Stereo analysis
AnalyzedVerdict
Inconclusive40%
The scan does not contain enough reliable detail for a firm classification.
- Depth spread
- 1px
- The range of horizontal difference between the two views. More spread generally means more depth; 0–1 px usually indicates a monoview.
- Match
- 86%
- The share of usable picture detail that can be matched between the left and right views. A higher number means a more reliable comparison.
- Vertical
- 1px
- Vertical drift between matched details. Lower is better; 4 px or more can indicate camera movement, scan skew, or poor alignment.
A steam locomotive and a line of low, open cars occupy the far side of a sweeping railroad curve. The track enters from the lower foreground and bends around a substantial rocky cutting toward the engine, its plume rising against the conifers behind it. Small figures are visible along the cars; a telegraph pole, exposed embankment, and loose trackside timbers give the railway setting particular detail.
The image caption reads “4103 Veta Pass. Mule Shoe Curve.”, identifying the Colorado location. The mount is printed “W. H. Jackson, Phot.” at upper left and “Denver, Colo.” at upper right, crediting William Henry Jackson. The printed number belongs to the view, rather than to this catalogue record.
The two arched-top images are mounted side by side on a buff card with rounded corners. The reverse carries no text or ownership inscription. No date or railroad company is identified on either side, and the small figures remain unidentified.
- Title on card
- No. 4103. Veta Pass. Mule Shoe Curve.
- Medium
- Stereoview
- Subject
- Colorado, Outdoor Scene, Railroad, William Henry Jackson
- Dimensions
- 7.01 × 4 in (178.1 × 101.6 mm)
- Condition
- A diagonal scratch or crease is visible in the upper-right portion of the left image. Small surface-paper loss at the lower-right mount edge and localized staining on the reverse; otherwise sound, with good detail in both views.
- Provenance
- The mount bears the photographer’s imprint, “W. H. Jackson, Phot.” and “Denver, Colo.” No ownership history is supplied or recorded on the card.
- Catalogue no.
- MSV1745
Catalogue details
Location
Muleshoe locality — Mule Shoe Curve, Old Veta Pass · Muleshoe, Huerfano County, Colorado, United States
General area · Locality (town) · 40% confidence
TopoZone explicitly supplies these coordinates for Muleshoe in Huerfano County; they locate the settlement, not the curve’s exact footprint. ([topozone.com](https://www.topozone.com/colorado/huerfano-co/city/muleshoe/)) A modern site photograph identifies Mule Shoe Curve with the former Muleshoe settlement along Old La Veta Pass Road / County Road 443, supporting the locality connection. Its separate coordinates describe the modern photographer’s position and are not treated as Jackson’s camera position. ([commons.wikimedia.org](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMule_Shoe_Curve_%28Old_La_Veta_Pass%29.JPG)) Yale independently documents Jackson’s named Veta Pass curve subject, but neither an exact match to view 4103 nor its camera position is established. ([ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu](https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/13823.pdf))
