John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program

The John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program, the competitive program started in 2002, 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.

PAST THEMES & WINNERS

2026 theme: Water

Submissions due May 18, 2026

The 2026 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program theme is Water.

As a symbol of life, water represents divine generosity, a personification of healing and suffering, protection and vulnerability, change and constancy, stillness and rage. Water in all its glory is considered a purifier of the soul and the elixir of life.

This year’s theme asks photographers to contemplate the unique relationship water has, or has had, to railroads in any and all manifestations. Whether literal or metaphoric in nature, submitted images should convey storytelling aspects that visually describe this intriguing relationship.

The 2026 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.

The Center will announce the winners on August 8, 2026, 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.

First place	$750
Second place	$500
Third place	$250
Judges also liked	one-year subscription to Railroad Heritage

Submission process

Submissions are due by May 18, 2026, and applicants must submit:

A total of 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 an 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.

About the program

Noted photographer, author, editor, and preservationist of railroads, John E. Gruber (1936-2018) of Madison, Wisconsin, was honored on April 14, 2012, by the board of directors of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art—an organization of which he was the principal founder—by having the Center’s awards program named for him.

What is now the John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program began in 2002. It promotes contemporary railroad photography while also honoring work from prior eras 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.

Past themes

2025: SMOKE

The 2025 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program received four hundred sixty-three submissions from one hundred eighty-four photographers representing thirty-six states and eight countries. The judges were astounded by the creativity for the year’s contest theme: Smoke. The rotating panel of judges narrowed the submissions to the selected winners based on how well the photographs effectively and creatively represented the contest’s theme while displaying fine photographic skill and compositional storytelling.

Black-and-white, 1st prize
David Stanley
Morada, California

Black-and-white, 2nd prize
Al Crossley
Waterford, Connecticut

Black-and-white, 3rd prize
James Ehernberger
Cheyenne, Wyoming

Color, 1st prize
Charles Dischinger
Springfield, Missouri

Color, 2nd prize
David Scharenberg III
Sandwich, Illinois

Color, 3rd prize
Jeff Mast
Canton, Michigan

On August 19, 2025 Elrond Lawrence interviewed the winners on Zoom. The program was recorded and posted on the Center’s YouTube page at @railphotoart.

Judges also liked

“We shall meet again. Not one of the three of us wanted to leave this little railway on that day in September, 2007, but we must be off, so here is one last shot of an empty coal train as it heads into the hills before I get back in the car, in Huanan, China. I did return for some snow a few months later.” Judges’ Comments: This image’s use of excellent backlighting, combined with delicate layered smoke and mist in the valley, creates an excellent sense of place that highlights the depth and distance across the muted scene.

An authentic steam Forestry Railway train of the Vaser Valley Forestry Railway, in the Maramures region of Northern Romania, on April 6, 2025, enters a short tunnel while winter has come back to the area and temperatures drop below freezing. Judges’ Comments: The judges saw a lot of smoke in tunnel shots, but the judges found this image was easily the most unique. Spectacular lighting and composition speak to an intense, loud, and hot experience of a train charging through a tunnel, with smoke wreathing over the locomotive.

On the Denver & Rio Grande Western in Rollinsville, Colorado, a westbound freight climbs to the Continental Divide in October 1978. Judges’ Comments: A thunderous scene of mountain railroading that is beautifully backlit and employs subtle use of color as delicate highlights. You can feel the power. This explosive image carries the full impact of this year’s theme, albeit at the hands of the diesel, that efficient assassin of steam. We need a reminder every now and then that contemporary railroading still possesses the hardware capable of bringing to visual light the awesome power of a modern locomotive as so well captured here.

Surrounded by the mass and geometry of the US Steel Edgar Thomson Plant in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, a Union Railroad engine crew pushes a trainload of heavy steel slabs up the ramp and towards the Irvin Plant in nearby West Mifflin on August 9, 2018. Judges’ Comments: A nice image of the railroad landscape, an often smoky place. Beautifully composed with perfect lighting and contrasting elements, the smoke from heavily working diesels is a contrast in a city long known for industrial smoke. A skillful cropping of a familiar scene that focuses the viewer on the theme beautifully.

Tossing exhausts far skyward into the early evening sky, a quartet of hand-me-down former Southern Pacific SD45s lug an 84-car train of empty coal hoppers up the 2% grade on the west slope of Soldier Summit, Utah, on October 2, 1990. Working since 1985 under lease for coal hauler Utah Railway, this would be their last stop before a well-earned retirement. Judges’ Comments: Simple in form and color but incredible for sense of drama and energy, this image speaks to the stark conditions and raw power required by mountain railroading. Many working, breathing diesels win the war with gravity and bring a train around the apparent edge of the world. Another wonderful image which allows the viewer to not only appreciate the hard working brace of the locomotives rounding the curve, but also allows us to hear the scream of their ascent and hear their wheels screech across the glowing rails.

SP 4449 West is on the West Valley Line near Harrington, California, on April 26, 1981. Old Highway 99W follows the route filled with pacers. The excursion train was headed to Sacramento for the grand opening of the California State Railroad Museum. Judges’ Comments: The judges liked this image because it really conveys the thrill of chasing a train. This image has great energy and perspective and draws the viewer straight into the experience, with the trailing smoke conveying speed and excitement. The long dense smoke trail teases and beckons the viewer to enter the frame, join the pursuit. Ahead lies a magnificent steam locomotive, an elusive prey rushing ahead, leaving its smoke trail as the visual evidence of its presence. Is the car ahead of us in pursuit? Do we need to accelerate and pass? This lovely portrait presents an image, an environment, an event in which we have all been part . . .

At the end of the day in September, 2007, a narrow gauge C2 simmers in the depot in Huanan, China. Judges’ Comments: Perfectly composed, a masterful image that captures an atmosphere and place that is equally stark and timeless.

With the alpine sunrise now just minutes away, our early morning Cumbres Turn charges up the 4% toward Coxo Crossing, just a minute or two ahead. In the stillness of the pre-dawn air, her exhaust plume hangs behind in the tree tops for minutes on end. Judges’ Comments: A triumph of color and contrast that highlights the intense work of a steam train climbing through a valley on a calm morning. The judges loved how the smoke in this image hung within the valley embraced by a sunlit horizon and peak color aspen in the foreground.

“Smoke” in the days of steam, a dark smudge of smoke on the horizon meant another train was on its way across the vast open spaces of South Africa’s Karoo (land of thirst), growing larger as the train drew nearer, and eventually revealing itself to the photographer. On the double track main line between De Aar and Kimberley, class 25NC 4-8-4 3433, named “Heather,” charges along at track speed with a Johannesburg-bound passenger train on March 30, 1975. Judges’ Comments: This image also conveys the anticipation of an approaching train and the drama of a railroad within a vast open landscape punctuated by the flowing curls of smoke plume. The image conveys both a sense of emptiness and delight.

“On Home Ground” —Union Pacific #3985 Challenger, then the pinnacle of operating Union Pacific steam locomotives, makes the case for giving the fans what they want as it performs a photo run-by on Sherman Hill, in Wyoming, in the spring of 1985. Judges’ Comments: A great study in smoke and how it moves across the landscape. A compositional force to be reckoned with. There’s something fascinating and otherworldly about the texture of the smoke plume in this dramatic image, and how it is wind-blown across the landscape and appears to float within the scene.

From the beginning of time, humans have devised conveyance mechanisms to move themselves and goods from one place to another. Since the invention of the steam engine, railroads have evolved into an essential mode of transport that touches many aspects of daily life, whether a commute to work or the delivery of goods to a place of residence–chances are a railroad has been part of the journey.

The 2024 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program received three hundred eighty-three submissions from one hundred forty-three photographers representing thirty-two states and eight countries. The judges were fascinated by the range of interpretations for this year’s contest theme: Conveyance.

Black-and-white, 1st prize
Dafydd Whyles
Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Black-and-white, 2nd prize
James Duval

Black-and-white, 3rd prize
Philip Martin
Victoria, Australia

Color, 1st prize
Ewan McLean
Victoria, Australia

Color, 2nd prize
Ryan Gaynor
Calgary, Canada

Color, 3rd prize
Darryl Bond
Canton, Michigan

On August 20, 2024, Elrond Lawrence interviewed the winners on Zoom. The program was recorded and posted on the Center’s YouTube page at @railphotoart.

Judges also liked

“Eye of the Zephyr” —Amtrak’s California Zephyr returns to Denver during an early evening snowstorm, on November 17, 2022. Judges’ comments: The judges loved this image’s fantastic use of light and technique to capture both motion and depth. Framed like an eye into a chilled world the foreground branches hold the viewer’s gaze with its delicate back-lit branches as the train moves through the scene while the block signal stands guard.

The Rio Grande Zephyr, in Utah, with a girl in a Dutch door, on September 1, 1978. Judges’ comments: The judges were taken by this image’s unique interpretation of the theme of the woman’s gaze forward and hair flowing from the train’s motion, capturing the joy and freedom of traveling by rail and the excitement of discovery across a diverse landscape.

A punishing drought in Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2002 created an acute shortage of feed for livestock and many farms reluctantly considered selling their herds. In response, farmers in Ontario organized the Hay West initiative to send donated hay and feed to their western colleagues. In all, more than 1,800 farmers pledged up to 110,000 bales of hay to the program. The Orangeville-Brampton Railway played a role in Hay West’s success, with operator Cando Contracting shipping 35 carloads from the former Snelgrove station grounds in Brampton, Ontario, and another 51 from Utopia on the Barrie-Collingwood Railway. In this September 20, 2002 scene, local farmers have taken over the Snelgrove property to load their second batch of boxcars. The cars will be fumigated against the cereal leaf beetle before making the journey west. Judges’ comments: The judges liked this image for its delightfully chaotic scene showing both innovative and non-traditional use of tractors and a skid steer loading hay at harvest time. The open box car draws the viewer further into the scene while the ballet of loading unfolds in the foreground.

Locals watch with their phones as steam locomotives 3526 and 3642 emerge through a winter fog, approaching the Rocket Street Bridge, on their way to Wimbledon with a Transport Heritage NSW special in Bathurst, NSW, Australia, on June 20, 2023. Judges’ comments: The judges loved this image’s conveyance of time: If it weren’t for smartphones this could be any rail yard from last mid-century. But the phones tip the viewer off that this is the 21st century and steam railroading is still just as fascinating as it always was. It’s a spectacle that transcends time and captures the fundamental appeal of railroading.

“Knuckle Night” on, January 18th, 2021. A conductor makes his way to the lead motor of his train after replacing the first of many knuckles this stormy night. Judges’ comments: The judges liked this image’s storytelling of the theme at multiple layers. The symmetrical engine noses and their headlights define and frame the moving crewmen, moments before departure, beautifully composed against the dark night sky and swirling snow.

In Mexico at this time (January 14, 1961), trains not only conveyed passengers and freight, but steam engines also provided hot water, which women would convey home with them to wash clothes. This was often a social occasion, and this picture shows women getting water for their homes and chatting with the engineer. The sad thing was that when steam engines stopped running, not only did the steam engines go away, so did the free hot water for laundry, as well as that social custom. Judges’ comments: The judges loved this image’s layered storytelling of the railroad’s role uniting community and humanity. This image also represents the broader world with its implication of travel and freedom and its role in domestic life, delivering water to towns along the line.

I see three forms of conveyance here: First, the SDP40F locomotive, which has provided the horsepower to roll Amtrak’s San Francisco Zephyr, its crew members and passengers, west across several states before making a brief stop in Sacramento, California, on June 13, 1974; Second, SP caboose 1745 affords a riding place as it conveys the conductor and rear brakeman of an eastbound freight from the Bay Area to Roseville yard; third, the oldest form of conveyance, the bicycle, invented in 1817 by Karl von Drais. Named the “swiftwalker” by the German inventor, his machine had no pedals and its frame was a wooden beam supporting two wooden wheels with iron rims and leather-covered tires. The pair of bicycles being pedaled across the double-track mainline in 1974 were a bit more sophisticated. Judges’ comments: The judges liked this image’s use of a convergence of conveyances in this candid and beautiful image of an everyday railroad scene. The judges also liked how this image pulls the viewer into the scene at multiple entry points.

