'Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works, Paterson, New Jersey.' Large Albumen photograph on printed card, of a St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Company Engine.
Paterson NJ: 1887. An imposing photograph of a Mogul Locomotive made by the Rogers Locomotive Company, laid onto a printed broadside. The photograph measures 28 3/4 x 13", the broadside, 32 x 18". Rogers Locomotive was an important New Jersey maker of railroad steam locomotives founded in 1832, whose most famous engine was "The General". This locomotive was built in 1855 and was one of the principals of the "Great Locomotive Chase", an April 1862 military raid in Georgia in which Union volunteers commandeered "The General" and used it to damage the vital rail line between Atlanta and Chattanooga.
Below the image at the left is "J. Reid, Photographist". John Reid (1835 - 1911) was a noted local photographer who specialized in stereoscopic views and large format outdoor photography, especially pictures of locomotives. Reid was commissioned by Rogers to produce images of trains for promotional purposes. He used Scovill's view boxes made by the American Optical Company with Morrison wide aperture lenses, and Scovill's pearl paper for printing. Reid printed his own pictures and relied on his own emulsion, a superior one which wasn't subject to the rapid deterioration common in photographs of the time. Reid exhibited at Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and received medals at the Paris Exposition (1878) and Chicago's Columbian Exhibition (1893).
The broadside can be dated 1887 because Reuben Wells was appointed shop superintendent in that year; his name is stamped below the other printed printed names below the image, which read "J. S. Rogers, Pres., Reuben Wells, Supt. and R. S. Hughes, Treasurer 44 Exchange Place, New York".
The locomotive in the albumen photograph is marked "St. P. M. & M." and is numbered 324. This was the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Company which was organized in 1879.
Small paper fault at the lower center, otherwise very good + condition. Item #24219
Price: $1,250.00