WATKINS CARLETON E Ferrovia Central Pacific Sulle Montagne d

Sale 1925 - Lot 23

Price Realized: $ 29,900

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 30,000 - $ 40,000

WATKINS, CARLETON E.<>
"Ferrovia Central Pacific Sulle Montagne de California," Cape Horn, California. Albumen print, 15x21¼ inches, with a caption label affixed to mount recto; framed. Circa 1867

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Additional Details

Cape Horn is a rocky precipice carved into a mountainside along the Central Pacific line between Sacramento and Colfax, California. The narrow railroad bed was blasted into the side of the steep and rocky slope which afforded a spectacular view of the Sierras and overlooked the American River 1500 feet below. From as early as 1867, tourist guides and company public relations officials used Cape Horn as a selling point to visitors traveling the route. The train would stop to allow passengers to disembark, occassionally permitting them to climb on top of the train cars for optimum viewing. Though there were better views and steeper slopes above the snow line, most were obstructed by wooden snow sheds. Over time, legends and myths came about relating to the construction of the road bed including exaggerated stories of Chinese workers being dangled from above in handmade baskets.<