Some days everything just comes together with light, skies, clouds, shadows, leading lines, and dramatic warm light! This day was on December 18, 2023, as I was on the last leg of a trip to chase Pere Marquette 1225, where I captured this shot of CSX I028’s mid-train DPU, as they headed down the viaduct into Howell Yard, at Evansville, Indiana, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision. The only thing that would have made it better is if it was a train coming out of Evansville, but I’ll take it! Judges’ comments: The judges liked this image for its capture of modern-day containerized freight traversing the Midwest at sunset approaching the Ohio River. The dramatic interplay between the brilliant low-angle lighting and long shadows masterfully explores drone photography technology and creativity.

Along the Burlington Northern, just north of Trinidad, Colorado, on June 16,1994. Delicate, even fragile-looking when compared to the heavy steel rail and concrete ties, the code lines of old and the signal information they conveyed were nonetheless just as important for safe passage of people, machines, and cargo. Judges’ comments: The judges liked this abstract image for its use of non-traditional lighting that moves beyond simple transportation and shows how railroads and communications are part of the larger theme of conveyance. A backlit masterful image that speaks to conveyance on multiple levels.

Yes, this happens every day: a December sunrise meets the oldest MBTA PCC 3087 passing through Cedar Grove Cemetery in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) remaining World War II-era Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) cars carry passengers in daily service between Ashmont and Mattapan, in Boston, on a former New Haven right of way. Judges’ comments: The judges liked this image’s use of strong vertical lines to draw the viewer to the streetcar and setting sun, all rendered in silhouette through a beautiful use of back lighting, intersecting the organic with the man-made and drawing a connection between railroading and its surrounding environment.

The 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program received 230 submissions from ninety photographers representing twenty-two states and eight countries. The judges were fascinated by the range of interpretations for this year’s contest theme: The Role of Technology.

The rotating panel of judges narrowed the submissions to the selected winners based on how well the photographs effectively and creatively represented the contest’s theme while displaying fine photographic skill and compositional storytelling.

Black-and-white, 1st prize
Chris Walters
Cammeray, Australia

Black-and-white, 2nd prize
Richard Koenig
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Black-and-white, 3rd prize
Frank Barry
Groton, New York

Color, 1st prize
Blair Kooistra
Fort Worth, Texas

Color, 2nd prize
John Troxler
Logansport, Indiana

Color, 3rd prize
George Hiotis
Clark, New Jersey

On September 5, 2023 the winners discussed their photography on Zoom. The program was recorded and posted on the Center’s YouTube page at @railphotoart.

Judges also liked

Thermite welding is the most common method of bonding rail lengths in railway construction, as displayed at a rail yard in Burnie, Tasmania, on May 21, 2022. Judges’ Comments: A thermite welder in action presents a fountain of hot metal fragments that cascades across this beautifully composed scene of railroad track maintenance. Captured through a telephoto lens, this image poetically depicts both contemporary rail welding technology and digital photography capability at night. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

An electrician inspects a new signal panel installed on the 7 Line Extension, which extended subway service from Times Square to 34th Street Hudson Yards along Eleventh Avenue in New York City. Judges’ Comments: Focus is key to the safety-critical and often-unseen work of the signal maintainer, where a misplaced wire could lead to disaster. In this exceptional portrait equal focus is balanced between the technician at work and the miles of wire and relays that are carefully tagged and threaded through racks. The stark cleanliness of this image highlights today’s intercity rail systems’ use of computerized signal technology in an almost lab-like setting that was once conveyed by wires, poles, and telegraphs. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

Like a naval corvette, Goderich Exter Plow Extra 180 charges eastbound, clearing the single track main from Goderich to Stratford, Ontario after a heavy dump of lake effect snow and winds off Lake Huron on February 26, 1994. Judges’ Comments: Metaphorically like a porpoise emerging among ocean waves, this image demonstrates that without the technology of the wedge plow, railroading in this territory would be all but impossible. A reminder that regardless of what mother nature and geography throw at the railroad, when conditions line up, the railroad can still push its way through an unforgiving wilderness. Rendering of the scene in blue tones intensifies the image’s frozen storyline permitting the viewer to feel the cold and imagine the wall of snow enveloping the scene in white just after release of the shutter. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

LED signals at mile 30.1 of the Guelph Subdivision cast a foreboding glow toward the Silver Junction point with CN’s Halton Subdivision at Georgetown, Ontario, in the morning fog of December 14, 2015. Judges’ Comments: Subtle and engrossing, this portrait of rails and a signal beckons the viewer to consider both the tranquility of the scene and the unknown that lurks beyond. This image’s almost otherworldly ambiance, subtle use of color and composition create a memorable image of merit. This photograph distills its visual story and message into impressionistic elegance. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

A detail shot of the KarTrak Automatic Car Identification label on Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway boxcar 3709, on April 2, 2023. The car is part of the historical collection of the Waterloo Central Railway in St. Jacobs, Ontario. ACI technology was in use from 1967 to 1978 before being replaced by an RFID-based system. Photo taken with permission. Judges’ Comments: This detail view of a KarTrack automatic equipment identification barcode captures a past technology, now weathered by time and decay, obscuring the codes and rendering them obsolete. A masterful composition of color, texture, and the story of once upon a time. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

A diesel and steam engine make for strange bedfellows at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on October 23, 2010. Judges’ Comments: An atmospheric wonder, this image conveys a perfectly executed interplay of shadow and light juxtaposing different eras of railroading in a magical setting. The evocative and raw nature of this photograph with the steam locomotive, enveloped in a haunting cloud of exhaust, exudes an almost ethereal presence as it recedes into the background. In stark contrast, the ‘modern’ diesel locomotive stands prominently in the foreground, asserting its contemporary presence and offering a compelling visual narrative that bridges the gap between past and present in the realm of locomotive technology. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

An old steam locomotive slumbers on a forgotten side track west of an old steel mill in Galt, Illinois, on January 1, 2019. Judges’ Comments: The machine in the garden: discarded and alone, this survivor of the steam era is being consumed by nature, both the twisting growth of the vines and the ravages of rust and decay, making a stark portrait of what happens to technology when time marches on, leaving an indelible mark on everything it touches. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

A Power Director’s Desk at a CETC facility at South Station in Boston, Massachusetts reveals the use of late twentieth-century technology in 2011. At the single power desk, the power director monitors and controls the catenary power on the electrified NEC from New Haven to Boston. Judges’ Comments: Radiant in the glow of his lamp and computer monitors, a dispatcher at a large control center works away at the task at hand while the colorful and glowing threads of the rail network envelope his world with the information above. This captivating image’s use of black both punctuates the story of contemporary train control use of computer technology and intimately invites the viewer into the scene. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

A Gornergrat Bahn train descends the mountain above the Swiss resort town of Zermatt on February 3, 2023. Climbing nearly 5,000 vertical feet in less than six miles, with some grades approaching 20%, the lines use the Abt rack system and electric catenary to power up and down the mountain. Judges’ Comments: The leading lines of this image draw the viewer to a point behind the tracks, a vantage defined by the nothingness beyond, in this high-altitude scene, where the technologies of electric propulsion and rack gearing allow the railroad to reach up into the highest elevations. This image showcases the advancement of cutting-edge rail technology that enables photographic exploration of nature’s outer limits, in this case, Zermatt, one of Switzerland’s highest peaks. Read more about the 2023 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2023/

The 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program received 542 submissions from 208 photographers representing thirty-seven states and twelve countries. The judges were blown away from by this year’s extraordinary number of submissions for the contest’s theme: Weather Effects.

The rotating panel of judges worked hard to narrow down the selections to photographs that effectively and creatively represented the contest’s theme while also exhibited captivating compositional storytelling. As in past years, the judges felt the quantity of high-quality submissions warranted separate color and black-and-white categories for the winners.

Black-and-white, 1st prize
Christopher J. May
West Chicago, Illinois

Black-and-white, 2nd prize
Chris Walters
Cherrybrook, Australia

Black-and-white, 3rd prize
Dennis A. Livesey
New York, New York

Color, 1st prize
Ray Lewis
Litchfield Park, Arizona

Color, 2nd prize
Eric Williams
Millburn, New Jersey

Color, 3rd prize
Robert Arnold
Sturbridge, Massachusetts

On September 21, 2022, the winners discussed their photography on Zoom. The program was recorded and posted on the Center’s YouTube page at @railphotoart.

Judges also liked

Emerging from a drift, a plow busts snow ahead of Ontario Southland Railway FP9A 1401 before the engine sinks its blades into the next drift near Tillsonburg, Ontario, on December 13, 2015. Judges’ Comments: The judges applaud this beautifully composed and framed portrait from within the curved window of an EMD F-Unit, showcasing the violent nature of wedge snowplow operations. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

A temperature inversion traps rising steam from freshly backed taconite pellets at DM&IR’s Proctor, Minnesota, yard on December 2, 2000. Judges’ Comments: A fascinating composition, with strong formal elements shrouded in steaming taconite filled railcars backlit by brilliant sunshine, combine to form this remarkable image. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

Amtrak Cascades no. 500 breaks through the fog as it crosses the BNSF Railway’s Willamette River Drawbridge in Portland, Oregon, on October 14, 2010. Judges’ Comments: The story of weather in transition captivated the judges in this image, where enveloping fog, sunlight, and a speeding Talgo train scatters sea birds to form an intriguing composition of movement, tone and balance. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

On the Keystone Corridor, SEPTA Silverliner IV car 443 leads no. 5352 from Thorndale to West Trenton, and is greeted by an empty platform at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in the pouring rain on April, 18, 2022. Judges’ Comments: Like a classic film noir scene, the emotive power of this image beckons the viewer into this deserted rail station, where one can almost feel the rain and the rush of wind of a passing commuter train. The artistically layered composition of inclement weather and architecture made this a favorite image of the judges. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

A southbound Amtrak train, making nearly 90 m.p.h., kicks up snow in Stuyvesant, New York, on February 15, 2021. Judges’ Comments: The judges admired this photographer’s use of synchronized flash-lighting that dramatically illuminates the cone of snow swept up by the on-coming high speed passenger train and leading line of foreground rail. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

Mt. Washington Railway Company no. 2 takes the 4:00 p.m. steam train just below the summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, about 30 minutes before sunset on October 6, 2021. Judges’ Comments: Mt. Washington is home to some of the world’s worst weather, but in this sun dappled shot the wind takes front stage. The judges liked the vast, panoramic scale of mountain and background clouds in the distance, while the climbing cog and bright red coach perfectly punctuate this Martian landscape known as New Hampshire’s “rock pile.” Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

The driver of TasRail’s ‘paper train’ no. 432 from Boyer to Burnie peers out into the rainstorm for a sign of the approaching container freight no. 435 at 1:00 a.m. at Deloraine, Tasmania, on March 24, 2011. Judges’ Comments: A mysterious image that invites the viewer to spend time looking at the details within: the shadowy engineer, the details of the cab interior and the locomotive’s array of lights as they cut through the illuminated lines of rain. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

Eastbound Union Pacific no. 6668 leads a coal train at Pinecliffe, Colorado. Judges’ Comments: A classic winter scene, a canvas of white on black that is carefully composed of a train passing through a snowy forest of layered texture. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

Snow and steam combine as former Denver & Rio Grande Western rotary snowplow OY works hard to clear compacted snow at Cumbres Pass, Colorado, on March 1, 2020. Judges’ Comments: A dramatic view and composition of a rotary snow plow in action, where plumes of smoke and skyward thrown snow merge, illustrating the drama of a steam powered plow in action cutting through a deep drift. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

Amtrak no. 154 rushes to Boston at East Lyme, Connecticut where the Four Mile River forms the boundary between Old and East Lyme at low tide on October 16, 1993. Judges’ Comments: The judges felt this image captures the mood and context of coastal railroading with its damp fog and textured, rock covered barnacles along the shore. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

Approaching a weather-beaten barge hulk in the Hudson River near Fort Montgomery, New York, a southbound CSX Intermodal train emerges out of the fog on February 3, 2022. Judges’ Comments: The judges love this image’s haunting, forlorn quality of foggy freezing rain, decaying foreground barge, layers of piled ice and tell-tale three headlights of an approaching freight expertly positioned in diagonal background composition. Read more about the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards: railphoto-art.org/awards-2022/

The 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program received 149 submissions from 96 photographers representing 28 states and 9 countries. The judges were extremely impressed with the range of subject matter, storytelling, and craft by each photographer’s interpretation of this year’s theme: Three of a Kind. The panel of three judges narrowed their selections to those photographers who presented the most powerful and compelling visual stories that translated the theme into a memorable, emotive series of images.

