Victorian Railways McKeen Rail Motor Cars
Operating Manual
Latest news:

Rebuilt site 7 Aug 2014
Additional info
This site was begun in 2004 and after 2005, sat untouched by me due to a glitch that saw me unable to update it. Not that I had a lot to update. But with my other websites all needing to be rebuilt from scratch in 2014, I felt it was finally time to give this one a much-needed facelift too.
McKeen links:
Victorian Railways.net
McKeen Car website
McKeen Car wikipedia
McKeen Motor Car Co.
Brief history.
The 2 McKeen cars were imported from the McKeen Company of Omaha, USA in 1911 and entered service
with VR on 13.5.1912. They seated 73 passengers. One ran services between Hamilton - Warrnambool, the
other serving Ballarat - Maryborough.

They lasted in this service about 3 years. By 1919 the de-engined cars were in use as steam-hauled passenger
carriages on the Altona line.
I acquired an operating manual for these unusual cars - at a garage sale in the mid 1990s. And to date, it
appears to be the only surviving example. I'm happy to hear otherwise if you know of any others. This site
exists mostly to provide access to the manual for those interested in these rail motor cars, which were so
unreliable that they were withdrawn after only a few years service.
© 2014 Darren Hodges. Hobbies Plus, Stratford Vic. Australia
Template design by Andreas Viklund

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