Terms & Conditions

Photo gallery rules

1. Common part.

1.1. The main purpose of the publication of the photo is to create an illustrated database of all railways traction vehicles. There are three types of photo galleries on the site: basic (main), gallery "lines and stations", creative gallery. When uploading an image, you must select the gallery that is suitable for the uploaded image according to the criteria specified in the upload form.

1.2. By submitting materials for posting on the site, you give the party a non-exclusive copyright on them (the right to publish or distribute materials in any form) for any non-commercial use of the image within the site.

1.3. All manipulations of materials (at the request of the author, with the expression of his consent) published on the site (for example, offset for the second column, removal from the site, etc.) are the prerogative only and exclusively of the administration and persons authorized by the administrations.

1.4. The selection of materials for publication on the site is moderated. When making decisions, the moderator applies to the selection criteria established by administrations (point 3 of these Regulations).

1.5. Materials in the queue for publication are checked by moderators in their free time. The waiting time for publications is not regulated by law and remains in the matter of administration.

1.6. The administration is not obliged to explain to the user the reasons for refusal to publish the uploaded image or remove previously published.

1.7. It is forbidden to postpone photos for publication whose moderation of the publication has previously refused.

1.8. If the author has improved previously rejected material by processing in the program, then when re-sending should write what exactly changed in the photo (moderator will remove this information from the description).

1.9. The daily upload limit by one author during registration is 3 photos, in the future the limit is automatically adjusted from 1 to 7 photos, depending on the approval of the photos. In some cases, the limit can be set manually. The Administration reserves the right to review the limits set for the authors prior to the entry into force of these Rules.

1.10. A maximum of one photo of one and the same vehicle per week is allowed on the website (with the exception of sections working separately and except when the vehicle participates / participated in atypical / experimental driving).

1.11. When sending photographs identical to those previously published (the traction vehicle is the same, location, time of shooting etc.), lower quality photos are removed from the photo gallery (or not accepted). Quality assessment is made by the moderator.

1.12. If there are two or more identical photos in the photo gallery (the traction vehicle is the same, location, time of taking the picture, etc.), the lower quality ones are removed. Quality assessment is made by the moderator.

1.13. If there are more than 2 pictures of one traction vehicle on the site from the same routes, the stations are the next photographs of the weaker traction vehicle will not be accepted.

1.14. Photographs of the interior of the traction vehicle (locomotive control panel, machinery space, cabin) as well as photographs of production plates are accepted in limited quantities (vehicle interiors - no more than 2 photos per traction vehicle, plates - no more than 3 photographs per traction vehicle), except when there are very few similar photos of this vehicle series on the site, or the interior of the traction vehicle has changed significantly, or the nameplate has been replaced by another one. Photographs of chassis, roofs and detailed parts of traction vehicles are adopted in exceptional situations.

1.15. In the case of historical, archival, very interesting photographs, etc. (within the main theme of the site), the requirements are reduced (including the limits for the publication of photographs).

1.16. In the event of a discrepancy with the criteria of the basic section for the selection of photos, an information or temporary publication is possible. a) Information publication may be issued when photos are taken in places with limited access; photos from regions that are poorly represented or are not represented at all in the gallery. Informational photos are not subject to removal from the gallery due to quality criteria or due to replacement with more relevant photographic material. b) The temporary publication may be applied to only the first or second photo in the profile of the rolling stock, or a photo in the event of a long absence of information about the rolling stock in the database, which with a high degree of probability will subsequently be sufficiently represented in the gallery (photos of new rolling stock from exhibitions and presentations; photos of rolling stock not previously represented in the gallery, but the availability of shooting which has no formal restrictions). Such photos can be deleted when new better quality photos of the same unit of rolling stock appear.

1.17. Under no circumstances will photos be accepted:

a) Made by the second author - no showing of the authorship / ownership and / or without consent to their publication.

b) expired 06.01.2023.

c) Subway and public transport.

d) Models, scans of drawings, diagrams, crossing tickets, etc..

e) People (in the event of informational and/or historical value, as an exception, the publication of railway workers and other railway employees against the background of rolling stock is permitted, if they are not the dominant feature of the frame).

f) expired 23.03.2025.

g) Drawings, computer graphics, collages, photomontage (including changing numbers and parts of rolling stock, overlaying textures, etc.).

h) Other photos not related to the main theme of the site.

