Oroville California-1938: Steam Train Through Snow-Covered Mountain Pass

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1938
Decade1930s
LocationOroville, California, United States
Duration6s
Price$149 USD
Collection1938 Oroville California

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

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

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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.

Steam Train Through Snow-Covered Mountain Pass — Clip Details

Aerial view of a steam train navigating a snow-covered mountain pass in Oroville, California, in 1938. Shot on 8mm film, the clip captures the locomotive pulling a long line of freight cars through a rugged, wintry landscape. The train winds along a narrow track beside a river, with snow blanketing the hillsides and sparse trees. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 grain and a slightly shaky, handheld perspective, evoking a sense of historical travel and the power of early 20th-century rail transport.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: AerialExteriorBlack & white
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127263792

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Lower-risk for commercial use, subject to your own review.

People 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 1153 · 8mm · 5″ reel
Original reel label: bucks lake,lake tahoe,emerald bay,martins lodge
Reel-level year note: 1938
Reel-level location note: california
Date: 1938 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location: Oroville, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
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.

View source reel context Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1930s archival requests needing a brief railroad travel view through snowy Northern California mountain terrain.
Period detail: The steam locomotive, freight cars, narrow rail alignment, and black-and-white 8mm home-movie look support a late-1930s rail-travel context.
Home-movie behavior: The high, slightly unsteady vantage feels like a traveler or observer filming the train as it curves through the winter pass.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a steam locomotive, freight cars, snow-covered slopes, a river or watercourse, utility poles, trees, and a winding rail line.
Film character: The clip has dense 8mm grain, soft contrast, gate edges, and mild handheld movement that read as original physical-film texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a rail-history insert, winter travel cutaway, geographic transition, or brief memory beat for mountain transport.
Historical context: The footage visually places rail freight movement within a rugged winter landscape, without identifying a specific railroad line or event from the frames alone.
Research note: No people, logos, or readable brands are visible, but copyright status and any railroad or land-use considerations should be reviewed separately.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1938 8mm steam train in snow, Oroville California railroad footage, winter mountain freight train, and vintage rail travel.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent same-reel travel footage, then other Oroville or 1938 California scenes, then broader snow, railroad, and mountain transport material.

Still Frames From This Clip

A 1938 Oroville, California 8mm frame shows a steam train moving through a snow-covered mountain pass near water and utility poles. — Steam locomotive enters a snowy mountain curve beside a river channel.

The train continues through the Oroville mountain pass, with freight cars following a curved track through snow and sparse trees. — Freight cars follow the locomotive around a snowy bend in the pass.

A long line of freight cars moves through the snowy Oroville landscape, seen from a high handheld 8mm viewpoint. — Freight cars stretch through the snowy curve as the train passes below.

The later frame shows the freight train extending through the snow-covered Oroville pass, with track, trees, and hillside visible. — The freight train continues around the bend through the winter mountain terrain.

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