For this year’s contest, the judge’s blind review process focused on the quality of each group of three images and how each photograph contributed to a connected, consistent message to complete the series. The judges also felt the quantity of high-quality submissions warranted separate color and black-and-white categories for the winners.

Black-and-white, 1st prize
Miško Kranjec
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Black-and-white, 2nd prize
Al Crossley
Waterford, Connecticut

Black-and-white, 3rd prize
Antoine Leblond
Trédrez-Locquémeau, France

Color, 1st prize
Dennis Livesey
New York, New York

Color, 2nd prize
George Hiotis
Clark, New Jersey

Color, 3rd prize
Elrond Lawrence
Salinas, California

Judges also liked

CN’s Dubuque Subdivision came apart during an overnight run in frigid temperatures on January 10, 2016; section crews spent forty-eight hours chasing down broken rails. At MP 269.9, just west of Raymond, Iowa, the crew gets to work by burning a fiberglass rope against the rail to expand it. Their tools are in place to realign the rail. Judges’ comments: A broken rail in winter visually narrates the constant battle with nature that the men and women who maintain railroads must endure. The photographer deftly presents the track crew as they heat and align adjacent sections of rail. Hydraulic jacks, sledge hammers, sweat, snow, and flames all shape this memorable series. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

CN’s Dubuque Subdivision came apart during an overnight run in frigid temperatures on January 10, 2016; section crews spent forty-eight hours chasing down broken rails. At mile 269.9, just west of Raymond, Iowa, a crew member swings a sledge hammer to hit the heated rail back into place. Judges’ comments: A broken rail in winter visually narrates the constant battle with nature that the men and women who maintain railroads must endure. The photographer deftly presents the track crew as they heat and align adjacent sections of rail. Hydraulic jacks, sledge hammers, sweat, snow, and flames all shape this memorable series. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

CN’s Dubuque Subdivision came apart during an overnight run in frigid temperatures on January 10, 2016; section crews spent forty-eight hours chasing down broken rails. At mile 269.9, just west of Raymond, Iowa, the crew has realigned the rail and is reinstalling joint bars. Judges’ comments: A broken rail in winter visually narrates the constant battle with nature that the men and women who maintain railroads must endure. The photographer deftly presents the track crew as they heat and align adjacent sections of rail. Hydraulic jacks, sledge hammers, sweat, snow, and flames all shape this memorable series. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

CSX empty hopper train E895-02—en route from Newport News, Virginia, to Princeton, Indiana—approaches Lewis Tunnel near the eastern continental divide at Alleghany, Virginia, on February 2, 2020. Judges’ comments: Light at the ends of the tunnel bookend this image series with clarity and aplomb. Through simple, clear framing of an approaching CSX freight train, the photographer skillfully depicts the experience of visually embracing thousands of horsepower entering and exiting a mountain tunnel in a fury of heat, smoke, and sound. The judges also appreciated the visual similarities to the “remarkable movie-like sequence” of photographs by CRP&A founder John Gruber. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

CSX empty hopper train E895-02—en route from Newport News, Virginia, to Princeton, Indiana—enters Lewis Tunnel near the eastern continental divide at Alleghany, Virginia, on February 2, 2020. Judges’ comments: Light at the ends of the tunnel bookend this image series with clarity and aplomb. Through simple, clear framing of an approaching CSX freight train, the photographer skillfully depicts the experience of visually embracing thousands of horsepower entering and exiting a mountain tunnel in a fury of heat, smoke, and sound. The judges also appreciated the visual similarities to the “remarkable movie-like sequence” of photographs by CRP&A founder John Gruber. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

CSX empty hopper train E895-02—en route from Newport News, Virginia, to Princeton, Indiana—exits Lewis Tunnel near the eastern continental divide at Alleghany, Virginia, on February 2, 2020. Judges’ comments: Light at the ends of the tunnel bookend this image series with clarity and aplomb. Through simple, clear framing of an approaching CSX freight train, the photographer skillfully depicts the experience of visually embracing thousands of horsepower entering and exiting a mountain tunnel in a fury of heat, smoke, and sound. The judges also appreciated the visual similarities to the “remarkable movie-like sequence” of photographs by CRP&A founder John Gruber. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Norfolk & Western K2 4-8-2 steam locomotive 124 leads a passenger train at Bluefield, West Virginia, in March 1958. Judges’ comments: Streamlined Norfolk & Western steam locomotives of the K- and J-class provide a fascinating window to the past in this series of images, which thoroughly captured the imagination of the judges. The beautiful execution, description of context, and film-grain texture of these classic N&W engines—depicted at rest in the rain, at night ready to depart, and at speed in pacing action—comprise a memorable set of images. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Norfolk & Western Railway 4-8-4 J-class steam locomotive 609 leads a passenger train at Roanoke, Virginia, in May 1954. Judges’ comments: Streamlined Norfolk & Western steam locomotives of the K- and J-class provide a fascinating window to the past in this series of images, which thoroughly captured the imagination of the judges. The beautiful execution, description of context, and film-grain texture of these classic N&W engines—depicted at rest in the rain, at night ready to depart, and at speed in pacing action—comprise a memorable set of images. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Norfolk & Western Railway J-class 4-8-4 steam locomotive 606 leads a freight train near Suffolk, Virginia, in April 1959. Judges’ comments: Streamlined Norfolk & Western steam locomotives of the K- and J-class provide a fascinating window to the past in this series of images, which thoroughly captured the imagination of the judges. The beautiful execution, description of context, and film-grain texture of these classic N&W engines—depicted at rest in the rain, at night ready to depart, and at speed in pacing action—comprise a memorable set of images. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

New York City’s Second Avenue Subway was a raw cavern at 72nd Station on April 6, 2013. Judges’ comments: Humanity’s heroic quest to connect people via rail below our metropolises is the underlying story of these tunnel construction images. The judges remarked that these photographs are important records of the extraordinary scale and magnitude of these endeavors. The irony of the story is that the average commuter has little knowledge nor appreciation of the Herculean effort required to build these subterranean marvels of engineering. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

New York City’s Second Avenue Subway under construction at 72nd Station with the train platform and mezzanine in process on September 13, 2016. Judges’ comments: Humanity’s heroic quest to connect people via rail below our metropolises is the underlying story of these tunnel construction images. The judges remarked that these photographs are important records of the extraordinary scale and magnitude of these endeavors. The irony of the story is that the average commuter has little knowledge nor appreciation of the Herculean effort required to build these subterranean marvels of engineering. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

New York City’s Second Avenue Subway at 72nd Station, shown finished and opened to the public on January 9, 2017. Judges’ comments: Humanity’s heroic quest to connect people via rail below our metropolises is the underlying story of these tunnel construction images. The judges remarked that these photographs are important records of the extraordinary scale and magnitude of these endeavors. The irony of the story is that the average commuter has little knowledge nor appreciation of the Herculean effort required to build these subterranean marvels of engineering. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Strasburg Rail Road hostler Ross Gochenaur trims the coal pile in the tender of ex-Norfolk & Western Railway 4-8-0 steam locomotive 475 at East Strasburg, Pennsylvania, on August 12, 2017. Judges’ comments: This series’ strong composition and tonality impressed the judges. Each image carefully calibrates foreground framing with storytelling of a fireman going about the time-honored tradition of preparing an iron horse for duty. The way the photographer follows the fireman’s movement and form are particularly poetic. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Strasburg Rail Road hostler Ross Gochenaur closes the ashpan door of ex-Norfolk & Western Railway 4-8-0 steam locomotive 475 at East Strasburg, Pennsylvania, on August 12, 2017. Judges’ comments: This series’ strong composition and tonality impressed the judges. Each image carefully calibrates foreground framing with storytelling of a fireman going about the time-honored tradition of preparing an iron horse for duty. The way the photographer follows the fireman’s movement and form are particularly poetic. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Strasburg Rail Road hostler Ross Gochenaur checks the state of the fire first thing in the morning in ex-Great Western Railway 2-10-0 steam locomotive 90 at East Strasburg, Pennsylvania, on August 12, 2017. Judges’ comments: This series’ strong composition and tonality impressed the judges. Each image carefully calibrates foreground framing with storytelling of a fireman going about the time-honored tradition of preparing an iron horse for duty. The way the photographer follows the fireman’s movement and form are particularly poetic. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

RailBirds: Railroads exist in the natural world, and nature adapts to its habitat. Here are three birds at home in the rail environment. Left: A great horned owl uses the Kyle yard as a convenient spot for breakfast with a hopper car as its observation deck in Goodland, Kansas, on May 2, 2015. Middle: The former Rock Island searchlight signals on the Denver line have been out of service for decades at Flagler, Colorado, on August 23, 2020. On the high plains where trees are sparse, the signals still function—as artificial roosts. Right: Growing up in coal country you get use to the rolling thunder. This bald eagle is undisturbed by the simultaneous passage of two Union Pacific coal trains in Black Thunder Mine in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin on January 17, 2021. Judges’ comments: These three avian railroad images resonated with the judges for both their levity and delight as well as for their artistic quality. This photographer visually speaks to the relationship between nature and the machine, and also transforms these railroad images with infused color, texture, and scale that elevate the scenes to new levels of appreciation. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the General Urquiza Railroad (Ferrocarril General Urquiza) operated a totally isolated yard of standard gauge track that was fed by a train ferry operation from points up river on the Río de La Plata-Parana River system. On July 6, 1973, the ferry prepares to depart from South Dock (Dársena Sur). Judges’ comments: These three rail ferry images immediately captivated the judges for their evocative composition and Kodachrome color vitality. They magically transport the viewer on an exotic visual journey that parallels that of the railcar’s physical transfer from land to water. Each image offers a portal to an earlier age, rendered in soft colors and compositions that evoke movement. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

The classic steam tug <i>Mirador</i> (“Lookout”) assists the train ferry’s departure from South Dock in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 6, 1973.

Judges' comments: These three rail ferry images immediately captivated the judges for their evocative composition and Kodachrome color vitality. They magically transport the viewer on an exotic visual journey that parallels that of the railcar’s physical transfer from land to water. Each image offers a portal to an earlier age, rendered in soft colors and compositions that evoke movement.

Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: <a href="https://railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/</a>

The classic steam tug Mirador (“Lookout”) assists the train ferry’s departure from South Dock in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 6, 1973. Judges’ comments: These three rail ferry images immediately captivated the judges for their evocative composition and Kodachrome color vitality. They magically transport the viewer on an exotic visual journey that parallels that of the railcar’s physical transfer from land to water. Each image offers a portal to an earlier age, rendered in soft colors and compositions that evoke movement. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

The classic Scottish-built steel screw steam train ferry, the <i>Mercedes Lacroze</i>, clears away from South Dock in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 6, 1973. A. & J. Inglis Ltd. built the vessel in 1909 by on behalf of the original owner, the British-owned standard gauge Entre Rios Railway.

Judges' comments: These three rail ferry images immediately captivated the judges for their evocative composition and Kodachrome color vitality. They magically transport the viewer on an exotic visual journey that parallels that of the railcar’s physical transfer from land to water. Each image offers a portal to an earlier age, rendered in soft colors and compositions that evoke movement.

Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: <a href="https://railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/</a>

The classic Scottish-built steel screw steam train ferry, the Mercedes Lacroze, clears away from South Dock in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 6, 1973. A. & J. Inglis Ltd. built the vessel in 1909 by on behalf of the original owner, the British-owned standard gauge Entre Rios Railway. Judges’ comments: These three rail ferry images immediately captivated the judges for their evocative composition and Kodachrome color vitality. They magically transport the viewer on an exotic visual journey that parallels that of the railcar’s physical transfer from land to water. Each image offers a portal to an earlier age, rendered in soft colors and compositions that evoke movement. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

“Early American Locomotives,” B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2013. (Used with permission from the museum.) Judges comments: The judges chose this series for recognition for its simple, yet bold abstraction of three early steam locomotives captured in frontal elevation and then juxtaposed atop an abstract white backdrop. The presentation focuses the viewer’s attention on each locomotive in a heightened, more intimate manner. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

“Early American Locomotives,” B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2013. (Used with permission from the museum.) Judges’ comments: The judges chose this series for recognition for its simple, yet bold abstraction of three early steam locomotives captured in frontal elevation and then juxtaposed atop an abstract white backdrop. The presentation focuses the viewer’s attention on each locomotive in a heightened, more intimate manner. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

In the quiet of the night on April 19, 2017, a freight train of car carriers crosses a viaduct approaching Runcorn, England, reflecting the sodium street lighting off its uniform curtain sides. Judges’ comments: These striking black-and-white compositions with accents of color explore the intriguing boundaries between paintings and photographs. The judges felt the quality of these three images in their textured use of contrast, light, and tone deliver a one-two punch that infuses dramatic visual movement within a still image. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

In the derelict docks area of Liverpool, England, the distant rumble of a suburban train heading to Southport is sufficient to disturb the local bird population, on October 24, 2017. Judges’ comments: These striking black-and-white compositions with accents of color explore the intriguing boundaries between paintings and photographs. The judges felt the quality of these three images in their textured use of contrast, light, and tone deliver a one-two punch that infuses dramatic visual movement within a still image. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Amidst the leafless trees of Wiltshire a freightliner train passes Uffington, England, with a load of empty container wagons on March 14, 2018. Judges’ comments: These striking black-and-white compositions with accents of color explore the intriguing boundaries between paintings and photographs. The judges felt the quality of these three images in their textured use of contrast, light, and tone deliver a one-two punch that infuses dramatic visual movement within a still image. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

The telegrapher on duty in Surf, California, folds up train orders and clearance forms in 1985. Judges’ comments: Here the railroading tradition of preparing and delivering train orders piqued the judges’ attention. The photographer showed great attention to detail, lighting, and composition in presenting the story of one handwritten order: meticulously drafted, looped and transferred, and then documented, all by the hands of railroaders. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

Ernie Hull, engineer on Southern Pacific 8557 East, picks up train orders “on the fly” at around three in the morning at Surf, California, in 1985. Judges’ comments: Here the railroading tradition of preparing and delivering train orders piqued the judges’ attention. The photographer showed great attention to detail, lighting, and composition in presenting the story of one handwritten order: meticulously drafted, looped and transferred, and then documented, all by the hands of railroaders. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

The telegrapher on duty at Surf, California, fills out the train’s passage on the “O.S.” sheet in 1985. Judges comments: Here the railroading tradition of preparing and delivering train orders piqued the judges’ attention. The photographer showed great attention to detail, lighting, and composition in presenting the story of one handwritten order: meticulously drafted, looped and transferred, and then documented, all by the hands of railroaders. Read more about the 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Awards Program: railphoto-art.org/awards/2021-awards/

The 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program received 287 submissions from 116 photographers representing twenty-eight states and nine countries. The judges were extremely impressed with the depth of creativity, thought, and image making by each photographer’s interpretation of this year’s theme, “Connections.” Those photographers who presented a powerful and compelling visual story that translated the theme into a memorable, emotive image were rewarded accordingly.

For this year’s contest, the judges’ blind review process focused on the quality of each individual image. The judges chose not to limit one award per photographer when the judges felt that multiple images from the same photographer merited recognition. The judges also felt the quantity of high-quality submissions warranted both color and black-and-white categories of winners.

Black-and-white, 1st prize
John E. Troxler
Logansport, Indiana

Black-and-white, 2nd prize
Matthew Malkiewicz
Mount Laurel, New Jersey

Black-and-white, 3rd prize
Chris Walters
Cherrybrook, New South Wales, Australia

Judges also liked

Looking out the front windows of the Eagle Café (now out of business) in downtown Gallup, New Mexico, on Route 66, with a stack train going by on the BNSF Railway Gallup Subdivison (the former Santa Fe, of course) on October 12, 2017. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

A Harz Railway fireman opens a connection to give his iron colleague a drink in Drei Annen Hohne, Germany, on October 20, 2016. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

‘TransPennine Express’ locomotives 68022 ‘Resolution’ and 68021 ‘Tireless’ with CAF Mk5a stock at York, England, on the morning of February 16, 2020. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

The decline of the American passenger train and the rise of the airline industry will forever be linked, with one the cause and the other the effect. The fate of this former Burlington Northern E-unit is thematic of that. Once the pride of the Burlington Route’s intercity passenger fleet, it now sits but now it sits gutted on an industrial back lot in Bensenville, Illinois, just footsteps from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, on April 15, 2018. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

An eastbound Norfolk Southern train approaches the helper pockets at East Conemaugh, Pennsylvania on December 30, 2018. This short intermodal train will proceed through without additional assistance, but most trains stop here to add a helper to get them over the summit. Tying this track maze together are double crossover sets connecting every track to each other, allowing helpers to reach a train on any track. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

Color, 1st prize
Steven Chen
Brookfield, Wisconsin

Color, 2nd prize
Robin Coombes
Cardiff, Wales

Color, 3rd prize
Steven Chen
Brookfield, Wisconsin

Judges also liked

Just west of Hillsdale at Durham, Wyoming, Union Pacific SD70ACe no. 1995 leads a manifest train west as it approaches a grade crossing and Operation Lifesaver display, on January 6, 2019. The moral of this story is, do not try and beat the train. There is only one winner here. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

There are many indelible figures in railroading but, arguably, none more synonymous with a singular locomotive than Doyle McCormack. McCormack was instrumental in the restoration of the famed Daylight and the creation of the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, whose engine house bears his name. Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, Oregon, on October 15, 2018. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

Balkan Mine run C612 begins loading its train of coal for the Carolinas in Tejay, Kentucky, on February 29, 2020. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

Two BNSF SD70MACs in the BN ‘Executive’ paint scheme sit coupled nose to nose while in the siding at El Pleasant, Texas, on January 12, 2020. A recent downturn in the coal economy has rendered these large locomotives surplus so the pair sits here in storage riding out the recession. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

Night has fallen and stars shine brightly from above as train U81 grinds upgrade across the trestle at Slab Fork, West Virginia, on the former Virginian Railway’s Deepwater Line on July 20, 2016. The Virginian spared no expense when it built this railroad and the frame work detailed in this shot showcases that. The train is en route to Alloy Yard from Elmore Yard in Mullens, West Virginia. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

At Sand Cut, modern distributed power of a Union Pacific freight train makes its way into Bena, California, in January 2016. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

Batten Kill Railroad 605 has completed its work for the day and is preparing to move out of the cold and into its stall in the warm Greenwich, New York engine house, on February 22, 2017. Read more about the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: www.railphoto-art.org/connections-2020/

On July 14, 2020, Scott Lothes interviewed the winners on Zoom. The program was recorded and posted on the Center’s YouTube page at @railphotoart.

The theme for the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards was “Images of Railroaders.” The panel of judges assessed submissions for creative content and with an eye towards John’s legacy for capturing journalistic images of railroad workers in their environment.

All of us at the Center know that John would be incredibly proud of both the quality and the volume of submissions. This contest received 551 images from 138 photographers–a record number of photographs and the second-highest number of entrants in the awards’ sixteen-year history. In the two categories, 101 photographers submitted 250 black-and-white images, and 117 photographers submitted 301 color images.

Black-and-white, 1st prize
Miško Kranjec
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Black-and-white, 2nd prize
Jeffrey Mast
Canton, Michigan

Black-and-white, 3rd prize
Dennis Livesey
New York, New York

Judges also liked

NYC class L-2a 2772 getting sand at Harmon, New York, circa 1951.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

NYC class L-2a 2772 getting sand at Harmon, New York, circa 1951. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

An Erie Lackawanna trainman trudges through a Buffalo, New York lake effect snowfall at EL's Bison Yard in the early 1970s.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

An Erie Lackawanna trainman trudges through a Buffalo, New York lake effect snowfall at EL’s Bison Yard in the early 1970s. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Cumbres & Toltec engineer at Cumbres Pass, Colorado, September 22, 2006.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Cumbres & Toltec engineer at Cumbres Pass, Colorado, September 22, 2006. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Barrow Hill Roundhouse, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, in September 24, 2015.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Barrow Hill Roundhouse, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, in September 24, 2015. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Bill Purdie nurses former Southern 2716 into motion again after a stall on the Interstate Railroad grade between Dorchester Junction and Norton, Virginia in May 1982. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

In between hooking up air brake hoses, N&W yard in Columbia, Missouri, September 16, 1977.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

In between hooking up air brake hoses, N&W yard in Columbia, Missouri, September 16, 1977. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Fireman Billy Elliott (left) and Engineer Larry Bagby are on the head end of Missouri-Kansas-Texas Train 102, on an overnight eastbound run from Franklin to St. Louis, Missouri. November 1983. Locomotive 226 is a GP40. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Boiler attendant Thanisani Ngwenya stares down the camera from the window of Garratt locomotive #414 while stopped at Hwange station, Zimbabwe, on July 9, 2017. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

A worker supervises the dumping of ballast along the double track mainline of the Union Pacific in Ames, Iowa on May 6, 2016.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

A worker supervises the dumping of ballast along the double track mainline of the Union Pacific in Ames, Iowa on May 6, 2016. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Enginemen Aaron Sholley and Dave Domitrovich as well as student hostler and fireman Gabe Bocchino chat in the early morning hours inside the engine house at East Strasburg, Pennsylvania, on December 2018. Sitting on the adjacent track is former Great Western decapod #90 barely making any noise in the stillness of a quite morning prior to a day’s operation. Quiet moments like this for the crew are seldom, given the hustle and bustle of the railroad during peak operating season. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Cleaning, Marley Hill on the Tanfield Railway, Stanley, County Durham, United Kingdom, September 7, 2012.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Cleaning, Marley Hill on the Tanfield Railway, Stanley, County Durham, United Kingdom, September 7, 2012. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

A Wisconsin & Southern conductor does paperwork in the cab by lantern light at Boscobel, Wisconsin, on February 7, 2016.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

A Wisconsin & Southern conductor does paperwork in the cab by lantern light at Boscobel, Wisconsin, on February 7, 2016. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Color, 1st prize
Blair Kooistra
Fort Worth, Texas

Color, 2nd prize
Ryan James Gaynor
Millgrove, Ontario, Canada

Color, 3rd prize
Bryan Bechtold
Denver, Colorado

Judges also liked

Union Pacific Steam crew inserting rivet on "Big Boy" locomotive 4014 at Cheyenne, Wyoming, on November 15, 2018.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Union Pacific Steam crew inserting rivet on “Big Boy” locomotive 4014 at Cheyenne, Wyoming, on November 15, 2018. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

National Railways of Zimbabwe steam fitters playing bottle cap checkers at the Bulawayo steam shed, on July 27, 1984. At this time, the shed serviced 105 Garratt steam locomotives, which operated from Bulawayo, north to Victoria Falls, and south to West Nicholson. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Bombardier Transportation employee washes a GO Transit locomotive in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, on August 8, 2016.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Bombardier Transportation employee washes a GO Transit locomotive in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, on August 8, 2016. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Regular fireman attempts to subdue the rampant fire at the summer stable for the Slovenian Railroads’ (SZ) museum in Jesenice, Slovenia, in August 2011. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

French train driver Angélique prepares to close the doors on her suburban train. She works on a short line in the eastern suburbs of Paris between Esbly and Crecy La Chapelle. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

A worker grinds boiler staybolts in preparation to peen the end over, sealing them into the boiler sheet, at Valley Railroad Shops, in Essex, Connecticut, on August 7, 2018. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

MTA New York City Transit track workers repairing section of track just north of 57th Station, on July 23, 2011.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

MTA New York City Transit track workers repairing section of track just north of 57th Station, on July 23, 2011. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Finding the calm between the chaos on the Sumpter Valley Railroad in Baker City, Oregon, on October 14, 2018.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Finding the calm between the chaos on the Sumpter Valley Railroad in Baker City, Oregon, on October 14, 2018. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Rich Young tends to the fire of Soo Line 1003 as a family watches at the Western Avenue yard in Chicago, in August 2017.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Rich Young tends to the fire of Soo Line 1003 as a family watches at the Western Avenue yard in Chicago, in August 2017. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Two engineers exchange hellos in Lakeside, Minnesota in September 2009.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2019-awards/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Two engineers exchange hellos in Lakeside, Minnesota in September 2009. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

In an early morning snow storm on January 17, 2018, conductor Aaron Aigeldinger has the grueling task of cleaning switches from under several inches of fresh snow. He is at Penobscot, Pennsylvania, a former CNJ yard now operated by the Reading & Northern. His train the Pittston Fast Freight is awaiting his task to be complete to be able to safely make a set off over the switches. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

We Can Do It, Shelley Hall peers out of the boiler of Strasburg Rail Road no. 90 after cleaning the locomotive. Strasburg, Pennsylvania, November 6, 2017. Read more about the 2019 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Awards were on hiatus in 2018 due to John Gruber’s passing.

