BNSF 2025 Traintober Photo Contest

Rail photographers, autumn and Halloween season are here! It’s time to show off your seasonal or spooky scenes featuring BNSF trains! Post your photos to INSTAGRAM, TWITTER/X or the Friends of BNSF group on FACEBOOK no later than midnight CST on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Be sure to include the hashtag #BNSFTraintober and @BNSFRailway in your posts so we can find them. Judges at BNSF will select first, second and third place winners and we’ll announce them in late October or early November. Good luck, have fun and be safe!

Prizes:

Winners and selected entries will be displayed on BNSF’s website (www.bnsf.com) and on BNSF’s social media channels.  

To be considered, photos must:

  • Be your own work. Contributor represents that he/she owns all right, title and interest to the photos (“Work”), he/she is the original author of the Work, and the Work does not infringe upon the rights, including intellectual property rights, of any others.
  • Show at least one BNSF train including lead locomotive with current BNSF paint scheme.
  • Include the hashtag #BNSFTraintober and the handle @BNSFRailway in the caption.
  • Be taken during the years 2022-2025.
  • Be taken safely with appropriate precautions, and from a location clearly outside of railroad property and posing no danger or risk of injury to you or others. Photos that appear to possibly have been taken within the railroad right-of-way or inside a rail yard or facility will not be considered. Drone photos captured while overflying railroad property will not be considered.

Additional rules:

  • Contributor of entries designated as winner or honorable mention consents to the use by BNSF Railway Company, its agents and their successors and assigns (“BNSF”) of the Work described above, in whole or in part, individually or in conjunction with other content, in any medium now known or later developed, including the Contributor’s likeness, name, biography, comments, and/or voice (“Contribution”). Such use may be in any BNSF brochure, calendar or magazine, news release, video or broadcasting, social media platform or other BNSF-produced or authorized promotional, public relations and advertising material.
  • BNSF may copy, publish and distribute Contributions designated as winners or honorable mentions, and make derivative works based upon the Contribution all as part of or in connection with BNSF-produced or authorized promotional, public relations and advertising material.
  • Contributor must be a U.S. resident aged 18 or older.
  • BNSF employees are not eligible to participate.
  • Void where prohibited.
  • Multiple entries are allowed.
  • All Work Contributor wishes to submit may be shared by BNSF on BNSF's social media channels (FACEBOOK, LINKED IN, TWITTER/X and INSTAGRAM), on BNSF’s website www.bnsf.com, internal communications channels, or in email newsletters; by submitting entries to this contest and accepting recognition as a winner or honorable mention, you grant BNSF permission to do this.
  • Prizes will be substituted if supplies run out.
  • This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM or TWITTER/X.
  • Contributor agrees to release and hold harmless BNSF, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER/X, and FACEBOOK, and release and waives any claims based on rights of privacy, rights of publicity or so-called "moral rights".
  • The laws of the State of Texas, without giving effect to its principles of conflicts of law, will govern the parties’ performance under this Agreement and any argument that the federal and state courts in the State of Texas are an inconvenient forum.

BNSF 2025 Model Railroad Contest

Model railroaders, it’s time to show off your layouts featuring BNSF or predecessor trains! Post photos or short videos of your model railroad to your Instagram, X or Bluesky account or in the Friends of BNSF Facebook group no later than midnight Central time on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Be sure to include the hashtag #BNSFmodelrailroad and @BNSFRailway in your posts so we can find them. If you don’t use Instagram or Facebook, you may email your entry to communitymanager@bnsf.com.

Judges at BNSF will select first, second and third place winners as well as a small number of honorable mentions, and we’ll announce them in November in honor of National Model Railroaders Month. Good luck! We can’t wait to see your layouts.

Prizes:

Winners and selected entries may be displayed on BNSF’s website (www.bnsf.com) and/or on BNSF’s social media channels.

To be considered, photos must:

  • Be your own work. Contributor represents that he/she owns all right, title and interest to the photos (“Work”), he/she is the original author of the Work, and the Work does not infringe upon the rights, including intellectual property rights, of any others.
  • Show at least one BNSF or predecessor train including lead locomotive with current or historical BNSF paint scheme, or a predecessor railroad paint scheme.
  • Be no longer than 1 minute (for videos).
  • Include the hashtag #BNSFmodelrailroad and the handle @BNSFRailway in the caption.
  • Be taken in the years 2022-2025.
  • Be submitted either on your Instagram, X or Bluesky account or in the Friends of BNSF group on Facebook, or by email to communitymanager@bnsf.com.
  • Be taken safely with appropriate spring precautions, and from a location clearly outside of railroad property and posing no danger or risk of injury to you or others. Photos that appear to possibly have been taken within the railroad right-of-way, or inside a rail yard or facility will not be considered.

Additional rules:

  • Contributor of entries designated as winner or honorable mention consents to the use by BNSF Railway Company, its agents and their successors and assigns (“BNSF”) of the Work described above, in whole or in part, individually or in conjunction with other content, in any medium now known or later developed, including the Contributor’s likeness, name, biography, comments, and/or voice (“Contribution”). Such use may be in any BNSF brochure, calendar or magazine, news release, video or broadcasting, social media platform or other BNSF-produced or authorized promotional, public relations and advertising material.
  • BNSF may copy, publish and distribute Contributions designated as winners or honorable mentions, and make derivative works based upon the Contribution all as part of or in connection with BNSF-produced or authorized promotional, public relations and advertising material.
  • Contributor must be a U.S. resident aged 18 or older.
  • BNSF employees are not eligible to participate.
  • Void where prohibited.
  • Multiple entries are allowed.
  • All Work Contributor wishes to submit may be shared by BNSF on BNSF's social media channels (FACEBOOK, TWITTER/X, INSTAGRAM and BLUESKY), on BNSF’s website bnsf.com, internal communications channels, or in email newsletters; by submitting entries to this contest and accepting recognition as a winner or honorable mention, you grant BNSF permission to do this.
  • Prizes will be substituted if supplies run out.
  • BNSF reserves the right not to select winners and award prizes if it deems the number and/or quality of qualifying entries to be insufficient.
  • This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER/X or BLUESKY.
  • Contributor agrees to release and hold harmless BNSF, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER/X, FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, their directors, officers, employees, subsidiaries, affiliates, representatives, agents, successors and assigns from any liability arising out of Contributor’s participation in or the inclusion or appearance of the Contribution in a publication, advertisement, broadcast and/or promotion.
  • Contributor releases and waives any claims based on rights of privacy, rights of publicity or so-called "moral rights," in connection with the use of his/her likeness, name, biography, comments, and/or voice.
  • The laws of the State of Texas, without giving effect to its principles of conflicts of law, will govern the parties’ performance under this Agreement and any adversarial proceedings arising out of the Agreement. The federal and state courts in the State of Texas are the exclusive venue for all adversarial matters arising out of this Agreement. The parties hereby waive any argument that the federal and state courts in the State of Texas are an inconvenient forum.