The trestle bridge at Long Ravine on the Central Pacific Railroad is the subject of this albumen stereoview, published by Thomas Houseworth & Co. of San Francisco and numbered 1238 in their Central Pacific Railroad series. The view dates to circa 1870, consistent with the inked date visible on the mount, and was made looking east along the curved span. Houseworth & Co. operated at 317 and 319 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, and received the highest prize bronze medal at the 1867 Paris International Exhibition for the superiority of their stereoscopic and mammoth photographic views of Pacific Coast scenery.

The camera is positioned on the track itself, placing the viewer directly atop the curving rails as they sweep left across the towering wooden trestle framework; the repeating diagonal bracing of the bent structure descends steeply into the ravine below, with exposed granite boulders and dense conifer-covered hillsides filling the background. The track ties, rail spikes, and fishplate joints are rendered with sharp clarity in the foreground, while a solid timber retaining wall anchors the far end of the bridge.

The Long Ravine trestle, described on the mount as 878 feet long and 120 feet high, was one of the most dramatic engineering features of the Sierra Nevada crossing completed by the Central Pacific in 1869 as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

The mount is orange with the series title printed vertically on the left border and the Houseworth imprint on the right; the caption "1238. THE TRESTLE BRIDGE AT LONG RAVINE, 878 feet long, and 120 feet high, looking East." is printed beneath the right image, and the reverse carries the pink Houseworth award advertisement in full.