This collection consists of glass plate negatives showing scenes from Carbon County, Pennsylvania during the second half of the nineteenth century, as well as a selection of archival prints. The majority of the images show scenes from Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) and the surrounding area, the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, and the waterfalls at Glen Onoko.

The Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway, which takes passengers to the summit of Pikes Peak mountain in Colorado, is the highest rack railway in the world and the highest railway in North America. This collection consists of a viewbook consisting of eight pages with photographs of the railway.