California-1936: Men Working On The Railroad

$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.

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

Men Working On The Railroad — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1936, this archival footage captures a group of men laboring on a railroad track in California. Workers in period-appropriate clothing and hats use shovels and tools to maintain the rails in a sun-drenched, open landscape. The grainy black-and-white image, framed by a film border, shows men bending, lifting, and adjusting track components under a bright sky. This authentic home movie offers a glimpse into early 20th-century railroad maintenance and manual labor.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Black & white
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127476833

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.

Editorial use is the safest path. For commercial use, a clearance review is recommended for the flags below.

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

black & white
train
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transportation
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1936
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1930s Americana
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California history
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1930s work life

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1930s California documentary or educational sequences needing real 8mm footage of manual railroad track maintenance and transportation labor.
Period detail: The workers' brimmed hats, loose work clothes, hand tools, and open rail bed may show Depression-era maintenance labor in a rural California setting.
Home-movie behavior: The footage has an observational home-movie feel, watching men bend, shovel, and handle rails without staged performance or formal camera setup.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include railroad tracks, shovels, work hats, men in long trousers, gravel ballast, an open embankment, bright sky, and the edge of the 8mm frame.
Film character: The black-and-white 8mm scan shows coarse grain, soft focus, bright exposure, slight handheld framing, and visible frame borders that preserve its physical-film texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a short insert, labor cutaway, transportation transition, or memory beat within a sequence about railroads, work, or California landscapes.
Historical context: The clip visually documents small-group manual track work, emphasizing physical labor, tools, and rail infrastructure rather than mechanized equipment or public ceremony.
Research note: People are visible and may require likeness review depending on use; no logos or private property are apparent, and copyright clearance should be assessed separately.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1930s California railroad workers, 8mm home movie rail maintenance, men shoveling track ballast, and black-and-white transportation labor footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with the same reel, then other California 1936 material, then related railroad, manual labor, transportation, and Depression-era work footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1936 California 8mm frame showing men in hats shoveling and working along railroad tracks in a sunlit open area. — Workers shovel and tend the rail bed beside a stretch of track.

Men appear to maintain a railroad line in 1936 California, with shovels, hats, rails, and gravel visible in a black-and-white 8mm frame. — Several men bend and handle tools along the rails.

A wider 1936 California view shows men standing and working along curved railroad track across an open rail bed. — The camera looks down the track as workers gather near the rail.

Final black-and-white frame shows workers near railroad rails on a sloped California landscape, with tools and hats visible. — Workers cluster by the rail line as the track continues through the open landscape.

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