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"New York - New Jersey Tunnel." One of two pairs of Hudson & Manhattan Railroad tunnels under the Hudson River sometime around their opening in 1908, after more than 30 years of off-and-on construction. A century later, the system operates the PATH trains between New Jersey and New York. View full size. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. (History of the tubes.)
If you look closely at the full-size photo, it looks quite like there are lights - either electric or gaslight - on the walls; look at the left-hand tunnel. Also, the shadows seem too indistinct for a single point source. I've done similar tunnel photography (see http://www.kitzi.com/sewer.html), and my experience suggests even flash powder wouldn't get you the effect seen here.
I wondered the same thing. The near ground is illuminated perfectly for the print, even by today's standards. Whatever was used was done expertly.
I'm curious as to how they illuminated that tunnel to get the shot - it looks like a floodlight!
[My guess would be flash powder. Although I suppose there were electric floodlights in 1908. - Dave]
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