southern Utah and Castle Valley steam locomotives for the freight and coal traffic. The passenger, mail and express traffic was handled by the Utah Railway between the coal camps and Utah Railway Junction on the D&RG (where a boxcar served as a temporary depot) using the Southern Utah McKeen motor car. Immediately after the Price River bridge was washed out, all freight traffic was transferred to the Utah Railway. All of the coal traffic was already going out over the Utah Railway. (The Sun, July 13, 1917, p. 1, "last Wednesday", "Southern Utah Tied Up"; News-Advocate, July 12, 1917, "Price Loses The Hiawatha Train")

In mid July 1917, about three weeks after the Mammoth dam break, the newspapers again stated that the McKeen motor car was a failure on the Southern Utah grades. (The Sun, July 13, 1917)

The McKeen car was apparently used by Utah Railway for its passenger service as late as 1919. The bankruptcy of McKeen had been settled; rumors say that the engine and power truck were repossesed and removed, with the carbody being abandoned. To fill its passenger needs, Utah purchased a second-hand wooden combination car from Las Vegas & Tonapah. The Utah Railway 1937 Official Manual shows a 70-foot, six-axled combination passenger, baggage and mail coach purchased second hand on January 13, 1919 from the Las Vegas & Tonapah Railway. The passenger car was retired on March 2, 1927 and converted to outfit car number 05, which was retired on June 6, 1939.

The only other possible mention of the McKeen car was in the 1951 Chief Engineer's report on the condition of the railroad. On page 21, the chief engineer states "An old steel coach body was installed near the [Martin] enginehouse in 1939 and is used as a workshop by the General Electrician and as a locker building for the car men."

Records of the McKeen Motor Car Company show that only two cars were built in 1916, including Southern Utah 100. The last year of production was 1917 when only two cars were completed. Union Pacific M-24 was the last car built. Although never owned by Utah Railway, the Southern Utah car apparently remained on Utah Railway property pending disposition instructions from McKeen. At some unknown date (likely in 1919), the combination gasoline engine and six-wheel power truck was removed and sold. In 1939 the carbody was moved to a location adjacent to the shops at Martin for use as shop employee locker and storage room. The body was removed in 1992.

Recognizing the car's historical value, an employee removed the McKeen body from Utah Railway property by cutting the car into two pieces, then the body was moved to private property for use as a storage shed.

The following was posted to Trainorders.com on March 24, 2010 by user "donaldcurtis":

I can confirm that the carbody was sold for a nominal fee in 1991 to a former Utah employee who was working for Morrison-Knudsen at the time. He cut the body into two pieces through the side door location and loaded it onto his trailer to be taken to his small farm property to be used as a shed.

At the time of removal, the carbody had been disused for many years and was painted silver as I remember. You could still read the lettering for the Southern Utah under the silver paint. The employee in question was rehired by Utah Ry when they terminated the maintenance contract with Motive Power (successor to MK) but I don't know if he still works at Martin today.

Roster Information

Gasoline Car

Road
Number		 Length Builder Horse-
power		 Weight Builder
Number		 Builder
Date		 Date
Retired
100 58 feet, 3 inches McKeen 300 91,000 pounds   1916  

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