Stereo analysis
AnalyzedVerdict
Genuine stereo pair91%
The two photographs contain the viewpoint difference needed to produce genuine depth.
- Depth spread
- 5px
- The range of horizontal difference between the two views. More spread generally means more depth; 0–1 px usually indicates a monoview.
- Match
- 74%
- 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 its cars occupy a narrow passage through deep snow, photographed obliquely from above. The engine’s broad smokestack, bell, and front pilot stand out against the banks. A figure standing on a car farther back gives a measure of the depth of the surrounding snow.
The mount credits Elmer & Tenney of Winona, Minnesota, as photographers and publishers and identifies the card as part of the “E. & T. Minnesota Snow View Series of 1881.” The lower caption places the scene on the Southern Minnesota Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway.
The number 1158 appears in the lower right of the right-hand image. It corresponds to “Temperance Lake cut. Instantaneous.” in the publisher’s “Snow Blockade Views” list on the reverse, within the Southern Minnesota Division section dated March 29, 1881. This supplies the location and dated series context; the locomotive and the figure on the car are not individually identified.
Paired arched-top photographs on a pale green card, measuring 7.05 × 4 inches (179.0 × 101.6 mm). Clean and sound overall, with small pencil notations on the reverse.
- Title on card
- No. 1158. Temperance Lake cut. Instantaneous.
- Medium
- Stereoview
- Subject
- Minnesota, Outdoor Scene, Railroad
- Dimensions
- 7.05 × 4 in (179.0 × 101.6 mm)
- Condition
- Clean and sound overall, with small pencil notations on the reverse. No significant damage is evident in the supplied scans.
- Provenance
- Elmer & Tenney, Winona, Minnesota, credited on the mount as photographers and publishers; no former ownership is established.
- Catalogue no.
- MSV1769
Catalogue details
Location
Temperance Lake cut, on the Southern Minnesota Division grade east of Sherburn · Sherburn vicinity, Martin County, Minnesota, United States
General area · Street / district · 60% confidence
The card’s caption names “Temperance Lake cut,” and AnyPlaceAmerica documents Temperance Lake in Martin County near Sherburn at the coordinates supplied here. These coordinates locate the lake as a reference for the surrounding vicinity, not the exact railway cutting or camera position. ([anyplaceamerica.com](https://www.anyplaceamerica.com/directory/mn/martin-county-27091/lakes/temperance-lake-653072/))
