By Railfan & Railroad Staff
The Center for Railroad Photography & Art announced last week that it was receiving a major financial gift totaling more than $1 million from the estate of the late Ronald C. Hill. It is among the largest gifts ever to the non-profit dedicated to railroad imagery.
Hill was a masterful photographer who spent decades capturing dramatic images of railroading in the North American West. He died on January 23 at the age of 85.
“We’re over the moon and feeling tremendously grateful and humbled by Ron’s generosity,” said Scott Lothes, president and executive director. “As one of the West’s premiere railroad photographers, Ron had already made a lasting impact when he donated his collection to us. Words can’t fully express how grateful we are for Ron’s great confidence and trust in the Center.”
Hill was born in Illinois in 1937 and later moved to Colorado, where he would do some of his most memorable work. But he wasn’t contained by the boundaries of the Centennial State. Beginning in the 1960s, Hill crisscrossed the west in pursuit of dramatic images of mainline railroading, hitting such iconic mountain railroads as Montana’s Marias Pass, British Columbia’s Kicking Horse Pass and California’s Cajon Pass.
Over the years, he authored 12 books, including “Railroading West: A Contemporary Glimpse,” “Rails in the Northwest” with Dave Stanley, “Mountain Mainlines of the West,” and “Rio Grande in the Rockies.” Most of those titles focused on his own work, but he also co-authored “The Railroad Artistry of Howard Fogg” with Al Chione about the legendary rail painter. Hill served as president of the Colorado Railroad Museum from 1981 to 1994.
Hill became a member of the Center in 2015 and presented at its annual conference at Lake Forest College in 2016. In 2020, Hill donated his photo collection to the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. The collection includes more than 27,000 slides, negatives, and prints.
Lothes also thanked Center board chair Bon French; board member Michael Schmidt, who befriended Hill in his later years; Tim Tonge, a long-time friend of Hill who is helping with the remainder of Hill’s collection; and Jeff Brouws, who was friends with Hill for more than 50 years and helped bring the photographer’s collection to the Center.
“Above all, we are grateful to Ron Hill—a masterful photographer and a vital, colorful member of the railroad history scene and the railfan community—for his landmark gift that will support our programs for decades to come,” Center officials wrote in an announcement of the gift.
