Railroad Trestle Bridge, Central Pacific Railroad, 1870s

Railroad Trestle Bridge, Central Pacific Railroad, 1870s depicts a steam locomotive crossing a soaring curved wooden trestle through forested mountain terrain, rendered in the fine crosshatched linework of a 19th-century American engraving. The structure's scale and engineering ambition reflect the transcontinental railroad-building era, when wooden trestle bridges like this one carried locomotives across the steep canyons of the American West.

Railroad Trestle Bridge, Central Pacific Railroad, 1870s. 19th-Century American Engineering Canvas Print.