H69.459.2426

• railroad

Photograph. Title: Chinese laying last Rail Image Description: (s539) see Title Physical Description: Stereographic collodion glass plate negative. Sub. Cat.: Transportation -- Railroads. Remarks: listed in Sedgwick's catalogue as "Chinese at Laying Last Rail".

Used: Union Pacific Railroad

Birth Location: Nunda, New York

Active Location:

Photographer for Union Pacific Railway Company

Nationality:

In 1868 at age thirty-eight Andrew J. Russell, painter and photographer, embarked on an expedition to document the construction of the Union Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad. Often times credited as the official photographer of the Union Pacific Railroad, Russell worked with complete cooperation of the railroad as he traveled across country with the railroad to Promontory Point, Utah. To complete his visual record of this historic event to unite the continent by rail-Russell would make three trips one in 1868 and two in 1869. On these trips he would travel with all of the equipment he would need to create his photographs. A typical inventory would include: an unwieldy and bulky 30-pound view camera, a stereo camera, lens, a darkroom tent, glass plates (which he cut himself in two sizes 10 by 13 inches for the view camera and 4 by 8 for the stereo) and many bottles of chemicals. Russell would then transport these fragile materials by wagon over steep and rocky terrain.

Gender: male