4000+ fine-art prints suitable for framing. Desk-size to sofa-size and larger, on archival paper or canvas.
The Shorpy Gallery
Join and Share
Social Shorpy
To love him is to like him. Our goal: 100k "likes":
Recent comments
- That Plank
- Not exercising was not an option
- Fruit boots
- Times Have Changed!
- Thongs
- The Original Fitness Guru
- Need more light?
- Another marker
- No UHF
- The Real Workout
- Vehicle ID
- Corner of Washington & Market
- Jackpot
- Shy Shine
- Style
- Tins, paper and grease
- ..but not forgotten
- Einstein incognito
- My hometown!
- Lead
- I like that coat!
- Lost
- Which explains why...
- Paper drives
- Pregnant Marian
- Paper drive
- The 1942 scrap paper drives were very successful.
- Delivery Wagon
- All you need to make you Go
- All of That
Member Photos
Photos submitted by Shorpy members.
Colorized Photos
Colorized photos submitted by members.
About the Photos
Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.
Image Galleries
Search Shorpy
Today's Top 5
The Accident, Part 2
Submitted by Dave on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 12:23pm.
Tags:
November 12, 1906. "Accident at Michigan Central R.R. depot, Detroit." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Intact example
Submitted by akld_guy on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 7:30am.
Go here to see a loco and tender that appear to be very similar to the ones in the accident photo:
Motion capture
Submitted by MichaelD on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 1:03am.
Both of the photos of this accident show a lot of understanding of the delicate balance of what was possible in the available light with the emulsions available to the photographer at the moment. Many people wouldn't have bothered because they knew it wouldn't have been a completely sharp image. The photographer with an 8x10 would know the expense and time involved in developing and printing each shot. He chose to shoot it anyway.
The fact that motion blurred is not immaterial to these photos -- it brings a moment in time to life for me that I can't experience any other way.
These photos are great, as are the choices made in the transfer to digital here. I know it is not possible to pull detail and contrast out that is not in the original - but the result is very strong. Perhaps more so than the photographer might have chosen in a more "literal interpretation."
Doesn't matter -- this is a great pair. I love it.
Yikes!
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 6:58pm.
Imagine yourself sitting in that office with the collapsed floor, seconds before the train hits. I wonder if you could survive that.
Forensic trainspotting
Submitted by Torino on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 6:16pm.
The workmen are on top of the "sloped back" tender tank. These were used on switch engines to improve visibility when backing up. The backup light is in front of the guy with the shovel. Under the tender tank is one of the trucks that have been sheared off the underframe.
Buried in the building is the crushed cab of the engine.
THE 100-YEAR-OLD PHOTO BLOG
Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.
RSS | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Photo Use | © 2013 Shorpy Inc.
Today's Top 5