In the 19th century Bourne gave face to the fascination with the new railway technology. He was among the earliest artists to "integrated the depiction of railway construction into a well established landscape tradition. The rails were sometimes barely visible or coexisted with the stock landscape elements of cattle, rocks, sky, and greenery." Nowadays Bourne is considered one of the greatest railway artists, and is described by Elton as "the Piranesi of the Railway Age." According to Russell (2001) Bourne's two series of railroad scene's were the only works, that equalled the work of Thomas Shotter Boys. Burman & Stratton (1997) explained: