Finding aid for the Views of the railroad from Saigon to Mỹ Tho, 1881-1886
Beth Ann Guynn
Descriptive Summary
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 .
Biographical / Historical
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.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
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.
Processing Information
Beth Ann Guynn processed the collection in 2003 and wrote the finding aid in 2022.
Digitized Material
The collection was digitized by the repository in 2002 and the images are available
online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2003r1
Related Materials
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.
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series: Series I. Views of the railroad from Saigon to Mỹ Tho,
1881-1886.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Topics
Railroads -- Vietnam
Railroad stations -- Vietnam
Railroad bridges -- Vietnam
Railroad construction workers -- Vietnam
Subjects - Places
Vietnam -- Description and travel
France -- Colonies -- Vietnam
Genres and Forms of Material
Photographs, Original.
Albumen prints -- 19th century -- Vietnam
Series I.
Views of the railroad from Saigon to Mỹ Tho,
1881-1886
Link to digitized version
Arrangement
In no discernable order; collection arranged by the archivist.
Box 1
2003.R.1-1
[Train Stopped at a Rural Station]
Scope and Content Note
This is a slightly cropped version of 2013.R.1-56.
Box 1
2003.R.1-2
[Buildings under Construction along Railroad Tracks]
Box 1
2003.R.1-3
[Train Shed, Station, and Lumber]
Scope and Content Note
Wet stamp of a shield on verso; the text below it is not legible.
Box 1
2003.R.1-4
[Water Buffalo and Rider at Railway Station Construction Site]
Box 1
2003.R.1-5
[Railroad Tracks and Buildings under Construction]
Box 1
2003.R.1-6
[Surveyor in front of a Building under Construction]
Box 1
2003.R.1-8
[View of a Train Station with Partially Laid Tracks]
Scope and Content Note
See 2003.R.1-16 for the same view with a man standing in the arch at the end of the
portico.
Box 1
2003.R.1-9
[View across Field to Train Shed, Station, and Other Buildings]
Box 1
2003.R.1-10
[View Looking down Train Track to Station and Buildings under
Construction]
Box 1
2003.R.1-11
[Train Station and Railroad Tracks]
Box 1
2003.R.1-12
[Bến Lức Station]
Box 1
2003.R.1-13
[Tân An Station with Train]
Box 1
2003.R.1-14
[Train Cars in Sheds]
Box 1
2003.R.1-15
[Locomotive Stopped at a Train Station]
Box 1
2003.R.1-16
[Train Station with Man Standing in Archway]
Scope and Content Note
See See 2003.R.1-8 for the same view without a man standing in the arch at the end of
the portico.
Box 1
2003.R.1-17
[Train Station Construction Site]
Box 1
2003.R.1-18
[Train Station Loggia]
Box 1
2003.R.1-19
[Platform Shelter in front of Thatched Buildings]
Box 1
2003.R.1-20
[Train Station and Yard with Construction Materials]
Box 1
2003.R.1-21
[Train Station with Tracks under Construction]
Box 1
2003.R.1-22
[Phu-Lan Station]
Scope and Content Note
Phù Lãng (?)
Box 1
2003.R.1-23
[Officials Standing along Track Waiting for Train]
Box 1
2003.R.1-24
[View across Field to Train Bridge and Buildings on a Ridge]
Box 1
2003.R.1-25
[View across Field to Train Bridge and Crowds on a Ridge]
Box 1
2003.R.1-26
[Crowds along Ridge with Railroad Bridge and Path of Railroad
Track]
Box 1
2003.R.1-27
[Crowds along Ridge with Railroad Bridge]
Scope and Content Note
The photograph is numbered in the upper right corner in pencil: 40.
Box 1
2003.R.1-28
[Train Sheds and Trains with Four Railroad Personnel]
Box 1
2003.R.1-29
[Officials and Building Materials in front of Thatched Buidlings]
Box 1
2003.R.1-30
[Railroad Bridge under Construction]
Box 1
2003.R.1-31
[View of the End of a Railroad Bridge under Construction]
Box 1
2003.R.1-32
[Railroad Bridge Spanning a Small River]
Box 1
2003.R.1-33
[Long Railroad Bridge Spanning a River]
Box 1
2003.R.1-34
[Railway Bridge]
Box 1
2003.R.1-35
[Railway Bridge Spanning Large Body of Water with Two Men Seated in
Foreground]
Box 1
2003.R.1-36
[Baskets and Person alongside a Railway Bridge]
Box 1
2003.R.1-37
[Railway Bridge and Boats]
Box 1
2003.R.1-38
[Cement Railway Bridge]
Box 1
2003.R.1-39
[Laborers Working on the Underside of a Railroad Bridge]
Box 1
2003.1-40
[Laborers on Platform of Railroad Bridge]
Box 1
2003.1-41
[Laborers Standing on Bến Lức Railroad Bridge under Construction]
Scope and Content Note
Written in negative: Bến Lức.
Box 1
2003.1-42
[Construction of a Railroad Bridge across a Wide Body of Water]
Scope and Content Note
Annotation on verso: No. 2.
Box 1
2003.1-43
[View Looking across a Railroad Bridge under Construction]
Box 1
2003.1-44
[Curve in the Tracks Leading to Railroad Bridge]
Box 1
2003.1-45
[View of a Railroad Bridge from the Tracks]
Box 1
2003.1-46
[Railway Bridge at Cà Mau (?)]
Scope and Content Note
Annotation on verso: Cau-moi.
Box 1
2003.R.1-47
[Boats under Railroad Bridge]
Scope and Content Note
Possibly at Cà Mau.
Box 1
2003.R.1-48
[A Bend in the Track]
Box 1
2003.R.1-49
[Railway Station without Tracks]
Box 1
2003.R.1-50
[Thatched Boats Docked at a Bridge near a Station, Train in
Background]
Box 2
2003.R.1-51
[Railroad Buildings under Construction]
Box 2
2003.R.1-52
[Train Station with Tracks under Construction]
Scope and Content Note
This print is a darker copy of 2013.R.1-53.
Box 2
2003.R.1-53
[Train Station with Tracks under Construction]
Scope and Content Note
This print is a lighter copy of 2013.R.1-52. Written in negative: Marais Boresse. The
Marais Boresse was a large swamp that originally separated Saigon and Cholon into two
distinct cities.
Box 2
2003.R.1-54
[View Looking down Diverging Tracks to Train Sheds]
Box 2
2003.R.1-55
[View of Train Station Loggia from Street]
Box 2
2003.R.1-56
[Train Stopped at a Rural Station]
Scope and Content Note
For a slightly cropped version of this image see 2013.R.1-1.
Box 2
2003.R.1-57
[Locomotive with Thatched Car on Bridge]
Box 2
2003.R.1-58
[Train Crossing Bridge]
Box 2
2003.R.1-59
[Interior of Train Station]
Box 2
2003.R.1-60
[Interior of Engine Shop(?)]
