Rio Grande series by Ronald C. Hill

: covers

Rio Grande in the Rockies – A Contemporary Glimpse by Ronald C. Hill, 80 pages, Colorado Railroad Museum, 1977
Rio Grande West - A Contemporary Glimpse by Ronald C. Hill, 80 pages, Colorado Railroad Museum, 1982
Rio Grande – Memories of the Final Years by Ronald C. Hill, 112 pages, Colorado Railroad Museum, 2007

Author Ronald C. Hill(1937 - 2023) was a lawyer in Denver and was the president of the Colorado Railroad Museum between 1981 and 1994.

These books mainly feature the 70s and 80s Rio Grande standard gauge activities in Colorado. One photo in a page is the basic throughout these three books. Accordingly, we can enjoy large and crisp images captured by Ron’s Leica, Nikon, Rolleiflex, and Hasselblad: the first two books represent black and white photos, while the last represents color photos. Belief explanation including place/date is added to each image.

Ron captured the trains at the same points for decades: see two cover images of the first and the third book. Accordingly, we can see the march of time or season and the change of train consist. But the first issue alone would be enough for admiring the Rio Grande standard gauge activities in Colorado.

revised, Feb. 9, 2023

Ronald Hillという人によるRio Grandeだけを取り上げる写真集である。1冊目の写真集にRio Grandeの社長が寄せた緒言によれば、Ronは弁護士であるらしい。３冊で、おおよそ1970年代からSPと合併した1988年までをカバーしている。最初２冊はモノクロで、ライカで撮ったという写真が美しい。３冊目はカラーによる総集編になっている。

いわゆる「お立ち台」から撮られた同じアングルの写真が多いので、時の経過による変遷が色々見られ面白い。が、コロラド州におけるRio Grandeの魅力を知るためだけなら最初の１冊で充分とも思う。