California USA-1936: Railroad Workers Laying Tracks with Wooden Ties

$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.

Railroad Workers Laying Tracks with Wooden Ties — Clip Details

Vintage 8mm film from California USA in 1936 shows railroad workers laboring on a track through a dry, hilly landscape. Men in work clothes and hats use tools to lay wooden ties and secure rails, with close-ups showing hands and feet on gravel ballast. The footage captures the physical effort of early 20th-century rail construction, with a grainy, color-bleached aesthetic typical of home movie film. Shot from a moving train, the perspective offers a first-person view of the work in progress, evoking a sense of industrial progress and historical labor.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
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: 121505560

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: No
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 California railroad labor, infrastructure construction, industrial work, and Depression-era transport history inserts in documentary or educational edits.
Period detail: The frames show work hats, hand tools, timber ties, loose ballast, and a dry cut through hills, period clues consistent with 1930s railway maintenance or track laying.
Home-movie behavior: The footage has an observational home-movie feel, watching workers from a nearby or moving train perspective rather than a staged industrial film setup.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include rail lines, wooden ties, gravel ballast, workers in hats, hand tools, a dry hillside cut, utility poles, and a small work cart or equipment.
Film character: The 8mm color image carries soft focus, gate edges, grain, uneven exposure, and faded tones that give the brief labor scene clear physical-film texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a compact insert, transition, or cutaway for rail construction, manual labor, infrastructure expansion, or transportation history.
Historical context: The clip visually documents men doing physical rail work in a dry California landscape, without enough evidence to identify a company, line, or specific project.
Research note: People are visible and likeness review may be needed; no logos or private property are apparent, and copyright clearance should be assessed separately from depicted persons.
Research search match: Search phrases include 1930s California railroad workers, 8mm rail construction footage, men laying track, wooden ties and ballast, and home movie railway labor.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with nearby shots from the same reel, then other 1936 California material, then broader railroad, industrial labor, transportation, and infrastructure footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1936 California 8mm frame showing men near railroad tracks through a dry cut, with rails, hillside, and utility poles visible. — Workers stand along rail lines in a dry hillside track cut.

Close 1936 California rail-work view with hands, boots, tools, wooden ties, and loose ballast around the track bed. — Hands and boots work around ties, tools, and ballast.

Close 8mm frame of railroad labor in California, with workers' legs, tools, timber ties, and ballast visible near the track. — Workers use tools around wooden ties and gravel ballast.

1936 California rail crew bends over a track through a dry hillside cut, with rails, ballast, workers, and small equipment visible. — A crew bends over the rail line while others stand nearby.

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