Caption: By an amazing stroke of luck during research of CP construction-era history in BC, an 1890s Archibald Murchie 8.5” x 6.5” glass plate negative of Keefers was discovered (on a UK site!) for sale, and purchased, then scanned professionally at 3200 dpi. You may have seen on-line images (example: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0422676) of prints of that, but this is the original, with far more detail than shown in those prints.
Higher resolution versions are readily available on request, and I plan to present an example of the high level of detail available from that negative very soon — counting the chickens in front of the distant building on the far right is easily possible! The work of earlier photographers, with equipment far bulkier and awkward to transport than the 35 mm and 6x7 cm medium format cameras with which I am familiar, is strongly appreciated here, and their style of seeking elevated perches to capture railway scenes influenced many of my own many-years-later attempts.
For more information about the CP construction era in western British Columbia, I suggest https://web.archive.org/web/20071023172207/http://www.kag.bc.ca/Exhibitions/AllAboard/allaboard.html (”rabbit hole” warning!), particularly the Contract No. 61 section, which is an archived copy of Kamloops Art Gallery‘s presentation ‘Onderdonk’s Way’, a magnificent collection of historical images and data.
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No less than stunning.