McKeen Car in O Scale

I have a doodlebug just waiting for the McKeen body. Please let me know when these are available.

@Dave Koehler: I tend to prefer dual motors since my layout has grades, but I have had satisfactory results with single motors in some projects. It's all in how you add weights to the locomotive! The Railking Doodlebug has a very heavy frame and thick castings inside the trucks so I suspect it would work alright with just one motor.

@colorado hirailer: That's a good tip on the Buddy kits. I'm looking in to picking up one of those for future experimentation.

@RoyBoy: You won't have much longer to wait. I've finished the file adjustments for the production kits and have been printing the final revision over the last three days. I will start formally taking orders as soon as I'm happy with my printing process.

The very first prototype McKeen car is fully assembled!

Here's that sharp knife-edged bow that we all know and love. The production kits will come with two pilots, a solid pilot and a spoked one, both slightly improved from the one you see on this prototype.

Here's the view from the stern. The mail trailer shows the color scheme I'm planning for my personal McKeen (Rustoleum Colonial Red with faded gold decals). I will be offering these trailer kits to accompany the McKeens in case anyone is interested.

The three body sections bolt to the frame using ten of the Doodlebug's original screw holes. There are 4 mounting posts in the bow, 4 posts in the stern and 2 posts in the center section. The two ends overlap the center section so everything lines up nicely. The mounting posts are sized for 1/2" to 3/4" length #4 wood screws.

The Doodlebug's original rear coupler was about 1/2" too short for the new frame, so I fabricated and printed up a new coupler. These are the same sturdy couplers used in my Whitcomb and Borden Milk Car builds with a lengthened shank. They fit to the MTH truck's coupler pocket using all of the original hardware. I will include one of these with each kit so you don't have to hunt around for a special coupler.

As I promised RoyBoy, the first of the production kits is about 3/4 done, I should have the whole kit finished by tomorrow evening and I will start taking orders then. Look for an update with the final print, formal pricing and build schedule in the very near future!

minor edit to finish a sentence

I'll be waiting to see your final listing for the kits.

The first production McKeen kit is ready to go-- on time and under budget! I am officially taking orders for McKeen Car body conversion kits!

Here are the contents of each 72ft McKeen Car kit. There are 3 body sections, a power truck frame, two idler truck subframes, two pilots and a long-shanked coupler.

You can see how the body sections slide together. As I demonstrated in the prototype build, all of the screw bosses you see align with existing holes in the MTH Railking Doodlebug's frame for easy conversion.

Each kit will ship with two pilots so you can choose which one suits your fancy.

I am also offering the 40-foot mail car kits! Each kit contains 1 40' scale body, 4 opening doors and 1 hand-cut brass frame so you can mount the trucks and couplers of your choosing.

I will cut and install the door guide wires for you. These keep the doors from falling out or sliding around.

And now at long last, here's how you can get your very own McKeen!

What You Can Order

72-foot McKeen Car kit: $125 plus shipping

40-foot McKeen mail trailer kit: $75 plus shipping

72-foot McKeen Car and 40-foot mail trailer kits together: $200 with free shipping!

How To Order

I will be taking reservations for the next 7 days (from 1/28/22 to 2/4/22). Send me an email at the address on my OGR profile to make your reservation. Tell me which kit or kits you would like and give me your mailing address so I can calculate the postage. Each kit takes a solid 4 days of printer time so there will probably be a waiting list (I will try to estimate wait times as best I can). I will issue you an invoice when your order is complete and ready to ship.

I now have 1 McKeen kit and 1 trailer kit fully printed and enough material on hand to manufacture 2 additional McKeens, which should keep my printer whirring for another week and a half. I will order enough additional material to fulfill however many reservations I receive in the next week. Looking forward to fulfilling your decade-long quest for the O Scale McKeen!

Will you consider a floor for both for those that want this in two-rail?

E mail sent

Email sent. Wish I had been watching this thread more closely and sent an email sooner.

@RoyBoy posted:

Email sent. Wish I had been watching this thread more closely and sent an email sooner.

Roy, how do you plan on building yours?

