This stereograph was probably made to commemorate the arrival of the immense steam engine that fills the composition. Proud-looking Midland Railroad employees pose on and around the locomotive, providing a sense of scale and signifying that the engine's arrival was a momentous occasion. While one man hangs onto the decorative ironwork supporting the engine's headlight, another stands in front of its enormous wheels. Four additional men sit at the rear, on top of the stacked wood that powered this "iron horse."