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Home/Browse/Oroville California-1938: The Camera Captures The Train Driving Down The Tracks

Oroville California-1938: The Camera Captures The Train Driving Down The Tracks

$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.

The Camera Captures The Train Driving Down The Tracks — Clip Details

A vintage 8mm home movie from 1938 captures a freight train winding through a rugged mountain pass in Oroville, California. Shot from an elevated perspective, the train moves slowly along the tracks, its long line of boxcars snaking through the rocky terrain. The black-and-white footage shows a river flowing alongside the railway, with utility poles lining the route. The image has the characteristic grain and soft focus of 8mm film, with dark borders framing the scene, evoking a sense of historical Americana and mid-20th century transportation.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format
8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details
Black & whiteSlow motion
Resolution
4K restored master (MP4)
License
Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery
Instant Digital Download
Duration
6s
Price
$149 USD
Clip ID
127263821

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 contextOpen Clip Documentation RecordRequest source information

Topics & Keywords

  • trains
  • tracks
  • driving
  • transportation
  • mountains
  • camera
  • captures
  • train
  • slowly
  • oroville california
  • 1938
  • 1938 train footage
  • vintage 8mm film
  • mountain railway
  • freight train
  • classic transportation
  • archival 8mm
  • black and white film
  • historic train
  • railroad in mountains
  • old film footage
  • 1930s Americana
  • documentary footage
  • nostalgic travel
  • railway journey
  • vintage camera
  • slow motion train
  • old California
  • 8mm home movie

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit
1930s California transportation footage suited to documentary inserts on rail travel, freight movement, mountain routes, or Depression-era American infrastructure.
Period detail
The frames show a steam-era freight train, utility poles, rocky cuts, and a riverside mountain rail corridor consistent with the 1938 Oroville, California metadata.
Home-movie behavior
The elevated viewpoint feels like a traveler or visitor filming a passing train from a safe overlook rather than a staged railway production shot.
What appears in frame
Visible elements include the freight train, curving tracks, rocky hillside, river or watercourse, utility poles, sparse trees, and dark 8mm frame borders.
Film character
Black-and-white 8mm texture shows soft focus, visible grain, gate borders, slight exposure variation, and a steady but home-movie vantage point.
Edit role
An editor could use this as a concise transportation insert, geographic transition, historical cutaway, or visual bridge into rail and Northern California travel sequences.
Historical context
The clip visually places rail transport within a rugged mountain corridor, showing how trains, tracks, poles, terrain, and water routes shared the landscape.
Research note
No people, faces, logos, or audible music are indicated, but copyright, location identification, and any railway or property implications should still be reviewed.
Research search match
Useful searches include 1930s 8mm freight train, Oroville California railroad, vintage mountain railway, black-and-white home movie train, and historic rail corridor footage.
Archive pairing path
Pair first with the same reel, then other 1938 Oroville or Northern California footage, then broader vintage railroad, mountain travel, and transportation archive material.

Still Frames From This Clip

1938 Oroville-area home-movie frame showing a freight train on curving tracks through rocky terrain beside a river or watercourse.
A freight train winds through a rugged rail corridor with water, poles, and trees nearby.
Black-and-white 8mm frame of the freight train continuing along the Oroville mountain route, with trees, poles, and rough slopes visible.
The train continues around the bend through the rocky mountain passage.
Elevated 1938 Oroville home-movie view of a freight train moving through a rugged corridor with water, poles, trees, and dark frame edges.
An elevated home-movie view follows the train through the mountain rail corridor.
Final 8mm frame shows the freight train in the Oroville mountain corridor, with curving track, rocky slopes, sparse trees, and water below.
The train remains visible as the track bends through the rocky landscape.

Visually Similar Clips

← Previous in archiveOroville California-1938: Aerial View Of Train Traveling Through Snow Covered MountainsNext in archive →Oroville California-1938: View Of Train Traveling On Tracks Running Alongside River
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