The Bob Gottier story began in 2013 with Steve Crise receiving a phone call from a railfan friend who was a member of the Glendale Model Railroad Club in California. Would we be interested in purchasing a large collection of rail photographic transparencies? Since we were in the business at the time of liquidating railfan slide collections on eBay, the answer was of course, yes. We drove to Glendale, cut the deal and loaded the many thousands of slides into our trucks.
That’s when the real work began, largely handled by Steve, whose entire career was spent as a professionial photographer. He diligently went through the slides, box by box, and pulled out what he felt were the best images. The collection was primarily shot in the 1970s through the 1990s. A small number of early slides shot in the 1950s suggested that the Gottier family were all railfans; there was one image of a Southern Pacific GS-4, likely taken by Bob’s father.
Little was known about Bob. Steve took to the Train Orders website and asked for background on Bob, to which he received five very informative replies. He also phone-interviewed Donald Golde, who provided extensive background on Bob. The picture of this unknown rail photographer began to come together.
Robert Thomas Gottier was born on August 31, 1951 to Robert Larimer Gottier (1927-1993) and Mildred Elaine Gottier (née Mitchell, birth and death dates unknown). Bob grew up at his family’s home in Pomona, California, and would eventually pass away there on November 22, 2010 from renal failure due to diabetes.
Bob Sr. and Mildred were active railfans and would take Bob and his brother Jimmy with them, as reflected in a handful of the early, 1950s-era transparencies we have. Bob began his own rail photography career while attending Pomona High School, from which he would graduate in 1970. Bob worked blue-collar jobs his entire life, spending every free moment shooting rail subject matter throughout Southern California, with the legendary Cajon Pass being one of his favorite locations.
His friend Don DeLay recalled, “Bob was a very nice man and very friendly and well known among other area railfans. Trains, beer, and rock & roll music seemed to be his life. He was never married or had any children, a simple man who enjoyed a simple life. Unfortunately, he didn’t take care of himself and passed away prematurely as a result.”
