Carleton Watkins, View on Lake Tahoe
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles · Digital image courtesy of Getty's Open Content ProgramView original →
Carleton Watkins

View on Lake Tahoe

1877

Current Collection

J. Paul Getty Museum

Los Angeles, United States

Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
40.3 × 52.7 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-697832

Standing between two sets of rails, Carleton Watkins photographed a busy pair of tracks above Carson Valley, Nevada. His shadow and that of his mammoth-plate camera indicate his precarious position on the steep grade in the foreground. A single engineer stands near the empty track curving around a mountain on the left, having already observed the train that heads away from the trestle on the right. Beneath these tracks, another steam engine pulling lumber on multiple flatbed cars makes its way around a sharp curve. The wood carried by these trains was an essential material for building the railroad and for operating steam engines. Lumber served as ties beneath the iron rails, telegraph poles lining the route, and fuel for wood-burning steam engines.

Provenance

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Registry history

  • 1877 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum — photographs

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