Tonopah and Tidewater #8
Series TitleWestward the Course of Empire
Artist
Mark Ruwedel
(American, born 1954)
Date1997
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall: 7 7/16 × 9 1/2 inches (18.89 × 24.13 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2005.37.306
InscribedTitled
Signed in artist's hand
Mat Recto
Signed/Titled/Dated
Signed in artist's hand
Verso, LR
On View
Not on viewCollections
Terms
The Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad exists today as the scattered remnants of a 170-mile route between Ludlow, California, and Beatty, Nevada. Originally conceived to replace the twenty-mule teams that once transported borax ore from Death Valley to nearby processing plants, this line was historically unprofitable, ceasing operations by the early 1940s. In this photograph, Ruwedel emphasizes the barely visible reminders of the past, skeletal fragments of half-buried rail ties that scar the arid desert terrain.
Copyright© Mark Ruwedel
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