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1920s Cape Codder Express Train Wreck New Haven RR Glass Negatives 2 OOAK
Pair of two (2) original antique gelatin silver glass plate camera negatives taken by Boston Herald-Traveler staff photographer Leslie Jones, documenting a major freight and passenger line disaster involving the Cape Codder Express route on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
Preserved directly within the historic press morgue of the Boston Herald-Traveler, these low-angle field exposures record the catastrophic mechanical destruction along the Cape Cod mainline, capturing splintered rolling stock, sheared roadbeds, and recovery operations.
Historical & Visual Content:
Plate 1 — Tracklevel Wreckage & Derrick Clearance: A dramatic ground-level perspective looking directly down the disrupted roadbed. Twisted and curled steel rails rip upward from splintered ties in the foreground, flanked by overturned car wheel trucks. In the middle ground, an investigator in a summer suit and straw boater inspects the wreckage alongside an active rail steam crane derrick working to clear the right-of-way.
Plate 2 — Telescoped & Crushed Boxcars: Low rail-height angle documenting the accordion-like impact of the collision. Wooden-sheathed and corrugated steel freight boxcars lie completely crushed and split open, their loads spilling across the ballasted right-of-way beneath rising steam or dust plumes along the tree-lined embankment.
Railroad Significance: The Cape Codder was the premier passenger express operated by the New Haven Railroad, ferrying travelers between New York, Boston, and the summer colonies of Cape Cod. These dramatic news exposures show the immense destructive power and tangled wreckage resulting from main-line high-speed derailments of the 1920s.
Format: Pair of two (2) antique silver gelatin glass plate original camera negatives.
Dimensions: Standard 4 x 5 inches per plate.
Please Note: This listing is for the two (2) physical antique glass plate negatives only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual reference to demonstrate how the negatives print. No physical paper photographs, modern prints, or reproduction prints are included.
Condition:Very Good antique condition. Both heavy glass plates are structurally sound, flat, and complete with no breaks or cracks through the image areas. The gelatin silver emulsions remain sharp, deep, and stable, capturing incredible contrast and detail across the twisted iron rails, sheared wheel assemblies, wood grain splintering, and trackside vegetation. Displays expected authentic period newsroom edge frilling and minor margin handling wear confined entirely outside the active image frames.
The glass plate negative measures 4 x 5In.
If you collect glass negatives, please check out our collection in our store. We are currently listing thousands of original glass photo negatives from this DJD collection through the remainder of the year. Follow our store, and feel free to reach out about any questions about the negatives in this collection.
Ships with extreme care in archival materials to ensure safe transit. Feel free to reach out with any requests or questions).
Combined shipping is available (with other glass negatives)
