Pictured here, around 1910, is a 6-cylinder gasoline powered, McKeen railroad motor car. The cars were manufactured in Omaha Nebraska. Unfortunately, the McKeen engines struggled with the grade of the railroad track in the Valley, and their use was soon discontinued. The cars featured unusual porthole style windows which were a McKeen trademark.
In June of 1910, a terrible accident happened on the railroad bridge at “death curve” just south of Boulder Creek. It was the last railroad bridge before the town and had a sharp curve preventing the driver from seeing more that 60 feet ahead.
The Garretty family were on their way to visit friends, the Winkleblecks who lived on the east side of the San Lorenzo River, and were on the trestle bridge that crossed the river when a motor car approached. They seemed to have forgotten the railroad timetable. The father and their three children were walking ahead, the mother behind. As the car approached the rush of the water below drowned the noise of the engine. Her husband shouted to her but in vain. The wife was killed instantly and the children were hurled to the ground.
The bridge crossed the property called “Lachesa”, the summer home if A. M. Anthony. He and a Mr. and Mrs. Ascher of Berkeley rushed down to pick up the injured children. At the inquest the verdict delivered was accidental death; the driver was exonerated, but the railroad company was severely admonished for not providing the motor with a heavy-duty whistle.
Image: The Felton Volunteer Firemen Present This ... Commemorative Issue 1892 - 1967, San Lorenzo Valley Museum.
A bit of history about the cars from Railroad Street.
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