Although many of the most famous American photographers of the 19th century traveled west to make images, not everyone followed suit. After excursions abroad to Europe and the Middle East, Rau spent the 1890s photographing two eastern railroad lines: Lehigh Valley Railroad (L.V.R.R.) and the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was appointed the official photographer for Lehigh Valley in 1895 and traveled the length of the line in a customized car with its own sitting room, darkroom, oversized camera, and elevated viewing platform.

Among the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania and Upstate New York, Rau crafted hundreds of picturesque views, many of which decorated Lehigh Valley railcars and stations, that combined industrial progress with attractive scenery. This image portrays a ferry docked at an 11-acre amusement park run by the railway company on a silt island in the Lehigh River—an attempt to attract tourist business to the line.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)