California USA-1936: Worker Signals Rail Crane During Railway Construction

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Year1936
Decade1930s
LocationCalifornia, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1936 California

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

Before you add to cart: Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement. Checkout will only offer editorial, educational, internal and social/web scopes.

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

Worker Signals Rail Crane During Railway Construction — Clip Details

Vintage 8mm film from 1936 captures a railway construction scene in California. A large N.P. Bitcher 13 crane mounted on a railcar dominates the frame, its boom extended over open terrain. A worker in period attire signals or operates equipment beside the tracks. The grainy black-and-white footage shows the crane moving along the rails, with hills visible in the background under a bright sky. This authentic home movie footage offers a rare glimpse into mid-20th century industrial rail development.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Black & white
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 121504912

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip. Review the flags below for your editorial context.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: Yes
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1936 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1930s U.S. railway construction requests needing authentic industrial machinery, rail labor, or infrastructure cutaway material.
Period detail: The clip shows black-and-white 8mm footage of a rail-mounted crane, a worker in period work clothes, open terrain, and markings on the crane body that may identify the machine or operator.
Home-movie behavior: The camera watches from a fixed home-movie vantage as the worker signals beside the railcar, preserving an observational view rather than staged industrial coverage.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a rail crane with extended boom, marked cab, flat railcar, worker signaling, railway tracks, utility poles, open hills, and bright sky.
Film character: The footage has dense 8mm grain, soft contrast, gate-edge shadowing, slight frame instability, and exposure shifts that read as original home-movie film texture.
Edit role: An editor could use it as an industrial insert, rail-building cutaway, machinery transition, or brief labor-history detail within a 1930s sequence.
Historical context: The scene documents rail construction or maintenance activity in open California terrain, with a lone worker coordinating movement around heavy equipment.
Research note: Human likeness and visible crane markings should be reviewed separately from copyright status; no clearance guarantee is implied by the archival scan.
Research search match: Good match for searches such as 1930s California rail construction, vintage 8mm railway crane, worker signaling crane, and home movie industrial footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with the same reel, then other 1936 California material, then related rail construction, heavy machinery, and Depression-era labor footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1936 California 8mm frame showing a marked rail crane with its boom extended over open terrain. — A rail crane fills the frame with hills beyond the tracks.

Marked rail crane cab and boom seen in black-and-white 8mm footage from the California railway construction scene. — The crane cab and boom pass across the open rail worksite.

Worker in period attire stands beside the railcar, appearing to signal during the 1936 California rail construction footage. — A worker signals near the railcar as the crane sits on the tracks.

A worker remains beside the flat railcar as the rail crane sits partly out of frame against open California hills. — The worker stands by the railcar with the crane cab at the right edge.

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