A study of the images suggests that these are the photographs of a 1914 surveyor’s trip of the Alaskan Engineering Commission. Thomas Riggs Jr. and two other men surveyed the already existing Alaska Railroad outside Cordova, Alaska, and then the land for a possible expansion.

The images suggest the trip started with a voyage off the coast of Oregon and Washington and continued to Cordova Bay, Alaska, with sea passage provided by the U.S. Lighthouse Service. Photographs show lighthouses and seascapes continuing along the coast. The second part of the trip appears to consist of men surveying land and living in mobile tent camps. Finally the majority of the images depict a train trestle construction project which includes pile drivers, train stations, an engine, more permanent building structures, and images of well-dressed ladies, and camp cooks.

The collection includes b and w postcards or original b and w images for #s 3, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48.