For the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program, the judges created two categories: one to feature outstanding work made prior to the creation of Amtrak in 1971, and another to showcase recent innovations in night photography made possible by modern digital cameras and creative use of them. More than 100 photographers submitted work for consideration in the two categories, challenging the judges to select the best from a remarkable range of photography. Entrants spanned a wide range of ages, included two father-son pairs, and came from nearly thirty states and eleven different countries.

Vision from the Past

The first contest, “Vision from the Past,” solicits excellent photography captured any time before May 1, 1971. The judges were delighted with Charles McCreary’s third-place image from the 2016 “Most Evocative” contest, which depicts a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train above a bustling street scene in Pittsburgh in 1950. Many photography contests require submissions of work from a recent timeframe. This category of this year’s contest requires work that is not recent. The judges hope this will bring forth even more captivating, historic images of railroading and the railroad scene. As with the “Most Evocative” contest last year, the judges will evaluate images for their visual impact, but also with an eye towards the historic value of their content.

1st prize
Philip A. Weibler
West Chicago, Illinois

2nd prize
Herbert Livesey
New York, New York

3nd prize
John Helbok
New York, New York

Judges also liked

On a rainy night in Parkersburg, West Virginia, a Baltimore & Ohio eastbound freight train leaves town. Photographer David T. Mainey was working for the railroad as a Technical Trainee at the time and used a Leica IIIC camera. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

The windshield of a northbound Baltimore & Ohio freight train frames a southbound train at rural crossing just north of Bradford, Pennsylvania, on the B&O’s former Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg line on a rainy May 13th, 1968. The southbound is using power borrowed from the Chesapeake & Ohio, showing influence that would eventually lead to the “Chessie System” mergers. Note the photographer at far right: Ken’s wife, Patricia Kraemer, photographing her husband’s train. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Three passengers board Santa Fe train no. 5 during a flag stop at Sedgwick, Kansas, in December of 1956. Station agent David L. Book stands behind the passengers. Photographer Gary Rich, ten years old at the time, recalls that three passengers in 1956 was a banner day at Sedgwick—one passenger per week was more common. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

On a snowy December day in the Bronx in 1969, a former Cleveland Union Terminal P-class electric locomotive, then working for Penn Central, waits with its train for a signal at DV Tower on the former New York Central’s Electric Division. At Croton-Harmon, 23.45 miles to the north (railroad west), the train will be handed over to diesel power for the remainder of its trip to Albany, New York. The falling snow and leaking steam from the heat line give the stopped train the impression of great speed. Photographer John Helbok used an Olympus Pen-F half-frame format camera with Kodak Tri-X 35mm film. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Horses run away as a whistling Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge freight train approaches. The train, led by 2-8-2 steam locomotive no. 488 (with no. 492 pushing), is leaving Chama, New Mexico, bound for Alamosa, Colorado, on March 14, 1964. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Western Pacific's <i>California Zephyr</i> departs Oakland, California, as it heads through a canyon of industry along 3rd Street on February 1, 1968. Observation-dome car "Silver Penthouse" brings up the rear of the eastbound <i>Zephyr</i> as it navigates a landscape dominated by building supply and paper warehouses under a looming "Safeway" water tower. This classic street running scene illustrates the train's use of steam heat, an abundance of "vintage" cars, and the world as we knew it before the advent of Amtrak and containerized freight.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2017-awards/" rel="nofollow">2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Western Pacific’s California Zephyr departs Oakland, California, as it heads through a canyon of industry along 3rd Street on February 1, 1968. Observation-dome car “Silver Penthouse” brings up the rear of the eastbound Zephyr as it navigates a landscape dominated by building supply and paper warehouses under a looming “Safeway” water tower. This classic street running scene illustrates the train’s use of steam heat, an abundance of “vintage” cars, and the world as we knew it before the advent of Amtrak and containerized freight. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

By the Light of Night

The second contest, “By the Light of Night,” seeks the best in low-light photography. Our eyes work well in dim environments, so that we can observe activity illuminated by the moon or just a few dim lights. Photographing what we see in low-light conditions has traditionally been a challenge restricted by technology, be it the slow response of photographic film or “noisy,” high-ISO images from digital cameras. By necessity, photographs made in dark conditions have traditionally taken the form of long exposures. Improvements in the sensitivities of digital cameras over the past several years have opened up more creative opportunities for twilight, night, and dawn photography than were possible with film and even early digital cameras. With these advancements, today’s photographers can now make images in low-light conditions that more closely replicate what the human eye can see.

For the “By the Light of Night” contest, the judges are looking for originality, both in terms of exploring the technical capabilities of high-ISO photography, and the dark details of railroading that often go unnoticed at night. Entries may be of any ISO, and artificial lighting as well as Photoshop processing are permitted. The judges are looking for creative use of the digital capabilities to do new, innovative things. Entries must have been taken after December 31, 2013, between sunset and sunrise, underground, or in an otherwise dark environment.

1st prize
Nicholas D’Amato
Denver, Colorado

2nd prize
Brandon Townley
Sunbury, Ohio

2nd prize
Darryl Bond
Waimate, New Zealand

Judges also liked

During an evening snow storm in Chicago, the pickup shoes of an L train arc into the night, momentarily lighting the dark building canyon facades. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Chicago suburbs and two passing trains appear as blurred streaks of light in this thirty-second exposure from the rear of the “Caritas” observation car during Metra’s evening rush hour as the eastbound California Zephyr nears its final destination on November 10, 2014. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

In New York City’s closed City Hall station on March 4, 2017, a crowd on the left is taking pictures of subway riders. Photographer Dennis Livesey used a full-frame camera with an 8-15mm fisheye lens set at 9mm. Processing of the image included digital straightening of the circular image. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

The headlights of northbound Amtrak Northeast Regional train shine along the Northeast Corridor at Metropark, New Jersey, on the night of September 19, 2014. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Norfolk Southern freight train 15T has taken the siding at Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia, and its end-of-train device flashes into the night of September 27, 2014. On the adjacent track, intermodal train 214 resumes its trek north, illuminating the right-of-way with its headlights through the drifting midnight fog. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Providence & Worcester train NR2 rolls south through Ledyard, Connecticut, in a shroud of diesel exhaust from the lead locomotives, which have just left the frame. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Buffalo Central Terminal’s clocks glow red and green for the holidays as the last light of New Year’s Day 2017 reflects off the windows. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Amtrak passenger train no. 14, the northbound <i>Coast Starlight</i>, passes under a searchlight signal bridge as it departs Davis, California, on the night of February 18, 2015.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2017-awards/" rel="nofollow">2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Amtrak passenger train no. 14, the northbound Coast Starlight, passes under a searchlight signal bridge as it departs Davis, California, on the night of February 18, 2015. Read more about the 2017 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

The 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program brought forth an incredible array of submissions. The judges had the difficult task of selecting the best amongst the 331 images submitted by 141 photographers—the second-highest participation in a CRPA contest. The two-category format—one for recent images from mobile devices and one for most evocative images of all-time—was a success, bringing in diverse and surprising work. Entrants ranged from teenagers to eighty-somethings, and they came from more than thirty different states and ten countries.

Most Evocative

The most evocative category challenges participants to enter their absolute best images of railroading. There are no limits on when the images were made, which allows anyone to participate. Please limit the scale and scope of any manipulation to traditional darkroom printing techniques such as dodging and burning.

This category has the following goals:

Open participation to anyone, particularly those who haven’t been able to participate over the last few years.
Unearth great work that would otherwise not be seen.
Focus on the skill required for the original capture.

1st prize
Olaf Haensch
Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany

2nd prize
Miško Kranjec
Ljubljana, Slovenia

3rd prize
Charles McCreary
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Judges also liked

Photographer’s notes: “Time Machine.” Some 26 years ago, give or take a year, the precise date has been lost in time, I was following a Union Pacific excursion train down the Feather River Canyon in Northern California. Northern 844 and Challenger 3985, respectively, were leading the consist. While the train was stopped for a lunch break in Oroville, California, I was able to get a close up look at 844’s running gear. Bathed in light reflected off a nearby structure, I made two exposures on color negative film. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern train no. 487 waits for its opposition at Cobden, Minnesota, on July 17, 2010, while a lightning show takes place overhead. Sun, heat, and humidity throughout the day culminated in powerful thunderstorms all night producing severe lightning, hail, and heavy rain. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Mount Washington Cog Railway locomotive at the summit of its namesake mountain in New Hampshire on a foggy summer day about 18 years ago. Taken with a Yashica Lynx-5000. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Railway Restoration Project 113 volunteer Mike Fenstermaker feeds coal (60% bituminous, 40% anthracite) into the firebox of Central Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 no. 113 traveling light northbound between Schuylkill Haven and Minersville, Pennsylvania, on the evening of June 3, 2016, after a day of sitting on display at Haven for the kick-off of the annual Schuylkill River Sojourn kayak/canoe trip. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Reading & Northern steam locomotive no. 425 at Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. From the photographer’s “Lost Tracks Of Time” series. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Eastbound Denver & Rio Grande Western freight train at Toltec Gorge, New Mexico, on a late summer day in 1961. Lacking a wide angle lens to show the full scene, photographer Frank Barry made several side-by-side exposures with the hopes that someday he could combine them into a single image. Decades later, digital technology and the help of his friend Dudley Shelton allowed him to do just that. Note that the same train appears twice: in the foreground at upper right and in upper middle of the background. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee southbound, possibly near Northfield, Illinois on the Skokie Valley Line, on January 13, 1963. It was the last run-by on the CERA excursion before the CNS&M shutdown later that month. The CNS&M ran this regular scheduled train around the excursion train. I was fifteen years old and was still using a 620 Ansco box camera with one shutter speed: 1/60th of a second. My father had trained me to take advantage of the slow shutter speed by panning with the train, locking the aiming eye on the headlight. The photo still blurred quite a bit but it added to the mood. It was under exposed, so I used Adobe Photoshop to sharpen and lighten the exposure after scanning the 620 color negative. It is one of my personal favorite photos I’ve taken since starting out as a teenage mutant railfan in 1962 with help from my father. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Rolling through a thick blanket of fog, a westbound Union Pacific manifest freight train approaches the crossing of the North Platte River on September 21, 2015. Within minutes, the train will stop for a crew change at Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: A Norfolk Southern southbound freight train demonstrates the sheer violence of railroading, especially inherent in the steel-on-steel, heavy tonnage nature of the industry. On March 29, 2008, a long and wet winter is coming to a close, but the pumping, gushing mud of the NS-CSX diamond at Marion, Ohio, is indicative of the incessant pounding the railroads’ physical assets endure, and maintenance work that lies ahead. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: A favorite place in North Dakota for many to photograph trains is Sully Springs. The tracks here run through the very scenic Badlands on the outskirts of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Cool early morning temperatures help create a low hanging fog that settles in the low spaces around the layered sedimentary rocks that make up the area. The sunrise just breaks past the surface as this BNSF train glides west through western North Dakota. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: A modern R160 Q train has just left Stillwell Avenue station at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, for its journey through Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Over on the left is famed Coney Island amusement park and beach. At its death door thirty years ago, the park is now a fresh, clean, safe place to have family fun. And don’t forget feasting on Nathan’s hot dogs at its original location! June 10, 2016 Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: This is a half-second pan shot of Milwaukee Road 261 returning to its home at the Harrison Street Shops in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after an evening dinner train on the Twin Cities & Western Railroad to the west. October 7, 2016 Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: It wouldn’t be too difficult to argue that the Milwaukee Road’s Skytop cars were the most beautiful passenger cars ever designed. Here we see the “Cedar Rapids,” a 1948 parlor-lounge, bringing up the tail of a deadhead move behind steam locomotive 261 between Chanhassen and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its companion, Super Dome 53, is nothing to sneeze at either; built in 1952, it and its nine sisters were the heaviest passenger cars ever built. October 7, 2016 Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: On the evening of October 8, 2014, a full moon rises over NJ Transit’s ex-Jersey Central Raritan Valley Line in Westfield, New Jersey. The headlights of a westbound train leaving Cranford station, nearly three miles distant, set the rails aglow. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: January 22, 1999, looking southwest from Buffalo Central Terminal’s clock over Buffalo, New York, and frozen Lake Erie. The place was in ruins, the glass smashed out of the clock face. A Canadian National empty coal train waits to come off of the belt line as an eastbound Norfolk Southern mixed freight eases around the corner. Scan from Kodachrome 64, 35mm Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer's notes: Evening commuters share a moment in time on the number 28 tram in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 4, 2016.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2016-awards/" rel="nofollow">2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Photographer’s notes: Evening commuters share a moment in time on the number 28 tram in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 4, 2016. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: “Icy Passage.” Nearing the summit of the Allegheny Mountains, a set of helper locomotives arrive to assist a train heading down the steep grade into Altoona, Pennsylvania. When attached to the rear of the downhill train, they will add braking to fight gravity’s pull and allow for a controlled descent. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Mobile Device

The mobile device category has the following goals:

Open participation to those who do not own an SLR camera or who otherwise would be intimidated by a “serious” contest.
Challenge members and existing participants to think differently about the potential of the device they already carry with them.
Provoke discussion about where and how great images are being made today.
Produce material for an exhibition that younger viewers can relate to. (“I could do that too.”)

