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Elevated steam train on a curving elevated track above a city street, circa 1900

Subjects
Railroads & TrainsStreet ScenesSubways & Elevated Rails
Card type
Printed photo
Date
c. 1907 (Golden Age)
Front of Elevated steam train on a curving elevated track above a city street, circa 1900, New York, NY, USA, c. 1907 printed photo postcard
Front
Back of Elevated steam train on a curving elevated track above a city street, circa 1900, New York, NY, USA, c. 1907 printed photo postcard
Back

About this postcard

A steam train with a dark green-painted locomotive and coaches curves along an elevated iron viaduct that sweeps across the front of a row of multi-story brick commercial buildings. Below the structure, street-level traffic — horse-drawn wagons, carts and pedestrians — moves along the shadowed roadway. The picture is rendered as a coarse halftone screen, typical of a letterpress reproduction of a photograph in the early 1900s, showing an urban elevated railway of the kind built in American cities such as New York and Chicago to carry passengers above congested streets.

Postcard Details

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POST CARD PUT ONE-CENT STAMP HERE THIS SPACE FOR CORRESPONDENCE FOR ADDRESS ONLY New York Elevated Roads.—A birdseye view of one of the systems of New York's Elevated Railways, in which city they were first built in America, in order to accommodate the rapidly increasing population of that city. Old and out of date buildings in the foreground; larger and more modern buildings in the rear.
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Postcard record

ConditionGood
Place mentionedNew York, NY
NotesHeavy visible halftone dot screen in sepia/black ink; no printed caption or imprint on the front; slight edge wear and a faint vertical line near the right edge. No postmark, stamp, address or message — unused card. Divided back with "THIS SPACE FOR CORRESPONDENCE" / "FOR ADDRESS ONLY" and a "PUT ONE-CENT STAMP HERE" box; coarse cream stock, undated private printing. Light soiling and a small stain at upper left.

Cite this card

Elevated steam train on a curving elevated track above a city street, circa 1900, postcard, c. 1907. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/elevated-steam-train-on-a-curving-elevated-track-above-a-cit. Accessed October 25, 2026.