Check out high resolution photos of iconic props from the series, including both sides of the penny Durant flicks at Senator Crane, plus the Magic Lantern projector (if you look closely you'll catch a glimpse of the "Soiled Doves" slides). Both items are featured in the Hell on Wheels Scrapbook. See what else is in store...

While AMC's Hell on Wheels is historical fiction, "Hell on Wheels" encampments were a real-life part of America's westward expansion. One of the earliest known appearances of the term "Hell on Wheels" comes from newspaperman Samuel Bowles, who used the phrase to describe the collection of gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels housed in flimsy canvas tents that accompanied the Union Pacific railroad workers westward.

Curious to see the real railroad workers' encampments from the 1860s? Click through this gallery of archival photos provided by the University of Iowa's Levi Leonard Libraries.

To see more artifacts from the era, check out the University of Iowa Libraries Levi Leonard Papers.

The opening scene in Hell on Wheels Episode 9 is choreographed from the first bullet to the last man down. Behind each moment? An illustration to assist the director. Click through this gallery to see storyboard artist Al Berg's sketches for the Indian massacre in "Timshel."

To call the Episode 5 fight between Cullen and Elam "dramatic" would be an understatement. Check out this photo gallery breaking down every riveting moment -- from the opening blows to the shocking finish. (Facebook "like" the image you think is the sexiest)

Thomas Durant isn't just one of Hell on Wheels' most compelling characters -- he was actually a fascinating real-life player in the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. Click through to see a gallery of images provided by the University of Iowa Libraries Levi Leonard Papers. Images include a shot of the stock that made Durant famous and a receipt for extravagant purchases at Tiffany's.

To see more artifacts from the Hell on Wheels era, check out the University of Iowa Libraries Levi Leonard Papers.

Didn't get a chance to really look at the pocket watch with Lily Bell's photo? Wish you could closely read every word of Durant's sensationalistic newspaper manifesto? Now you can since both items are featured in the Hell on Wheels Scrapbook. See what else is in store...

Ever wonder what Hell on Wheels might look like as a comic strip? You'll find something close to that if you click through this gallery of storyboard artist Al Berg's sketches for the train race scene in Episode 6: "Pride, Pomp and Circumstance."

It takes collaboration, creativity and a good deal of planning to bring a scene like the Sun Dance in Episode 5 of Hell on Wheels to life. Before filming, director Adam Davidson worked with storyboard artist Al Berg to map out the scene moment by moment in a series of detailed illustrations.

Brothers Sean and Mickey McGinnes make their living by showing images of their Irish homeland to immigrant patrons aching for the lives they left behind. But the photos glimpsed during the Hell on Wheels pilot are actually just a fraction of the slides assembled for their Magic Lantern show. Now, online at amctv.com, we're waiving the $.05 admission fee and sharing more of the slideshow that brought those railroad workers to tears.