1st prize
Simon Jowett
York, United Kingdom

2nd prize
Ryder Bechtold
Denver, Colorado

2nd prize
Jeremy J. Schrader
Princeville, Illinois

Judges also liked

Photographer's notes: Canadian Pacific Railway freight train in the Canadian Rockies on June 11, 2016.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2016-awards/" rel="nofollow">2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Photographer’s notes: Canadian Pacific Railway freight train in the Canadian Rockies on June 11, 2016. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: While waiting for a Metra Train home at Chicago Union Station, I made multiple images of embarking commuters in a ten-minute period. You can see several trains loading thru chance alignment of their doors. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Track 1, Poggio Rusco station, Lombardia, Italy. Technical drawing lesson at the academy, I attend…meantime, we play with the designs in the morning sun. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer's notes: March 8, 2014 at Denver Union Station: open for business after a major rebuild of the train shed.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2016-awards/" rel="nofollow">2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Photographer’s notes: March 8, 2014 at Denver Union Station: open for business after a major rebuild of the train shed. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Years of maintenance have left a tremendous amount of railroad spikes, tie plates, and other scrap metal in the Scioto River beneath CSX’s former Chesapeake and Ohio bridge in Columbus, Ohio. This underwater view was taken with an iPhone 6 equipped with a Lifeproof case on October 31, 2016. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: Union Pacific coal train in the town of Wilson, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, on November 28, 2014. After playing around making standard panoramic photographs for a while, I thought I’d try a different tactic. Instead of moving the camera (phone), why not try locking the camera into a fixed position, and let the subject move on its own? You can see where this is going: set the phone up on a tripod next to the tracks, and wait for a train to pass. The concept is not unlike scanning a document on a gigantic photocopier. This entry depicts a loaded Union Pacific coal train on the Shoreline Subdivision, approaching its final destination of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The typical operating pattern is for the train to stop south of Stahl Road, a rural crossing on the outskirts of Sheboygan. There the conductor would alight, the train would move northward, and the conductor would cut the train in half. The train moving slowly over the grade crossing is an essential characteristic in capturing the image properly. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer's notes: Arrival seen from a departure. The <i>California Zephyr</i> unloads its arriving passengers at Denver Union Station, as the photographer departs on a commuter train on the adjacent track. The phone was pressed against the window of the moving train in panorama mode. July 26, 2016

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2016-awards/" rel="nofollow">2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Photographer’s notes: Arrival seen from a departure. The California Zephyr unloads its arriving passengers at Denver Union Station, as the photographer departs on a commuter train on the adjacent track. The phone was pressed against the window of the moving train in panorama mode. July 26, 2016 Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer's notes: Autumn leaves along the Naugatuck Railroad in Connecticut.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2016-awards/" rel="nofollow">2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Photographer’s notes: Autumn leaves along the Naugatuck Railroad in Connecticut. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: R160 F train approaching the Smith and 9th St Station in Brooklyn, New York, on October 4, 2016. The skyline of lower Manhattan, punctuated by NYC’s tallest building, One World Trade Center, is seen n the background. This iPhone 6s shot was processed in the phone on the Lightroom Mobile app. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: One of the great scenic treasures of the United States is New York’s Hudson Valley Highlands. Situated little more than an hour north of New York City, the Hudson River meets these beautiful hills. Here on a recent morning, the view from Storm King Mountain takes in not only the river and rocks but a slender silver sliver of a CSX auto rack train heading south to the New York City market. This was shot with an iPhone 6s camera phone while in panoramic mode which stitched the image. Further processing, including B&W conversion, was done in the phone on the Lightroom Mobile app. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: “Commuter Frenzy.” Arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, a late train releases a swarm of hurried commuters on July 29, 2016. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer's notes: “Desert Panorama on the Sunset Limited.” Somewhere in West Texas aboard Amtrak's westbound <i>Sunset Limited</i>, in the Sightseer Lounge, February 23, 2016, Android phone, panorama mode, edited in “Snapseed” app.

Read more about the <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/awards/2016-awards/" rel="nofollow">2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program</a>.

Photographer’s notes: “Desert Panorama on the Sunset Limited.” Somewhere in West Texas aboard Amtrak’s westbound Sunset Limited, in the Sightseer Lounge, February 23, 2016, Android phone, panorama mode, edited in “Snapseed” app. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: “A Colorful Day at the Enginehouse.” Spokane, Portland & Seattle 4-8-4 steam locomotive no. 700 overlooks a table’s floral centerpiece at a party inside the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, Portland, Oregon, March 30, 2013 Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

Photographer’s notes: “Jessica,” 4-8-2 steam locomotive no. Ja1240, seen through a rain-soaked window at Arthurs Pass Station, New Zealand. The locomotive was working a Christchurch to Arthurs Pass special train on October 26, 2013, as part of the 150th anniversary celebration of railways in New Zealand. Shot on an iPhone 5 using the Hipstamatic app with the ‘BlacKeys film’ and ‘Jane lens’ filters pre-applied before being taken. Read more about the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program.

“Wow, this is really exciting,” said one of the judges. With 385 images entered by ninety-six photographers residing in the U.S., Canada, and seven foreign countries, this year’s photographs were conceptually diverse, original in execution, and bountiful in quantity. “Almost impossible to pick the best of the best,” said another judge. Indeed, after choosing a total of twenty-two images for first, second, and third places, and the “Judges Also Liked” category, another judge complained that there were more than enough great images not selected to fill an entire issue of Railroad Heritage.

1st prize
Matthew Malkiewicz
Mount Laurel, New Jersey

2nd prize
Christian Zell
Boppard, Germany

3rd prize
Nick King
Handforth, United Kingdom

Judges also liked

Safety jackets and football pennants in Goodland, Kansas, on June 7, 2014. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Safety jackets and football pennants in Goodland, Kansas, on June 7, 2014. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Nevada Northern blacksmith Zach Lioluo in Ely, 2015. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Nevada Northern blacksmith Zach Lioluo in Ely, 2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

“Union Pacific,” a collage of Union Pacific photographs. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

“Union Pacific,” a collage of Union Pacific photographs. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Orange Line trains lay over in the tunnel beyond Côte-Vertu, Montreal, Quebec, on June 16, 2014. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Orange Line trains lay over in the tunnel beyond Côte-Vertu, Montreal, Quebec, on June 16, 2014. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Chicago Transit’s Ravenswood Yard reflected in a 2400-series car at Ravenswood Station on January 21, 2015. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Chicago Transit’s Ravenswood Yard reflected in a 2400-series car at Ravenswood Station on January 21, 2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Mahanony Tunnel, Barnesville, Pennsylvania, May 8, 2015. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Mahanony Tunnel, Barnesville, Pennsylvania, May 8, 2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

At Spencer, North Carolina, on July 2, 2012, a “Gigapan” was used to capture this image of the Norfolk Southern Heritage Units. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

At Spencer, North Carolina, on July 2, 2012, a “Gigapan” was used to capture this image of the Norfolk Southern Heritage Units. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

The G train descending toward Queens as the Manhattan skyscrapers stand above on April 22, 2015. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

The G train descending toward Queens as the Manhattan skyscrapers stand above on April 22, 2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Norfolk Southern welder repairing the diamond of NS and CSX in Fostoria, Ohio, on March 8, 2013. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Norfolk Southern welder repairing the diamond of NS and CSX in Fostoria, Ohio, on March 8, 2013. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

“Train Hoses,” Virginia Transportation Museum in Roanoke, Virginia in May 2014, with Topaz Glow filter. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

“Train Hoses,” Virginia Transportation Museum in Roanoke, Virginia in May 2014, with Topaz Glow filter. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Norfolk Southern train entering a tunnel north of Mullens, West Virginia, on the former Virginian Railway in September 2015. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Norfolk Southern train entering a tunnel north of Mullens, West Virginia, on the former Virginian Railway in September 2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Collage of two images: the ’49 from the pit inside the Oregon Rail Heritage Center on July 29, 2012, superimposed over a view into the Oregon trees. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Lockyer Creek, west of Brisbane, August 12, 2015. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Lockyer Creek, west of Brisbane, August 12, 2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

“Red, White and Blur.” The flag on a Union Pacific locomotive and a loaded coal train speeding by near Seward, Nebraska, on September 17, 2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

CSX in the fog at Marion, Ohio, on January 29, 2013. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

CSX in the fog at Marion, Ohio, on January 29, 2013. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Five iPhone photos from Sydney, Australia, in 2014–2015. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

Five iPhone photos from Sydney, Australia, in 2014–2015. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

“Speed of Light,” Jb1236 locomotive, “Joanne,” races across the plains at Kirwee, New Zealand, with a special train in 2011. Read more at <a href="http://www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards" rel="nofollow">www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards</a>

“Speed of Light,” Jb1236 locomotive, “Joanne,” races across the plains at Kirwee, New Zealand, with a special train in 2011. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

Following the best course plotted by the line’s surveyors, this Union Pacific train is passing through Sloan, Nevada, on its climb west out of the Las Vegas valley in 2014. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

On October 5, 2015, a CSX train follows the curves of New York’s Hudson River while a river cruise boat heads upstream past Storm King Mountain. Read more at www.railphoto-art.org/2015-awards

The theme of the 2014 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program was “Lasting Impressions,” and all of the images, from ninety photographers, live up to exceed it. The Center asked for photographs that leave lasting impressions, photography worthy of display on a living room wall or even a museum. Here you have the selections of the judges to enjoy.

1st prize
Eric Williams
Millburn, New Jersey

2nd prize
Matthew Malkiewicz
Mount Laurel, New Jersey

3rd prize
Dennis Livesey
New York, New York

Judges also liked

Layers of images, patterns, lines and colors combine to toy with the viewers visual senses.

A fierce storm with flooding rain and frequent lightning bolts illuminates the Minnesota Southern’s GP9 in Luverne, MN.

A very exciting and somewhat impressionistic image of the Union Pacific 844 at speed, taken in Kansas. Steam locomotive wheels and rods are as fascinating in motion as parts of a windup watch.

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Describing this image as ‘mystic’ would stating the obvious. Subject, color and form all contribute to making this photo unforgettable. Dakota Bad Lands, August 2014.

In eastern Montana near the North Dakota state line, blue sky with high thin clouds and ground covered with blown snow depict a scene of vast nothingness broken only by a lone tree and the thin line of a distant train on the horizon.

With what appears to be x-ray vision, the camera captures a double exposure depicting the engine interior of a CSXT GE ES44AH. Bold colors and dynamic lines add to the fascination of the image.

A sudden rain drenching the station platform and bench combined with a westbound manifest running on the eastward main with headlights illuminating the raindrops provide the elements for this image.

In one of those magic moments in the Harz Mountains in Germany, the sun near the horizon has dropped below heavy clouds to provide golden light just as the steam powered train approaches.

In Sandaoling, China, a JS steam locomotive emits hot ash in the exhaust made visible with the lack of lights at night. A single strobe flash is used to illuminate the locomotive itself.

The side rod, drive rod and eccentric crank of the N&W 1218 on display in Roanoke, VA are caught in just the right light near sunset. This 2-6-6-4 monster was built in 1943 for heavy haul freight trains on mountain grades, developing 114,000 lbs tractive effort.

Beneath a clear sky filled with thousands of stars in the Milky Way, an eastbound empty hopper train waits at Cima, CA for a passing intermodal.

The lonely midnight shift. It is 1:05 A.M., Oct 14, 2011 and Operator Jeannie Fouse is working 3rd trick at ALTO tower in Altoona PA. With bagged lunch on the counter behind her, she has nearly a full shift ahead of her making certain all train movements pass safely on correct routes.

