A Full Team on the Sierras - From the Central Pacific Railroad, No. 1286 from the series "Central Pacific Railroad"
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Each image: 8 × 7.7 cm (3 3/16 × 3 1/16 in.); Card: 8.8 × 17.5 cm (3 1/2 × 6 15/16 in.)
Classification
stereograph (albumen)
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
143969
Art Historical Context
Thomas Houseworth’s 1867 stereograph, “A Full Team on the Sierras,” captures a moment during the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad through California’s rugged Sierra Nevada. Produced as an albumen print on a distinctive double-image card, the work was designed to be viewed through a stereoscope, creating a vivid three-dimensional effect that distant landscapes and engineering feats into parlors across America. Houseworth, a San Francisco photographer, contributed numerous views to the “Central Pacific Railroad” series, documenting the ambitious project that would link the nation by ...