Sixty photographs by one or more unidentified photographers document the construction of the first railroad in Indochina, built between 1881 and 1886. The views depict station buildings and platforms, train sheds, railroad tracks and railroad bridges, both under construction and after completion.

A railway system meant to link the port city of Saigon with other towns and villages in the river delta, and ultimately to Mỹ Tho, the other major sea trade city to the south, was among the works begun by Cochinchina's (southern Vietnam) French civil governor, M. Le Myre de Vilers. The original extensive plans for this railway, which was to provide a new transportation system for moving raw materials into Saigon and ultimately to western Europe, were scaled back due to the French ministry's reluctance for funding such colonial ventures. Ultimately, only 77 kilometers of the railway were completed.

1 Linear Feet (60 photographs)

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