One of the best snow busting images we’ve seen. Photographed in north central Illinois on the CN’s Freeport subdivision, the combination of side lighting leaving the engine nose dark and easily seen chunks of snow seeming to explode in all directions makes for an eye-popping photo.

Cool and damp winter weather sets the mood at Ogilvie Station, formerly North Western Terminal, in Chicago on February 23, 2012. Numerous LED dwarf signals dot the complex interlocking. The colors convey that a train has a route out of the station, but the dual stars illuminate if a commuter train has permission to depart the terminal.

The BNSF yard in Galesburg, IL provides the scene for a departing train on a crisp winter night.

Gorgeous side lighting on the NS office car special on the unusual curved truss bridge crossing the Tuscarawas River in Massillon, OH. Vertical lines, curved track and classic EMD cab unit make this picture pop.

A clever combination of the interior of the preserved interlocking tower at Marion, OH., complete with everything from telegraph sounder to railroad radio, and a passing NS office car special.

A CSX local emerging from fog and seemingly approaching a bleak darkness is using the last remaining active route of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway, Seneca Hill, NY.

The eighty-six photographers who entered the awards program provided a very diverse range of images. Nearly every entrant submitted one or more photographs containing the “wow” factor and having strong merit in the contest. It made a powerful case for “Creative Images,” the theme of the 11th annual awards program. The Center expanded the notion of creativity in the program by opening submissions to include all forms of digital manipulations (so long as they were disclosed).

1st prize
Ronald Olsen
Coventry, Rhode Island

2nd prize
Daryl-Ann Saunders
Brooklyn, New York

3rd prize
Nick D’Amato
Denver, Colorado

Judges also liked

Telephone pole with glass insulators along the Kyle Railroad on the former Rock Island main line at Brewster, Kansas, in March 2013.

Union Pacific’s Jim Coker has just wrapped up some business on the radio as his train passes an auto train going the opposite direction on June 2, 2011, during a trip behind steam locomotive no. 844. The photographer took the image from inside the passenger compartment through the door under employee supervision.

Former Milwaukee Road steam locomotive no. 261 powers a freight train out of the yard past the “Cedar Rapids” Skytop observation car on May 10, 2008. The photographer thanks fellow photographer Mitch Goldman for loaning his 10-20mm lens for this once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Sparks fly from Loram rail grinder RGS 3 (LMIX-606) as it works the Canadian National Halton Subdivision adjacent to the GO Transit station in Brampton, Ontario, on May 2, 2013.

RER B train en route to Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport as it passes through Le Bourget in the northern suburbs of Paris, France, on a January 2012 evening. The photographer is a train driver in France and to him, “trains are synonymous with shakings, jumpings, etc. This was picture was done at slow speed and using a derivative of the classical panning technique. As the train goes away from a 45-degree angle, a small part of it is sharp.” He used Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 software to convert image from color to B&W after initial processing in Adobe Lightroom.

The bartender reaches into the cooler for a cold one at the “400” Club in Altoona, Wisconsin, named after the famous Chicago and North Western passenger train that used to pass right by the front door.

Former Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-8-2 steam locomotive no. 485 pauses on a trestle near Cumbres, Colorado, on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad on the starry night of September 21, 2011. The photographer blended two exposures, one of the locomotive and one of the sky, to balance the lighting. He also used the Content Aware command in Photoshop, along with manual touch-up, to expand the composition at left and bottom. Finally, he used Neat Image to remove noise from the image and applied a modest amount of sharpening.

Polished steel rails at Joliet, Illinois, reflect a clear blue sky on August 21, 2011. The location is Union Station at the crossing of the BNSF Railway’s former Santa Fe main line and Metra’s former Rock Island line.

Composite of four locomotives from images taken over a twelve-month period in 2011 and 2012. The subjects are a BNSF Dash-9, a Union Pacific AC4400, an Iowa, Chicago & Eastern SD40-2, and an Indiana Harbor Belt genset. The photographer removed the backgrounds from the original images and replaced them with black, then used various Photoshop filters including watercolor and desaturation in the blending process. “This image explores my interest in comparative juxtaposition and sequential overlay,” the photographer said. “In this composite image, the story focuses on the interconnected relationship of transfer railroads.”

On a different level: steam locomotives working in the open cast coal mine of Sandaoling in the far west of China. December 2012. © David Hill.

Westbound Altamont Commuter Express train on the west slope of Altamont Pass near Livermore, California, in the predawn of January 29, 2013.

Norfolk Southern freight train crossing the Genessee River at Portageville, New York, during the “blue hour” of July 26, 2013. The photographed combined two exposures, made just moments apart, one optimized for the scene and another for the streaks of light, to achieve the final image.

Norfolk & Western caboose in Central, South Carolina, illuminated by a solitary street light on the cold winter night of February 2, 2012.

Steamtown’s former Canadian National locomotive no. 3254 being “chased” by its own steam plume due to a strong tail wind blowing up the Roaring Brook gorge as the locomotive charges up the 1.5 percent grade to Moscow, Pennsylvania, on November 27, 2010. Engineer Aaron Stout and Fireman Jack Emerick III are in charge of the excursion train.

After the arrival of the last train of the day, the trainmaster emerges from the Green Mountain Railroad station in Bellows Falls, Vermont, on October 14, 2008. The photographer started with a high-ISO image that contained quite a bit of digital noise and then applied moderate noise reduction, cloned out an area of new blacktop, darkened the evening sky, removed a radio antennae and power lines from the station, and slightly enhanced local contrast.

The Valley Railroad’s Essex Steam Train is reflected by the Connecticut River at Pratt Cove in Deep River, Connecticut, on December 18, 2012. The photographer, drawing inspiration from O. Winston Link, Richard Steinheimer, and Mel Patrick, lit the scene with three electronic flashes. He used Adobe Lightroom to remove one small streetlight from the among the tree branches at upper left and its reflection in the water.

Norfolk Southern train no. 226 (with Union Pacific power) on the main line fuel rack at Meridian, Mississippi, on February ‎2, ‎2008. The only processing performed was cropping and slight saturation and contrast adjustments. The main line fueling rack and all of the trackage on the left have since been removed from the yard, but train no. 226 still operates daily through town.

“Nose to Nose.” Norfolk & Western Railway J-class steam locomotive no. 611 at the Roanoke Museum of Transportation on July 19, 2011.

“Come on in…” A Swiss commuter rail car awaits passengers at the Basel SBB Railway Station in Basel, Switzerland, on March 7, 2012. The photographer used Adobe Photoshop to increase color saturation and contrast, add noise, and crop the image to a square format.

Norfolk Southern’s business train passing under an iconic former Pennsylvania Railroad signal bridge at Tipton, Pennsylvania, on July 26, 2013, as the headlights shine through a light morning mist. The train was making a deadhead move from Croxton, New Jersey, to Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Southbound train streaking across the Copper Creek Viaduct near Clinchport, Virginia, on the clear night of August 7, 2010. The Milky Way can be seen behind the center of the bridge. See more of Bryan Pleasant’s photography at www.bpleasantphotography.smugmug.com.

“Snake Train.” Empty coal hoppers on the BNSF Railway at Kennesburg, Colorado, on June 22, 2013. The photographer used Photoshop to create the swirl effect. He said, “When I took the image, I knew that I would do something, but I did not know what. Later, I thought that turning the image into a snake would be fantastic.”

“Steel Wheel.” One of the wheels of the truck assembly of a new BNSF Railway SD70ACe locomotive at Railroad Days in Galesburg, Illinois, on June 27, 2009. The photographer used Photoshop to enhance contrast and sharpening and to add slight vignetting.

Westbound Norfolk Southern freight train approaching the summit of the Alleghenies at Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, on the morning of October 23, 2011. This the former Pennsylvania Railroad’s main line; the famous Horseshoe Curve is just to the left. The photographer used Photoshop to make minor enhancements to color saturation, to lighten the shadows, and to increase contrast.

Commuters, reflected on the side of blurred cars, show little interest in the arrival of a 4/5/6 Line subway train at the 77th Street Station in New York City on February 29, 2012. The photographer used an iPhone 4 with the Hipstamatic app using filters “Melodie Lens” and “Claunch 72 Monochrome film.” Photoshop was used to reduce noise and increase file size.

“Late Commute.” Commuters framed in the windows of an NJ Transit double-deck passenger car at the Broad Street Station in Newark, New Jersey, on May 2, 2012. The photographer used NIK Silver Efex 2 Pro to convert the color digital image to black-and-white.

Grand prize
Chris Starnes
Gate City, Virginia

1st prize, color
Robert Day

1st prize, black-and-white
Shel Michaels

2nd prize, color
Todd Halamka

2nd prize, black-and-white
Eric Williams

3rd prize, color
Ken Kraemer

3rd prize, black-and-white
Matthew Malkiewicz
Mount Laurel, New Jersey

Judges also liked

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NS C38 Approaching East Conway on track 3, passing a stopped coal train on track 2

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A westbound SP freight streaks across the high desert on ex-Rio Grande rails as seen from inside a derelict gas station at the ghost town of Cisco, Utah on August 1, 1996. Back when this gas station was a functioning business in 1971 the final scenes of the classic cult car movie ‘Vanishing Point’ were shot right outside the door and this building can be seen in the background. Photo © Tom Kline-All Rights Reserved

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WNYP 432 C430 switching at Olean, NY

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S6E0787.jpg A signal maintainer inspects a GRS type SA searchlight, with the moon glowing behind. Photo taken on March 3, 2011. John Ryan 1533 Pine Valley #215 Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734 358 7253 allegheny@mac.com

The theme for 2011 was “A Story in Three Photographs,” which encouraged photographers to assemble a group of three photos linked by a narrative thread. Written statements to accompany the entries were strictly optional, and in fact, we encouraged entries that would stand by themselves without need for accompanying text. The story being told could be about an event depicted in the series, the illustration of a span of time, a creative interpretation of a single subject, the depiction of a worker’s day unfolding, a triptych or any set of three pictures that the photographer felt conveyed the arc of a story. We hoped the theme got the creativity flowing and encouraged entrants to consider why they photograph something and what it says to viewers.

1st prize
Miško Kranjec
Slovenia

2nd prize
Stephen Hussar

3rd prize
Patrick J. Cashin

Overview by Joseph Elliott, 2011 Judge and Professor of Art (Photography) and Head of Department at Muhlenberg College

There were a lot of good images, and I enjoyed looking through them. I applaud the Center for working to raise the quality and expand the point-of-view of rail-oriented photography. We all love trains and rail environments, but often we love them so much that we can’t make good pictures of them.

The top three choices are all excellent, in different ways. All combine three photographically strong images in a coherent theme, or story. If it was up to me I would say they should share first place in a three-way tie.

In the remaining entries, there were many cases of one or two strong images, as well as a weaker one, or good images without a decipherable theme. I selected a total of six additional sets that I also liked.

Judge also liked

Overview by Kimberly Parker, 2010 Judge and Director of the O. Winston Link Museum

A contest judging photographs: how hard can that be, right? We all see and interact with images every day. Media, video, our hobbies or professions give us imagery every second. We seek out images we like, we turn away from imagery that challenges us or creates conflict in us (usually). But like a teacher grading based on subjective quality, judging a large group of photographs can be so difficult. We wonder where each person was when they took the photograph. Sometimes the physical location is known, and sometimes the emotional location is also obvious. We wonder what the photographer was thinking, what they were feeling. Did he or she know this was the image of a lifetime or was it a snap that turned out really well? What were the outtakes like? But the act of experiencing these images and selecting the top ones allowed me to see into some very creative and striking minds and the journey to these places broadened my horizon.

My judging process was based on an emotional response to the image. I sought images that were different from the ordinary, matching the theme of the contest: Beyond the Locomotive. Images that drew me in with design elements or subject matter intrigued my brain and allowed me to play throughout the scene. Those that combined the human element with the industrial setting called out and yet some of the strongest are those where we feel the peace and tranquility of a tree falling in the forest. Does the train make a sound if no one is there to hear it pass? I found my interests drawn to the photos that had more to the story. I wanted to know why and what and how and who.

There are some amazing photographers out there, capturing their part of railroad history and pushing their own vision. Combined, we form a document of this time and place. Let it last through the lens.

1st prize
Brandon Robert Smith

2nd prize
Ryan Schoenfeldt

3rd prize
Chris Walters

Judges also liked

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Morristown and Erie railway water tank

Window cleaners perform their magic on the west end of the Great Hall at Toronto Union Station.

