Teen brings historic McKeen car to Ramona

After 1-1/2 years of fundraising, a Ramona teenager is finally going to experience his dream of restoring a piece of San Diego history.

On Sunday afternoon, March 20, Madison Kirkman welcomed the arrival of the 1908 McKeen Motor Car, known as the “Cuyamaca,” after its 10-day journey from Anchorage, Alaska, where it had sat for the past 15 years. The 55-foot, 12,000-pound historic motor car rode into Ramona on a flatbed truck.

“It feels quite amazing to have brought her back to San Diego County,” Kirkman said. “I have been looking at the car and have discovered new bits of information every day.”

The Cuyamaca is one of three surviving McKeen Motor Cars in the world, according to Kirkman, and is one of the only surviving pieces of equipment from the San Diego, Cuyamaca & Eastern Railway on which it ran from 1908 to 1914. On its route, the motor car transported passengers to the former community of Foster, near today’s San Vicente Reservoir, and from there people could take a stagecoach to Ramona, said Kirkman.

In 1914, the Cuyamaca was sold to the Yuma Valley Railroad, and then in 1926 it was sent to Alaska for use on the Alaska Railroad. During World War II it served the 714th Battalion for troop transport, according to the teen’s research.

The 17-year-old first became intrigued with the rail car and its aerodynamic design about five years ago and has plans to restore the Cuyamaca.

Kirkman said he would like to get it running again on the tracks from San Diego to Santee, like it did in 1908, so people can have the experience of riding it. To have this opportunity means a lot, he said, “particularly because of the San Diego history.”

Getting the Cuyamaca here was no small feat. Through his research, Kirkman found that the Cuyamaca was in the possession of Anchorage Historical Properties and contacted the group. In 2014, Anchorage Historical Properties called to say he could have the rail car if he paid to have it transported.

Kirkman raised $15,000 to cover the expense of having the rail car lifted onto a trailer at the yard where it sat in Anchorage, then moved to a shipyard and loaded onto a steamship that took it to Seattle, where it was loaded onto a flatbed truck and driven all the way to Ramona.

Although the car is basically a shell, Kirkman plans to restore it to “factory condition.” He estimates that will cost about $1 million and could take a decade.

“I’m probably going to do most of the work on it,” the Ramona High School junior said.

Kirkman, son of Woody and Dawn Kirkman, said the McKeen car is on a concrete slab in their yard and the first work will be the documentation and stabilization stages.

“The hardest part now is going to be rebuilding the nose and the rear end, both were damaged/replaced,” he said in an email.

Kirkman said that once the Cuyamaca is restored, “I would like museums to sponsor the car to come to their museum and run.”

More information about the McKeen cars and the journey of the Cuyamaca is available at www.facebook.com/McKeenMotorCar/timeline.