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Each year, we ask our readers to submit their best shots for consideration in our annual Center Spread Contest. Our theme is the very broad category of “creative photography,” which presents challenges for photographers and judges alike. After sifting through hundreds of potential candidates, we narrowed it down to the few selections seen here. We think you’ll appreciate the creativity that our contributors have shown in capturing these exciting images.

Keep an eye on Railfan & Railroad Magazine online and in print for details about the 2027 contest in the future. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners! —The Editors  Runner Up: David Grant

Flying through British Columbia’s Fraser Valley like a bat out of hell, all is peaceful aboard VIA Rail’s Canadian as the train heads east on time on August 22, 2025. Pictured looking out the curved glass window of a vintage Canadian Pacific dome car, Mount Cheam in Chilliwack towers above the valley floor.

Runner Up: David Honan

Near the top of Toltec Canyon in Colorado on September 27, 2018, Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-8-2 453 leads an eastbound positioning move for an upcoming Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic photo charter through the incredible scenery of the San Juans.

Runner Up: Al Crossley

VIA Rail FP9 6513 leads Train 75 at track speed through Burlington West, Ont., as VIA Train 686, a set of rail diesel cars, makes its station stop in the distance on May 28, 1989.

Runner Up: Timothy Tonge

BNSF SD70ACe 8457 leads a northbound coal empty through fresh spring snows at Castle Rock, Colo., on March 27, 2018. Snow had ended just hours before, with the skies clearing shortly before the train arrived.

Runner Up: Spencer Evans

A westbound intermodal breaks out of the shadows of Echo Canyon and into the afternoon light on Union Pacific’s Evanston Subdivision near Echo, Utah, on November 1, 2025.  The whine of dynamic brakes temporarily overcomes the noise of adjacent Interstate 80, in stereo and amplified by the walls of Echo Canyon hiding in the shadows.

Runner Up: Trevyr Schutz

On the frigid 14-degree night of February 1, 2026, Norfolk Southern Train 41N struggles up the grade as it passes Shawsville, Va. A particularly large winter storm exits the area, dropping a few last flakes of snow as the Dash 9 and SD70ACe pull hard.

Third Place: David Grant

Located near Ashcroft, B.C., Black Canyon and its rock formations posed an immense challenge to railway construction crews carving tunnels and building bridges for the train’s passage. Twisting through the gorge like fiery snakes, two trains can be seen lighting up the canyon walls. Like an artist with his brush, they paint light around the hills and curves as they cascade into the night on July 31, 2025.

Second Place: Todd Halamka

A late afternoon storm begins to clear across London, England, as the evening rush-hour parade of trains begins to fill the 10 feeder tracks leading into and out of Victoria Station on December 18, 2024. Four inbound trains and one outbound train navigate the S-curves leading to Grosvenor Bridge across the Thames beyond, while another six trains emerge from the shed to the left. In the next hour, another train will depart every 100 seconds. 

The post 2026 Railfan & Railroad Center Spread Contest Winners appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

The Norfolk & Western Business Car 300 Preservation Society announced on August 21 that it was raising money to acquire a former N&W power car from the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. The planned acquisition comes as the group, founded in 2019 to preserve N&W observation car 300, begins to expand its scope, with the eventual dream of assembling a complete business train. 

Bryan J. Lalevee, president of the group, said online that Power Car 409 will support the nonprofit’s expanded mission. The car was built by St. Louis Car Company in 1934 and then rebuilt as a power car in 1972. It was initially assigned to maintenance-of-way service before becoming the power source for Maintenance Instruction Car 401. The car also had a classroom area for air-brake instruction. 

While the nonprofit’s two other cars, Business Car 300 and sleeper Hollins College, have their own generators, they are noisy. Having Power Car 409 provide electricity to the other cars will improve the rider experience, Lalevee said. 

Norfolk Southern has already provided the nonprofit $15,000 for the purchase of the car, and the group needs to raise another $8,000. That will also help cover air brake work needed to move the car to the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in Indiana. For more information, visit www.nw300.org/powercar.

—Justin Franz 

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