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Nevada Northern Trainmaster Mark Bassett, unlocks a switch, East Ely, Nevada.

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$Victor B. D'Agostino (standing) has been with Amtrak since 1979 when he thought he may like working with railroads better than the job he had once had with the City of Burbank. Even after 30 years of service with Amtrak, Victor still enjoys his job and the people he works with. Victor D'Agostino II (seated) started with the railroad in January of 2004 as an assistant conductor and is now working as an AC in the LA service pool. Like his father, Victor loves his job and enjoys working with the train riding public. Although father and son are practicing different disciplines within the same industry, they share, along with their family ties, a common interest which is their life long love affair with the railroad. The ÒChanging of the GuardÓ illustrated in this image is not seen in a minute, or in a day, week, month or even in terms of years. Instead the process we are witnessing here spans two separate life times and two separate careers, one is at the beginning, the other nearing the end. Father mentoring son, all captured within in a fraction of a second within this image. Both men seemingly have been frozen in time, but reality keeps them relentlessly moving forward toward their next chapter in life. Shot for Trains Magazine 2008 photo contest "Changing of the Guard"at Redondo Jct. Los Angeles, Calif. September 6th, 2008. Image was not even a runner up in that years contest. Victor B. D'Agostino (elder) with Victor B. D'Agostino II (conductor) © Steve Crise Photo All Rights Reserved 310 202 8443 scrise@aol.com <a href="http://www.scrise.com" rel="nofollow">www.scrise.com</a>$

Victor B. D’Agostino (standing) has been with Amtrak since 1979 when he thought he may like working with railroads better than the job he had once had with the City of Burbank. Even after 30 years of service with Amtrak, Victor still enjoys his job and the people he works with. Victor D’Agostino II (seated) started with the railroad in January of 2004 as an assistant conductor and is now working as an AC in the LA service pool. Like his father, Victor loves his job and enjoys working with the train riding public. Although father and son are practicing different disciplines within the same industry, they share, along with their family ties, a common interest which is their life long love affair with the railroad. The ÒChanging of the GuardÓ illustrated in this image is not seen in a minute, or in a day, week, month or even in terms of years. Instead the process we are witnessing here spans two separate life times and two separate careers, one is at the beginning, the other nearing the end. Father mentoring son, all captured within in a fraction of a second within this image. Both men seemingly have been frozen in time, but reality keeps them relentlessly moving forward toward their next chapter in life. Shot for Trains Magazine 2008 photo contest “Changing of the Guard”at Redondo Jct. Los Angeles, Calif. September 6th, 2008. Image was not even a runner up in that years contest. Victor B. D’Agostino (elder) with Victor B. D’Agostino II (conductor) © Steve Crise Photo All Rights Reserved 310 202 8443 scrise@aol.com www.scrise.com

A commuter walks past southbound Virginia Railway Express train 333 as it makes a scheduled stop at the Manassas Park Commuter Rail Station on Thursday, April 5, 2007 in Manassas Park, Va. Donnie Biggs photo

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The theme for the 2009 Awards Program was “light impressions.” 2009 was also the first year for all-digital entries, which resulted in a record number of submissions: 62 photographers and 275 images. Once again, the high quality of submissions made for difficult judging. Along with one gold, two silver, and four bronze awards, 17 additional photographers are recognized in the “Judges Also Liked” category.

1st prize
Keith Burgess
Grosse Pointe, Michigan

2nd prize (tie)
Olaf Haensch
Billerbeck, Germany

2nd prize (tie)
Brian Plant
Hummelstown, Pennsylvania

3rd prize (tie)
Steve Crise
Pomona, California

3rd prize (tie)
Chris Goepel
Larkspur, California

3rd prize (tie)
Nick Suydam
Chicago, Illinois

3rd prize (tie)
Chris Walters
Sydney, Australia

Judges also liked

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The theme for the 2008 Awards Program was “sense of place” as related to the railroad environment. 33 photographers submitted nearly 150 images for consideration, and the high quality of their work resulted in a record number of awards. The Center honored a total of 15 photographers, who impressed the judges with their rich and varied interpretations of the theme; imagery ranged from night photos of a German steam railroad, to sweeping panoramas in both industrial and natural settings, to close-up studies of railroading’s minutest details.

1st prize
Olaf Haensch
Hanixbeck, Germany

1st prize
Olaf Haensch
Hanixbeck, Germany

2nd prize (tie)
Ken Fitzgerald
Benbrook, Texas

2nd prize (tie)
Jeff Mast
Canton, Michigan

3rd prize (tie)
Phil Brahms
Novato, California

3rd prize (tie)
John Fasulo
Beacon, New York

3rd prize (tie)
George Hamlin
Fairfax, Virginia

3rd prize (tie)
Elrond Lawrence
Salinas, California

3rd prize (tie)
Alex Ramos
Berkeley, California

3rd prize (tie)
Craig D. Robins
Woodbury, New York

3rd prize (tie)
Kevin Scanlon
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

3rd prize (tie)
Ryan Schoenfeldt
Cedarburg, Wisconsin

3rd prize (tie)
William Siegel
Kansas City, Missouri

3rd prize (tie)
Ellen Skye
Valparaiso, Indiana

3rd prize (tie)
Dave Styffe
Fullerton, California

3rd prize (tie)
Nick Suydam
Elmhurst, Illinois

The 2007 theme, fascination with railroad machines, was wide ranging. It could include machines in the environment, machines at work, railroaders working with machines, or anything as simple as a tie or switch stand or as complex a high horse-power locomotive. Photographers were judged on their ability to demonstrate creative, technical, and interpretative excellence in new and unusual ways. We want to encourage the caliber of work that is suitable for gallery and museum display. Railfan & Railroad magazine published the top winners in its July 2007 issue. The California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, displayed an exhibition of the the winning photos.

1st prize
Keith Burgess
Troy, Michigan

2nd prize
Lorenzo Kristov
Davis, California

3rd prize
Alex Ramos
Berkeley, California

Runner-ups were Steve Crise, Pomona, California; John W. Coniglio, Hixson, Tennessee; and Kevin Scanlon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Forty-eight photographers submitted entries. The Center announced the winners at the conclusion of its fifth “Conversations about Photography” conference March 24.

Two photographers with creative views of railroaders at work tied for first place in the Center’s 2006 awards program. They are Scott Lothes, Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan, and Misko Kranjec, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Since there was a tie for first place, there was no second place award.

1st prize (tie)
Misko Kranjec
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slovenia railroad worker, photo by Misko Kranjec — Misko Kranjec’s images were submitted five photos that not only individually were very strong images, as a group were equally strong. His photos turned mundane, everyday events to extraordinary photos that put the viewer right in the scene. These images captured the life of the railroader in various settings, anyone who has ever worked on a railroad can easily identify with Misko’s images.

1st prize (tie)
Scott Lothes
Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan

Fireman trimming coal at night in steam locomotive tender in China, photo by Scott Lothes — Lothes’ photos were not only technically very challenging to execute, but were extremely creative and surrealistic in appearance, and were far different from others that were submitted. They captured the beauty of contemporary steam railroading in China at night, in a way that has not been done before.

Third place awards went to Jeffrey Mast, Canton, Michigan, and Kevin Scanlon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Honorable mention awards went to Howard Ande, Bartlett, Ill.; Patrick J. Cashin, New York, N.Y.; Steve Crise, Pomona, Ca.; Ken Fitzgerald, Benbrook, Texas; Joe Greenstein, Brooklyn, NY; George W. Hamlin, Fairfax, Va.; Robert Jordan, Marengo, Ill.; Mark W. Jones, Walnut Creek, Ca.; George Kollar, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Trever Miller, Tarentum, Pa.; Michael Rosenthal, Newark, N.J.; and Gene P. Schaeffer, Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Center makes the awards to promote innovative ways of showing railroads in urban and rural contexts. The 2005 award was for photographs made with a film or digital camera after December 31, 2001. Photographers are judged on their ability to demonstrate creative, technical, and interpretative excellence in new and unusual ways.

1st prize
Jennifer Ryan
Freiburg, Germany

High speed train in shed with interesting shadows, photo by Jennifer Ryan — Shadows

1st prize
Jennifer Ryan
Freiburg, Germany

2nd prize
Elrond Lawrence
Salinas, California

2nd prize
Elrond Lawrence
Salinas, California

3rd prize (tie)
Bill Agee
Capistrano Beach, California

3rd prize (tie)
Steve Crise
Los Angeles, California

3rd prize (tie)
Scott Lothes
Lakewood, Ohio

1st prize
Patrick J. Cashin
New York, New York

New MTA NYC transit station at 72nd and Broadway, by Patrick J. Cashin.

Patrick J. Cashin, a photographer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City, received first place and a $500 cash prize in the Center’s second creative photography award.

Winners were announced Saturday at the conclusion of the “Conversations about Photography ” conference at Lake Forest College. Sixty-two photographers entered. Awards were given for a body of work, rather than a single photograph, from the last three years. The photo judging process was made even more difficult this year by the large number of strong entries received. Many, many images deserved recognition for originality and visual impact. “There were no losers, and we unfortunately were limited to recognizing a mere five winners,” said one of the judges.

Second place and $300 went to Brian Plant, Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. As third place winners, Bob Ratta, Madison, Wisconsin, and William Botkin, Centennial, Colorado, each received $100.

Thirteen received honorable mention: Hinrich Bruemmer, Berlin, Germany; Steve Crise, Los Angeles, California; Charles Dischinger, Springfield, Missouri; Chris Goepel, Novato, California; Matt Heeren, German Valley, Illinois; Sayre Kos, Mundelein, Illinois; George Kollar, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Elrond Lawrence, Salinas, California; David McLeod, Burlington, Vermont; Gordon Osmundson, Oakland, California; John Powers, Elyria, Ohio; Dean Sauvola, New Richmond, Wisconsin; and Arthur Skarin, Needham, Massachusetts.

1st prize
Michael Rosenthal
Rutherford, New Jersey

Michael Rosenthal photographed a GP40FH-2 locomotive traveling west in the north tube of the Bergen Tunnel out of Hoboken Terminal. The photo was taken in March 2001 with a flash inside the tunnel with full ROW protection before rehabilitation of the Tunnel’s north tube. It was shot digitally at 1/60, f/4.0 100 ASA.

The Center for Railroad Photography and Art presented its $1,000 national photography award for 2002 to Michael Rosenthal of Rutherford, New Jersey. This award, the first given by the Center, was for photos taken in 2000-02. The awards panel picked the top photos from 32 entries.

Honorable mentions went to Howard Ande, Bartlett, Illinois; Steve Crise, Los Angeles, California; and Gordon Osmundson, Oakland, California.

Rosenthal’s entry shows a sharply defined style, and demonstrated creative, technical, and interpretative excellence in railroad photography. Rather than settling for derivative work, Rosenthal’s photographs show he’s looking for a new way to make a very old subject come alive. We particularly like his willingness to explore railroads in a dense urban setting, using existing lighting and electronic flash to capture the brilliant colors, sharp contrast, and geometric forms of modernity.

Rosenthal, 36, a native of New Jersey, joined NJ TRANSIT as a photographer in 2000. His father and uncle were amateur photographers, nurturing an early interest in photography. “My father bought me my first camera, a Kodak 120 cartridge camera, to take on our family trip to Florida. I considered photography as only a hobby as I pursued my degree in Architecture (1990) from North Carolina State University’s School of Design (now the College of Design) and the Parsons School of Design in Paris, France,” Rosenthal said. “Upon returning to the U.S., I found my fascination with the camera was becoming a vocation. I began my career assisting several professional Manhattan photographers, and continued to gain experience and developing portfolios before joining NJ TRANSIT.”

John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program

2026 theme: Water

Submissions due May 18, 2026

Submission process

About the program

Past themes

2025: SMOKE

+2024: Conveyance

+2023: The Role of Technology

+2022: Weather Effects

+2021: Three-of-a-Kind

+2020: Connections

+2019: Images of Railroaders

+2017: Vision from the Past & By the Light of Night

Vision from the Past

By the Light of Night

+2016: Most Evocative & Mobile Device

Most Evocative

Mobile Device

+2015: Be Creative

+2014: Lasting Impressions

+2013: Creative Images

+2012: Railroading, Inspired by Steinheimer

+2011: A Story in Three Photographs

+2010: Beyond the Locomotive

+2009: Light Impressions

+2008: Sense of Place

+2007: Fascination with Railroad Machines

+2006

+2005

+2004

+2003