Summary
Two of these futuristic looking railcars were purchased from the McKeen Company of Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A. They had a 6 cylinder petrol engine and a passenger capacity of 73. Apparently they ran Ballarat to Maryborough and Hamilton to Warrnambool services. They must have been dismal failures as railmotors as they only lasted about 3 years. In 1919 they were de-engined and used as passenger cars (ABCL 1 & 2) on the Altona line for a few years. They were both recorded as scrapped in August 1926.
Description of Content
Three men posing in front of a McKeen petrol rail motor at an unknown Victorian location, possibly at Warrnambool. Two gentlemen smartly dressed in suits, overcoats and hats are standing in front of the engine driver's cabin on either side of the cow catcher, the third gentleman, also smartly dressed in smiilar style but with his hat in hand, it seated on the buffer beam at the front of the engine between the two standing figures. The men appear to be some type of professional railways staff or businessmen, rather than train crew.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Copied from Mrs H B Kirby, 29 Jun 1988
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Place & Date Depicted
Warrnambool (?), Victoria, Australia, circa 1912
This image was original identified as having been taken in Gippsland, however, this is no record of the McKeen rail cars having been operated or even testing on Gippsland lines. It is possible that the location was incorrectly identified because a number of other images copied from the same contributor depict scenes in Gippsland. Collections Online comment from Bruce Payne, 31/03/2012, suggests that the location where the photograph was taken may have been Warrnambool. -
Format
Negative, 35 mm, Black & White
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Classification
Rail transport, Railways - internal combustion power, Petrol rail motors
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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