An original 4.5x3" vintage photo (NOT a modern reprint) from the estate of a train enthusiast who collected and filmed filmed trains and streetcars of all sorts. Many of the photos from his collection are likely one of a kind.


Photo Overview

A vintage photograph capturing an interurban electric railway car of the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway Co. - known to fans as the "Crandic" - heading directly toward the camera on a single-track line cutting through open Iowa countryside. The streamlined PCC-style car rolls along a lightly maintained right-of-way flanked by tall grass and utility poles, with a track worker bent over the rails to the right of the frame. A semaphore signal is visible in the background at right. The scene evokes the final years of interurban electric rail travel in the American Midwest.

From the estate of a dedicated train enthusiast who traveled widely to document rail operations, this is an intimate field photograph taken at trackside - the kind of image that only a passionate railfan would capture. The reference code XLIX-17 on the back suggests this was part of a carefully organized personal archive.

Historical Notes

The Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway Company, incorporated in 1904 and commonly known as the "Crandic," was one of the few interurban electric railways in the United States to survive into the modern era. Running approximately 25 miles between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Iowa, the line served both passengers and freight. By the late 1940s and early 1950s - the likely period of this photograph - passenger service on the Crandic was in its twilight years, with automobile travel and bus lines cutting into ridership. Passenger service was discontinued in 1953, but the Crandic survived as a freight carrier, making it a rare survivor among American interurbans. Today, the line still operates as a short-line freight railroad, one of the last descendants of the once-vast interurban network that crisscrossed the Midwest.

Text Present

Back of photo, handwritten in pencil (upper area):
"Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway Co"

Back of photo, handwritten in green marker (center):
"XLIX-17"

Back of photo, stamped in blue ink (lower right):
"5363" (partial)

Print analysis

This appears to be an original silver gelatin print, likely produced close to the time the photograph was taken in the late 1940s to early 1950s. The matte surface, tonal range, and paper stock are consistent with a Type 1 or early Type 2 snapshot-format print from that era. No later reproduction indicators are present.

Condition

In fair to good vintage condition. Please see photos for precise condition.