1.17.1. Gallery "Main Database". Photos of rolling stock with standard processing are accepted. Also, if necessary, additional linking to thematic galleries is possible.

1.18. Gallery "Lines and Stations". Photos of railway infrastructure are accepted: stations, sections, terminals, other elements of railway infrastructure, if such pictures have information value. Such photos are placed in a separate feed on the main page. The assessment of information value is carried out by moderators and is not subject to discussion.

1.19. Gallery "Creative Photos". We accept photographs that not only meet the criteria for creating an illustrated database of traction rolling stock of railways, but also are oriented towards the artistic expression of the author's views, going beyond the basic shooting of rolling stock and elements of railway infrastructure. Due to the impossibility of evaluating creative photos from the point of view of the existing basic acceptance criteria, the assessment of the artistic and/or creative value of the frame is carried out by a separate pool of photo moderators based on a subjective vision of the moment and the compliance of the proposed frame with the Rules of the site. The result of the assessment is not subject to discussion. In the presence of artistic and/or creative value and compliance with the established criteria for the quality of the photograph, in addition to photographs of rolling stock, the gallery may publish the following:

a) photo sketches: reflections (including the subject in the rays of sunset, sunrise, in water, in a car mirror, etc.), photographs taken from a low level, at an unusual angle or using a fisheye lens, photographs in the "panning" style, photographs of rolling stock moving away from the author, etc.

b) photographs of animals (mandatory against the background of rolling stock or elements of the railway infrastructure, if the animals occupy no more than 25% (1/4) of the total area of ​​the photograph);

c) photographs with special effects and/or processed beyond the necessary minimum (removal of foreign objects, artificial background blur, lighting effects, color distortion or bleaching, retouching) without distorting reality;

d) photographs of people (including those who are not railway employees);

e) photographs of railway infrastructure: stations, sections, terminals, other elements of railway infrastructure, if such photographs represent artistic value and meet the gallery criteria;

f) other photographs that meet the gallery criteria and the Site Rules.

2. Technical parameters of the taken photographs.

2.1. The acceptable format of graphic files is JPEG.

2.2. The surface of the photograph not can have more than 2500 pixels (1500+1000 pixels), but not less than 1200 pixels from the larger page.

2.3. In exceptional situations, photos with a minimum area of 800x600 pixels can be accepted (only for rare, old and exceptional photos).

2.4. The maximum file weight is 700 KB. At the user's request to the administration, this weight may increase.

3. Criteria for considering added photos.

3.1. Composition and frame content. The traction vehicle should be in the entire crew. It is not allowed to trim pantographs and other details, and if there is a diesel traction unit in the picture, all of its members should be in the frame. The consist should not be cropped by the photo's edge. The traction vehicle should not be obscured by other foreign objects and / or people (the second traction vehicle or elements of the traction network when the picture was taken from a viaduct or a bridge). Photographs are also not allowed where the traction vehicle chassis is obscured by a high platform. Photographs showing only one side of the traction vehicle (only side or cabin) are prohibited. Photos on which the vehicle is located a considerable distance are accepted only when the photo has artistic value. The horizon should be flat. Photographs are very undesirable where the space is very distorted due to very large focal length (zoom) or wide angle lens shooting. In the picture there should not be too much land or too much sky. When framing, we recommend applying the "third rule" ("golden ratio").

3.2. Exposition and lighting. The picture should not be overexposed (the sky and wires of the traction network have been burned), nor too dark. Photographs on the sunny side are welcomed when all the details of the vehicle are evenly illuminated. Shadows should not be drawn too far on the subject being photographed.

3.3. The quality of photography. Photographs should be clear, not blurred, without noise and grain, not sharpened. Colors, saturation, contrast should be as close as possible to the natural image.

4. Filling out the form of the added photo.

Step 1. Add a photo and fill in the "date of taking the picture" field with the obligatory depiction of the day, month and year. Exceptions: a) publication of historical photos, where the date of the photograph is not exactly known; b) when the indication of the exact date of the picture may cause problems for railway employees (in particular, publication of photographs of interiors of traction vehicles) - and in such photographs it is recommended to delete data EXIF.

Step 2. Add a locomotive or article. The author is obliged to choose the appropriate traction vehicle or article that corresponds to the vehicle shown in the picture. If there is a traction vehicle in the picture that was not previously entered into the database, then filling out the form should be stopped. If several traction vehicles are shown in the picture, all vehicles should be added in order from left to right as shown on the photo. Primary binding is for vehicles in the front, Secondary binging is for the vehicles on the second plane (only when at least one primary vehicle is presented). For partially shown vehicles (less than 50%) you can specify them in the photo description. The article is added only in situations where the vehicle not can be identified in the photograph.

