Newspaper advertisement placed by Alfred Hart in Reno, 1868.
While Alfred A. Hart created for the Central Pacific Railroad an “official” collection of 364 stereo views, he made (and published) many others. Some of these were variants of the official cards. Others were of subjects he photographed at locations close to the railroad construction activity. There may be in excess of 500 Hart CP-related stereo cards in all.
In editing Waiting for the Cars it was necessary to make decisions based on the limited number of pages available, the story told by each card, and its photographic quality and potential 3D impact. On this page we’re presenting a dozen cards not included in the book. The cards are sequenced here in order of their distance west from Sacramento.
Click on the stereo card to see its 3D anaglyph. Information on obtaining the required 3D glasses is here. These 3D glasses are included with the book.
Bloomer Cut, near Auburn. 800 feet long and 63 feet high. This view, of course, is referenced in the title Waiting for the Cars.. However the difficult 3D perspective here excluded it from the book. Click on the card to view in 3D.American River and Canyon from Cape Horn. River below RR 1400 feet.Click on the card to view in 3D.The Huntington at Alta. This is one of the very few Hart views of locomotives excluded from the book, due to its high contrast and lack of detail. Click on the card to view in 3D.Cisco. Train Leaving Passenger Depot. Turntable and Engine H. The town of Cisco, once a bustling end-of-track, no longer exists.Click on the card to view in 3D.Old Man Mountain. It is possible that Alfred A. Hart is one of the men seen below. Click on the card to view in 3D.Roof of Snow Gallery. The book features ten photographs of snow sheds in the mountains. This is one not included in the book. Click on the card to view in 3D.Stumps Cut by Donner Party in 1846. While this is certainly an evocative scene, a reminder of how high the snow was in that terrible winter of 1846, it was omitted from the book since it is unrelated to the railroad. Click on the card to view in 3D.Boca. Crossing of Little Truckee. This is a alternate view of this subject. The version used in the book features a locomotive on the bridge, pulling a trainload of cars filled with crossties. Click on the card to view in 3D.Piute Indians. Hart may have assembled this group of Piute men at the same Reno location where he made the portrait in the previous card. While in Reno, the photographer opened a portrait studio for a short time. Click on the card to view in 3D.Indian Viewing R.R. from top of Palisades. Hart must have spent some time working with his subject and experimenting with different poses. The version most often seen, and the one used in the book, is a much stronger composition, with the man standing beside the rock. Click on the card to view in 3D.
