Handcar Collection

On the handcar outside Petrozavodsk on the Murmansk railway, 1915. Creator: Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky
On the handcar outside Petrozavodsk on the Murmansk railway, 1915. Prokudin-Gorskii and others ride the Murmansk Railroad in a handcar along the shores of Lake Onega near Petrozavodsk

Pulling out the railroad tracks which lead to the closed sawmill, Careyville, Florida, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Pulling out the railroad tracks which lead to the closed sawmill. Careyville, Florida

Legalized Plunderers, from Puck, 1880. Creator: Unknown
Legalized Plunderers, from Puck, 1880

Pacific Railroad Costa Rica - Rio Grande crossing
Pacific Railroad Costa Rica - handcar riding over a bridge over the Rio Grande. Date: circa 1910

A nineteenth century three wheeled velocipede on a railroad track. From The Strand Magazine, published 1896
745826 A nineteenth century three wheeled velocipede on a railroad track. From The Strand Magazine, published 1896 by English School, (19th century)

Railway workers, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada
Railway workers setting out on three handcars, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. Date: 1936

The photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, an official and four railway workers riding on a
698952 The photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, an official and four railway workers riding on a railroad handcar outside Petrozavodsk on the Murmansk railway, Russian Empire

German Baghdad Railway Digging hillside hauling soil
German Baghdad Railway, Digging into hillside and hauling soil by camels and handcar 1900, Middle East

A Nineteenth Century Three Wheeled Velocipede On A Railroad Track. From The Strand Magazine, Published 1896

Handcar
Antique illustration of a handcar, also known as a pump trolley, pump car, jigger, Kalamazoo

Executives Commute By Handcar
Chicago, Illinois: March 5, 1930 Executives celebrate the joining of New York and Chicago by the longest stretch of the heaviest rail in the world

Railway velocipede, 1880s C017 / 6909
Railway velocipede. 19th-century artwork of a three-wheeled vehicle, powered by cycling and designed to be used on railways and called a velocipede, draisine, or handcar

19th Century ladies handcar, artwork C018 / 7056
19th Century ladies handcar. Engraving of a ladies hand-powered draisine from 1885

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Step back in time with this intriguing collection of images showcasing the unique use of handcars on railroads around the turn of the 20th century. From the Pacific Railroad in Costa Rica, where a handcar crossed the Rio Grande, to the rugged terrain of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, where railway workers rode handcars for transportation, these photographs offer a glimpse into the past. The handcar, also known as a railway velocipede, was a three-wheeled vehicle that allowed passengers and workers to travel along railroad tracks without the need for locomotives. In this era before mass production and widespread automobile use, handcars offered a practical and efficient means of transportation. Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, an official photographer for the Russian government, captured an image of executives commuting by handcar in the late 1800s. Meanwhile, in the German Baghdad Railway, workers dug into the hillside and hauled soil using a handcar. These vintage images transport us to a time when travel was more labor-intensive but also more personal. Handcars may no longer be in use today, but they remain an important part of railroad history and a reminder of the ingenuity and determination of those who built and operated the railways that connected the world.