Loading

The Loop, S.P.R.R.

Carleton Watkinsabout 1876 - 1880

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

When tracks were laid for the new Southern Pacific Railroad, two teams raced to join each other, one moving south through the Central Valley and the other heading north from Los Angeles. Many geological obstacles along the route required innovative solutions, such as the circling Tehachapi Loop seen here.

After 1860, the railroad was a persistent subject in Carleton Watkins's photographs. As a close friend of Collis P. Huntington, one of the executives of the Central Pacific Railroad and its extension, the Southern Pacific, Watkins traveled along the railways for many years with complementary annual passes. He essentially functioned as an unofficial photographer of the railroads, often taking images on or near the new tracks.

Show lessRead more
  • Title: The Loop, S.P.R.R.
  • Creator: Carleton Watkins
  • Date Created: about 1876 - 1880
  • Physical Dimensions: 39.1 × 54 cm (15 3/8 × 21 1/4 in.)
  • Type: Print
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Albumen silver print
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 94.XM.109.3
  • Culture: American
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift in memory of Kathleen W. Naef
  • Creator Display Name: Carleton Watkins (American, 1829 - 1916)
  • Classification: Photographs (Visual Works)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Interested in History?

Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly

You are all set!

Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites