Theme
Whether your preference for engaging with railroads tends toward the nostalgic or the latest in contemporary locomotion, a decipherable thread in railroading is one of visual expressions of smoke manifest in the railroad’s fundamental need to move both passengers and freight from one locale to another.
The 2025 John E Gruber Creative Photography Awards encourages photographers to interpret this theme across the operation of railroads, with as much latitude as desired.
Participants are welcome to submit up to 3 images in either color and/or black-and-white format. Digital and film images are acceptable. However, film images should be submitted as scans in JPG format with one side of the image at least 1500 pixels. Digital manipulation of the images is acceptable but not required.
Submissions due: May 1, 2025
Awards notification: August 1, 2025
A sunrise train climbs through the Tehachapi Mountains, in California, with the DPU smoke lit by the first rays of sunlight through the canyon narrows. Photograph by Todd Halamka.
Submission Process
- Up to 3 images in either color and/or black-and-white
- Each photo submission must have location, date, and basic caption information included in text of email.
- Mailing Address
- Email Address
- Phone number
Submissions will not be accepted if required information above is not included in the text of the email.
Images should be submitted as high-resolution jpegs with a pixel dimension of at least 1500 on one side.
Electronic submissions only. No watermarks.
Files can be sent via email, Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc.
The Center reserves the right to retain electronic copies for future publication, use on website, Facebook, and other social media, or for public exhibition. In all cases, the photographer retains the copyright to the image.
Please send all submissions to award@railphoto-art.org
Disclaimer: Trespassing along railroad rights-of-ways is illegal and the leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States. The CRP&A discourages trespassing for this contest and retains the right to disqualify any photographs deemed dangerous in content.
Prizes
- First place, $750
- Second place, $500
- Third place, $250
- Judges Also Liked, one-year subscription to Railroad Heritage
The Center will announce the winners on August 1, 2025, and publish winning photographs in an issue of Railroad Heritage; Railfan & Railroad magazine will also publish the winners in an issue. An exhibition of the winning photographs will also be displayed at the Colorado Railroad Museum.
About the Program
Now the John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program, the competitive program started in 2002. It is devoted exclusively to contemporary railroad photography and attracts hundreds of entrants annually from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Winning photographs are published in the Center’s journal, Railroad Heritage® and in Railfan & Railroad magazine, and appear on this website.
Gruber was a photography and preservation activist in the railroad community since 1960. His own photography was published widely, especially in Trains Magazine. In 1994, the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society presented Gruber with its Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award. From 1995-99, Gruber edited Vintage Rails. In 1997 his intense interest in both photography and preservation, and his concern about the welfare and longevity of amateur and professional photographers’ work, led him to organize the founding of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art.
As an author Gruber wrote Classic Steam, edited Railroaders: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography (published by the Center in 2014), and co-authored several other volumes of railroad-related images. His final publication was Beebe & Clegg: Their Enduring Photographic Legacy, published by the Center in 2018. The book serves as an enduring testament to Gruber’s detailed research, passion, and lasting significance in the field of railroad photography.
John Gruber, founder of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. Photograph by Henry A. Koshollek