Ron V. Nixon (b. 1911-1989) was born in Gardiner, Montana and died in Missoula, Montana. Most of his materials are housed at the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University, Bozeman.

Nixon was a prolific photographer and focused mostly on railroads and locomotives, due to having grown up in the world of railroads: "His father, William Nixon, was a telegrapher for the Northern Pacific Railway, and Ron's family moved around Montana with each new railroad assignment. Ron V. Nixon's mother, Elizabeth, was also a telegraph operator and an avid amateur photographer."[1] He began learning photography at just four years old.

During his photography career, Nixon was obsessed with railroads and locomotives and by the age of eighteen, he had "cataloged the numbers of thirteen thousand railway locomotives."[1] Nixon sought to preserve the history of railroads through photographs and went on to pubilish his photographs in various "magazines, newspapers, rail company posters, advertisements and calendars" beginning in 1930. He continued to publish articles and photographs for the rest of his career.

By the time of his death, Nixon had "created a collection of over 30,000 photographs. In the spring of 1990, the Museum of the Rockies entered a contractual agreement to purchase the Ron V. Nixon Collection. The purchase was completed in 1993."[1] The collection at the Museum of the Rockies includes over 20,000 photographs alongside "records, correspondence, and historical writings that span the steam, diesel, and electro-motive eras of the railroads."[2]