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First Train on the Central Pacific
Railroad
Painting by Joseph Hubert Becker
Becker was a "special artist" creating wood engraving images for Harper's Weekly Newspaper in the 1860's, and later for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, where he was superintendent of Leslie's Art Department (1875-1900).1 See: "Across the continent, the snow sheds on the Central Pacific Railroad, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains." Engraving from a sketch by Joseph Becker. One source (unverified) states that he "travelled west aboard the first cross-Rockies Pullman train in 1869 and sketched Chinese workers during a six-week stay in California."
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Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia, Centennial Ink Blotter (detail)
Courtesy CPRR.org Collection.
First train on the transcontinental railroad arrives
at the Oakland Pier, pulled by CPRR Engine No. 116.