@Dave Koehler posted:

Roy, how do you plan on building yours?

Don't understand your question. Can you clarify?

I have a doodlebug for the running gear. Not sure what the paint job will be. There is a nicely restored McKeen in northern Nevada and it is a nice color.

I am not a fan of Union Pacific, after they tried to get all the toy train companies to pay royalties and MTH's lawyers quashed that.

Who else had McKeen cars? Are there any color pictures?

One of the three Kealty books on gas electrics, "Interurbans Without Wires" lists three pages of roads, big and small, that used McKeens.  Erie, LA and San Diego Beach, Pgh and Silver Creek, CNW, SP, NP, ATSF, RI, and the Denver, Larimee, and Western, which went to Great Western (the one l want to model), and then to UP to last until 1944! Just a few on the fine printed list.   One was rebuilt as a steam car, and then as a gas electric. So, in addition to Cuba and Australia, one ran near you.  (Didn't see one in Maine, but list is by road name and not by location)

Here are several pictures from the Nevada Train Museum. May be of help with painting and decaling Ken’s models.

@RoyBoy posted:

Don't understand your question. Can you clarify?

I have a doodlebug for the running gear. Not sure what the paint job will be. There is a nicely restored McKeen in northern Nevada and it is a nice color.

I am not a fan of Union Pacific, after they tried to get all the toy train companies to pay royalties and MTH's lawyers quashed that.

Who else had McKeen cars? Are there any color pictures?

Sorry, was tired when posted the question.  And I see you are using the doodlebug . I have mine prepped, had planned on  an interior, so I removed the rear motor , but Im not sure , what to do with the metal floor, or the cab area. do you have any plans?

As far as color photo's the closest I have seen are a couple of are a couple of colorized post cards  all in that maroon.

Here are some pictures of a father and son, now both deceased, who built three McKeens for use on a private property layout. I think these are 15" gauge units. All hand built, painted and lettered. for the Woodstock and Sycamore Ry. My wife and I were able to run these during our visits, many years ago. They are wonderful models, and I have no idea where they are today. I am just learning how to use my Epsom scanner, so these may not be the best.

Is the light colored roof generally what was used? The Virginia city car and the 15" home built cars have them.

I can understand that for keeping the passengers cool, but would think that most doodlebug-type passenger vehicles would have black tar paper roofs.

I like this. Gonna check my slush fund.

@AGHRMatt posted:

I like this. Gonna check my slush fund.

It should be a fun build.  From what I have seen , there is from the factory( in the early 1900's) rebuilds repowered and modified through the 1940's , the body its self must have been built well!

@PRRMP54: I've thought about designing a floor for the McKeen car. It would be nice to provide for opening doors and a real "entryway" behind the lower door. I have experimented with 3D printed frames before. I may revisit this once I clear my current backlog of jobs.

@Jan: Resin printers have their upsides, but there are some definite downsides too. I have found that resin prints tend to be brittle, the support material is tedious to cut off and both the resin and the chemicals used to clean the parts are thoroughly unpleasant to work with (most resins are corrosive, have a short shelf life and stink to high heaven!). I've been researching some of the late-model resin printers and low-fume resins but haven't found a wholly satisfactory solution yet.

It's Friday the 4th and time is almost out-- reservations for 72' McKeen Cars will be closed at midnight EST. I have taken orders for seven 72' McKeen Car kits and three 40' mail trailer kits. I have just shipped out the first 4 kits (the respective Forumites have been notified) and I will be printing up and sending out the remaining six over the next several weeks. Thank you for your support and feedback in this very interesting production project!

Silly question but has snyone attempted to swap the wheels out of an MTH railking truck block so a larger drive wheel is in the front and a smaller [drive] wheel is in the rear just like the 1:1 McKeen car?

@prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Silly question but has snyone attempted to swap the wheels out of an MTH railking truck block so a larger drive wheel is in the front and a smaller [drive] wheel is in the rear just like the 1:1 McKeen car?

that  wont work the car will look higher in the front and lower in the back. the axel center is on the front axel would have to be raised to compensate   for the larger wheel.

I should have mine next week and we shall see