Inventor Name
Keller, William McKinley
Repository
Hagley Museum & Library
Manuscripts & Archives Department
P.O. Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
3.33 linear ft.; 410 items.
Summary
William McKinley Keller, a railroad mechanical engineer and executive, was born in Pittsburgh on August 29, 1901. He received his engineering training at the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State College. Keller entered the railroad industry in 1919 as an apprentice at the Altoona (Pa.) shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. By 1940 he had advanced through several inspector posts to the position of assistant engineer of the test department. In 1941 he became foreman of mechanical engineers at Philadelphia, then general foreman in car design in 1944, and assistant mechanical engineer for the whole system in 1945. In 1952 Keller joined the Association of American Railroads in Chicago as director of mechanical research. He became executive vice-chairman and director of research in the mechanical division in 1955 and assistant vice president of the operations and maintenance department in 1957. His final position was as vice president for research, when he directed the Association's Research Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He took part in four government-sponsored agency trips to foreign countries: to Russia in 1960 and 1966, to France in 1960, and to Japan in 1963. After retiring from the AAR in 1968, Keller became an independent consultant and consulting editor for PROGRESSIVE RAILROADING magazine. Keller held twelve patents and wrote sixty articles and papers and was recognized internationally for his achievements in engineering and research. Early in his career he made numerous improvements in steam locomotive design. After World War II he was responsible for further developments in the design of lightweight passenger cars and of passenger and freight car trucks. He is also noted for his work in the development of automatic car identification and rail-flaw detection techniques, as well as contributions in the hot-box field. His technical research was used in modernizing work rules. He died in Overbrook, Pa., on August 11, 1974. The papers of William M. Keller consist of manuals, research reports, articles, and similar records from his work with the Pennsylvania Railroad, the AAR and as an independent consultant. The Pennsylvania Railroad records include manuals, reference notebooks and compilations of data from the test and motive power departments. There are notes on lightweight passenger cars (1945), typescripts for pamphlets and lectures on the development of PRR motive power and a copy of a 1937 Altoona Test Plant report on the performance of the K4s locomotive at high speeds, the shortcomings of which led to the development of a new generation of duplex locomotives. The AAR records include correspondence dealing with research policy and with Keller's official appearances and trips. There are articles, notes and speeches, including a 24 page report on the AAR's research philosophy (1968) and another on technological progress in the railroad industry (1964). Among the technical studies are reports on train resistance, stresses in car bodies and studies to eliminate harmonic roll. The articles include two reports on Keller's trips to Russia. Keller's post-retirement work as a consultant includes an illustrated report on a 1968 collision on the Delaware River Port Authority's automated Lindenwold High-Speed Line, a report on the push-pull commuter cars being developed by Pullman-Standard for the Erie Lackawanna, and a report by Keller on the Penn Central bankruptcy. The last series includes five non-AAR research reports and personal correspondence, primarily related to promotions, retirement and testimonials. The photographs are maintained by the Pictorial Collections Department and consist of 406 views of locomotives, equipment details, AAR meetings and banquets, and albums of Keller's trips to Russia and Japan.