A distinguished commercial and documentary landscape photographer in Philadelphia, William H. Rau was commissioned in the 1890s by the Lehigh Valley Railroad to execute a series of scenic views along a new line. Realizing photography's advertising potential, the railroad company employed Rau to select picturesque subjects that might be seen while traveling by rail. Contact-printed from a mammoth plate negative, the landscape's shapes, textures, and tonal ranges are richly detailed.