The Museum Photo Contest is being run in conjunction with the 2024 Central Coast Railroad Festival (CCRRF). You may submit photos (per the rules below) beginning now until the deadline (September 15, 2024, 5pm PDT). For more information about general Festival activities at the Museum, see the 2024 Railroad Festival Schedule.

Through this contest, the SLO Railroad Museum is looking for photos with which to promote the Museum’s mission of preserving the railroad history of the area. Winning photos will help elicit a desire to visit the Museum to see more. Photos should include railroad-related content from within the Central Coast of California (roughly San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County).

Winning photographs will be displayed at the Museum for a year beginning at the 2024 Central Coast Railroad Festival. A brief presentation will be made to winning photographers at the Museum on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 10:25am.

Rules/Guidelines:

• SLORRM Photo Contest Judges may not submit photos to this contest.
• Judging will be “blind,” that is, the judges will not know whose photographs are whose.
• Our judges will be the sole determiners of the winners.
• There will be one first-place winner with a prize of $100, one second-place winner at $50, and one third-place winner given a free one-year membership to the Museum. SLORRM may choose to acknowledge Honorable Mentions with no cash prize or award.
• The entrant must be the photographer.
• Submission is by email, and each email will contain: Name of the photographer/entrant, contact info, date taken, location taken, and a brief caption. The filename of the attached photo will include the photographer’s/entrant’s first and last name. Receipt of photo(s) will be acknowledged. If you don’t get a receipt notice within a day or so, try again. The deadline has passed; submissions are closed.
• Contest entries must be received no later than September 15, 2024, at 5:00pm PDT.
• All submissions must be digital files in a commonly used format (JPG, PNG, etc., no raw or proprietary formats). Images should be at least 2,000 pixels on each/both sides (minimum 2,000 pixel width AND minimum 2,000 pixel height). Photos not meeting the size requirements might not be considered.
• Submissions from previous years are NOT automatically reconsidered. You must submit the photos you want considered each year.
• Photographs may be in any color range from full color to black-and-white.
• Photographs may be either vertical or horizontal format.
• Entry into the contest is free.
• Entrants may submit up to three (3) OF THEIR OWN photographs.
• Photographs must be taken within the Central Coast of California (roughly San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County) and include railroad-related content. Through this contest, the SLORRM is looking for photos with which to promote the Museum’s coverage of railroading in the area both historically and currently. Winning photos will help elicit a desire to visit the SLO Railroad Museum to see more.
• Added Category: Model Railroad Photos. Photos may be of model railroads that depict current or historical railroading reality on the Central Coast of California (roughly San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County). The model itself does not have to be located on the Central Coast. In addition to the info already requested above (as appropriate), please indicate the name of the model railroad and the name(s) of the builder(s). This category will have its own set of awards: 1st Place $100, 2nd Place $50, 3rd Place 1-year SLORRM membership, and the possibility of Honorable Mentions without financial award. For this contest, Model Railroads are defined as railroads at 7.5″ gauge or less.
• Entrants under 18 years of age must include the legal name of their parent or guardian in the body of the submitting email AND cc: that parent or guardian when sending the submitting email. Such signature and cc: will act as the parent/guardian’s acceptance of this release (see below) on behalf of the entrant.
• By submitting your photograph to this SLORRM photo contest, you agree to the following (the release):
  • You certify that you are the person who took the photograph(s) submitted here, that you own the copyrights to the Photographs, and that you have the authority to enter into this release.
  • You grant SLORRM the royalty-free and non-exclusive right to use your Photographs as follows: (i) on the SLORRM website (ii) for SLORRM posters, brochures, and activity guides (iii) in SLORRM electronic emails (iv) and in other internal or external marketing materials or media coordinated by the SLORRRM. You further waive the right to inspect or approve the final use of your Photographs by the SLORRM.
  • You understand that SLORRM will request additional permission from you before using your photographs for purposes other than listed above.
  • You will give SLORRM all copyright information for your photograph so that SLORRM can include the proper credit for published photographs, whenever possible.
• Minor digital enhancement is permitted, including: cropping, red-eye removal, filters, corrective functions, and legitimate manipulations such as burning and dodging, brightness and contrast, color adjustments, saturation, stitching and cropping. In cases where a photograph moves into “digital art”, the image might not be considered.
• Entrants should not place borders or frames around their images, or place watermarks, signatures, dates, or copyright notices on their images.
• SLORRM reserves the right to crop submitted photographs for display purposes, if necessary, and for other needs as required.
• Entries that fail to comply with these guidelines may be disqualified.
• SLORRM reserves the right to change these Photo Contest Guidelines as necessary.
• SAFETY. The Museum is immediately adjacent to private railroad property. Photographers must respect all safety policies and right-of-way boundaries when photographing on or near railroad property anywhere, any time. Any photo that appears to have been taken while trespassing on the right-of-way or violating other railroad safety policies might be disqualified.
• All winners including honorable mentions will be notified by October 1, 2024. Non-winners will not be notified.