The Transcontinental Railroad
Portfolio > Anniversary: Transcontinental RailroadCelebrating 150 years
This book is a celebration for the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion in the form of an “unconventional” typographic structure. This abridged narrative was originally published in a newspaper from 1868 and follows the events of the first passenger car to cross the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Prologue
The book began with about ten pages in the first draft. Through subsequent revisions and re-readings of the article, the book developed into a total of eighty pages. Each page of this twenty-five-foot long book was typed on a typewriter, treated with ink and salt, and hand-stitched with waxed cotton thread. The accordion-style book unfolds to follow the elevation and direction described in the special correspondent’s article.
Until such a time as I can figure out how to upload the book in its full twenty-five-foot form and not exceed the upload size limit, this image from birds-eye view will have to suffice.