Step 3. Make photo execution locations according to the rules of spelling and writing on a computer. The "in Russian" field is mandatory to complete and must contain (separated by commas): a) country; b) region (region, province, republic, city of major importance, autonomous district, etc. - according to the administrative division for a given country); c) station / level junction / sidetrack / railway track / institution (instead of shortcuts they use in the countries of the former Soviet Union as ПЧ, ШЧ, ЭЧ, ВП, ПМС), the nearest station should be indicated instead of using shortcuts for the shed (for example: ТЧ, ТЧЭ, ТЧР, ПТОЛ, ВЧД) enter the word "депо/depo"; the route should be shown correctly according to the driving direction of the traction vehicle; the name of the company / plant must be comprehensive, according to the law correct and correspond to the company that owns the siding. We do not put a dot in the end of the signature. In the case of photographs taken in the countries of the former USSR, a signature in Russian is required - with a spelling of the names of objects corresponding to the date of taking photographs and official documentation (http://osm.sbin.ru/esr). The "in English" field is not mandatory to complete, but is desirable (especially if the picture was taken in an English-speaking country, as well as in a country where a different alphabet is used than Latin or Cyrillic). The "local language" field is not mandatory to complete, but is recommended for photos taken abroad (except in English-speaking countries). In the case of photos taken in very distant countries, exceptions are made (for example, Cyrillic can not be used), then the signature is only allowed in English in the field "in English" or only "in local language". In the "local language" field, we use the Latin alphabet.

Examples of Russian-language signatures: Россия, Свердловская область, станция Путёвка; Россия, Ростовская область, депо Ростов-Главный; Россия, Удмуртия, база запаса Агрыз; Россия, Башкортостан, перегон разъезд Чёрное Озеро - пост 9 км; Россия, Санкт-Петербург, Малая Октябрьская железная дорога, станция Царскосельская; Россия, Белгородская область, ОАО "Белцемент", депо; Россия, Челябинская область, ОАО "Челябинский металлургический комбинат", перегон Металлургическая - Кольцевая; Россия, Калининградская область, подъездной путь от станции Рябиновка к аэропорту Храброво; Украина, Сумская область, подъездной путь от станции Сумы; Польша, Люблинское воеводство, станция Тересполь; Германия, Саксония, перегон Бад Шандау - Курорт Ратен; Таиланд, Бангкок, депо Тонбури; СССР, Ленинград, депо Ленинград-Пассажирский-Московский; СССР, Луганская область, Луганский тепловозостроительный завод; СССР, Бурятская АССР, станция Улан-Удэ.

Examples of signatures in a different language: Polska, województwo lubelskie, stacja Lublin; Deutschland, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Köln Hauptbahnhof; USA, New Jersey, Trenton Station; Japan, Tokyo Metropolis, Tokyo Station.

Step 3a. Show the point and direction of the photo on the map. Exceptional situations are when we do not know the exact location of the photo. For convenience, it is possible to show where the picture is taken in your personal profile.

Step 4. Add a short additional information about the place where the photo was taken, the approximate date of the photo (in the case of historical photographs), the subject and / or the author of the photograph (in the case of publishing someone else's photograph), the nameplate, the driver's desk and the author photographs (in the case of publishing someone else's photographs) - observing the rules of correct spelling and correct typing on a computer. We do not put a dot in the end of the text. The "note" field is not mandatory to fill (except for the publication of someone else's photo, the name plate, the driver's desk, as well as the cases of partially hidden traction vehicles in the frame).

More detailed information, any narratives etc. Should be entered in the "comment" field.

Step 5. Along with the needs, select options for adding photos and add explanations for the moderator in the «comment» field. In the case of the publication of someone else's photographs it is obligatory to add «I am not the author of this photo».

Attention! Incorrect filling (or lack of completion) of the photo adding form leads to the photo being stopped or refused.

5. Punishments.

5.1. For frequent violations of the regulations and non-observance of the recommendations, the daily limit of publishing photos can be reduced to 1 photo per day.

5.2. For malicious violations of the regulations it is possible to refuse to publish photographs (for a period from one week to one month).

5.3. If the theft is revealed (assigning someone else's photos), the user's account is blocked.