Technical Specifications

All Pullman cars, until 1948, were owned by the Pullman company itself. They were leased to operating railroads and serviced and staffed by the Pullman Company. The Pullman Company "monopoly" was broken up in 1948 and its cars were spread out among all the different railroads individually. The McKeever was allocated to the MKT. Its records show the McKeever as one of the nine Pullmans it owned in 1954. The others were the Kimbell, the McCaysville, the Lake Jessie, the McCumber, the McLeod, the McCallsburg, the McInnes and the Sunnyside. The McKeever is 82 feet, 11 inches long externally, with an interior passenger area 73 feet, 10 inches long. It seats 55 passengers and has both a men's and women's toilet area, one at each end of the car, for the sake of propriety, no doubt. The men's area is larger, and is also designated as the smoking room. The car has twelve sections, with 27 sleeping berths, plus an open drawing room area.



More external images of the Pullman McKeever at TTM

As an old-fashioned steel 'heavy weight' car in a streamlined age, the McKeever ended its days in service as a regular passenger car on short distance local branch lines. One of the museum's charter members, Dr. Bill Boyd, acquired the car in 1966, when the MKT exited the passenger business altogether. He had it transported to his property on Lake Placid, near Seguin, Texas. There is was used as a summer house by his family, especially his two daughters, who would have sleep overs in it with their friends. A subsequent owner of the property, Dr. John Worsham, donated the car to the museum in 1983. He also paid for the not inconsiderable expense of moving it from Seguin to the museum.

External restoration of the Pullman McKeever, November 2016

The exterior of the McKeever, along with the adjacent 404 business car, was repainted in 2016. This project, which included repairs and the application of silver sealant to the roof, was accomplished thanks to a generous donation by two local companies, "Mission Pharmacal" and "Southwestern Motor Transport." The Texas Transportation Museum is deeply appreciative of their assistance towards preserving this historically significant railroad car for the future.

TTM thanks Mission Pharmacal and Southwestern Motor Transport for their generous donations towards the exterior restoration of the McKeever in 2016

Interior images of the Pullman McKeever at TTM

Since its arrival at the museum, The McKeever has been the subject of much restoration work, usually with one major project once a decade. Its roof and sides have been restored and repainted. Most of the windows have been repaired or replaced. Most of the seats have been re-upholstered. This work was done in the 1990s by the two person team of Frank Miller and Pete Shavney.

Beginning In the summer of 2009, Bill and Connie Foster "adopted" the McKeever and the 404 Business Car." Despite the sweltering heat, they thoroughly the cars and installed new carpets. They then set about placing period correct items and adding much needed descriptive signs Their efforts yielded stunning results. Visitors now get a much better sense of how the kind of experience travelers had and how proud railroads were of their passenger rolling stock.