Lot 91 email save

R.R. FERRY "SOLANO" MAMMOTH ALBUMEN C. WATKINS

RAILROAD FERRY "SOLANO" MAMMOTH PLATE BY CARLETON WATKINS. 15" x 22" albumen print on white board mount. When it was built in 1879 the Solano was the largest such ferry in the world, built to carry the railroad from Contra Costa across the Carquinez Straits on its way to San Francisco. Watkins has carefully arranged the picture to take advantage of the symmetric strict verticals and the diagonal lines of the tracks, with the people posed at various distances. A locomotive is seen at back left, and the rear car of another train at right. Watkins made a stereo view from the same camera position, but this monocular view still has a strong stereoscopic feel. This a fine print with even tones, slight crazing of the surface in spots seen at an angle. [3+]

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