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Views of the railroad from Saigon to Mỹ Tho
2003.R.1
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Title: Views of the railroad from Saigon to Mỹ Tho
Date (inclusive): 1881-1886
Number: 2003.R.1
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
(60 photographs)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: 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.
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Language: Collection material is in
French .
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.
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Views of the railroad from Saigon to Mỹ Tho, 1881-1886, The Getty Research Institute, Los
Angeles, Accession no. 2003.R.1.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cif2003r1
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired in 2013.
Beth Ann Guynn processed the collection in 2003 and wrote the finding aid in 2022.
The collection was digitized by the repository in 2002 and the images are available
online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2003r1
The repository holds another photograph related to the Société générale des tramways à
vapeur Cochinchine (SGTVC). See: Inaugural run of the Société générale des tramways à vapeur
Cochinchine, Special Collections accession no. 2017.R.15.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises sixty albumen photographs by one or more unidentified
photographers that 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. French
colonial engineers, officials, and other railroad personnel, as well as indigenous workers
are present in some views and are usually shown lined up along railroad tracks, bridges, and
construction sites to record milestones in the project's progress.
Arranged in a single series: Series I. Views of the railroad from Saigon to Mỹ Tho,
1881-1886.
Railroads -- Vietnam
Railroad stations -- Vietnam
Railroad bridges -- Vietnam
Railroad construction workers -- Vietnam
Vietnam -- Description and travel
France -- Colonies -- Vietnam
Photographs, Original.
Albumen prints -- 19th century -- Vietnam