The railways are one of the most vivid symbols of the Nineteenth Century. Their strong symbolic meaning is, however, far from unproblematic. Representations of the railways seem to reflect both a strong confidence in 'the genius' of the Nineteenth Century, but also a strong fear of what the future will bring. The railways figure prominently in the illustrations of one of the first Dutch illustrated periodicals: De Hollandsche Illustratie (1864-1884). The two symbolic meanings of the railways can be found in the pages of this Dutch magazine. In this article I argue that the character of these representations depends largely on the specific possibilities of the medium, i.e. the illustrated periodical in a Dutch context. The limited possibilities of the Hollandsche Illustratie are the reason why most of the illustrations have a foreign origin, despite the strong development of the Dutch railways in the period and the wish of the editors to create a magazine with 'national' content. The limited possibilities also prevented a quick reaction to current affairs. I argue that the editors of De Hollandsche Illustratie tried to increase the value of illustrations they bought from other magazines by giving them a stronger symbolic meaning.