Old train photos
Photographs of the railroads from the 1860s to the 1940s: steam locomotives, passenger stations, freight yards, train crews and the lines that crossed the country.
Why they are free to use: Most were published before 1931 or made by US government photographers. Each photo's page shows its own licence basis and a credit line.
Steam locomotives
Search “steam locomotive pulling a train” for more, or ask Claude for it
PRR-T1
1943-02 · Library of Congress
Northern Pacific train on Bozeman Pass, June 1939
1939-06 · Library of Congress
Lumber camp locomotive02
1937-04 · Library of Congress
Ducktown train
1939-09 · Wikimedia Commons
Chicago, Illinois. Double header Pennsylvania railroad train pulling out of Union station. The building in the background is the United States Post Office
1943 · Wikimedia Commons
Log train02
1937-04 · Library of Congress
PRR 6100 1943
1943-02 · Library of Congress
Civil War era locomotive and clerestory-roofed passenger cars (cropped from Mathew Brady photo)
c. 1863 · Wikimedia Commons
Stations
Search “railroad station with a waiting train” for more, or ask Claude for it
Civil War locomotive and clerestory-roofed passenger cars at junction (Mathew Brady photo)
c. 1863 · Wikimedia Commons
Locomotive at Randolph station, September 1937
1937-09 · Library of Congress
Freight train at Randolph station, September 1937
1937-09 · Library of Congress
Magnolia station 1906
c. 1906 · Library of Congress
Montrose Station 1940
1940-09 · Library of Congress
Trenes en estacion adrogue 1920
1920 · Wikimedia Commons
All are aboard, and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) train is ready for departure from the Durango, Colorado, station, which was built in 1882 and has been maintained in its original state Physical description:. Notes: The D&SNG is a narr
1882 · Library of Congress
Railway station at Weirs
1890–1906 · Library of Congress
Crews and yards
Search “railroad workers in a train yard” for more, or ask Claude for it
Workers at the roundhouse of the C & NW RR i.e. Chicago and North Western railroad Proviso Yard, Chicago, Ill.
1942-12 · Library of Congress
Track repair work at the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad, Bensenville, Ill. Track repair and work on the cinder pits at the roundhouse
1943-05 · Library of Congress
Elkins Yard 1939d
1939-06 · Library of Congress
Women in essential services. Women are employed as railroad workers by the Southern Pacific Company in San Francisco. With increasing numbers of men leaving their jobs for the armed forces, women are stepping into new and essential work vital to civilian life Creator(s): Rosener, Ann, photographer R
1943 · Library of Congress
Workers at the roundhouse of the C & NW RR Proviso Yard, Chicago, Ill.
1942-12 · Library of Congress
Two employees at the roundhouse at Proviso yard, C & NW RR i.e. Chicago and North Western railroad, Chicago, Ill.
1942-12 · Library of Congress
Track repair work at the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad, Bensenville, Ill. Track repair and work on the cinder pits at the roundhouse
1943-05 · Library of Congress
Two employees at the roundhouse at Proviso yard, C & NW RR., Chicago, Ill.
1942-12 · Library of Congress
Finding photos for a script?
Add Find Any Photo to Claude and ask for photos for each part of your script. Claude searches this index, shows you the matches and writes the credit lines.
Add to Claude for free