Railway Children reimagined

All Aboard for the Young Railway Photographer of the Year 2025

- by Peter Dench

I once dabbled in train photography. Weymouth station, summer holidays. One train an hour, every day the same trains. No drama, no steam, no blur – just a bench, a warm can of Lilt, and the growing suspicion there might be more to life. Girls. Novelty crisps. Literally anything else.

Which is why, decades later, I'm both surprised and charmed to find myself writing about the second Young Railway Photographer of the Year (YRPOTY) competition. Organised by the National Railway Museum and the Railway Photographic Society, the contest challenges photographers aged 25 and under to make magic with metal, motion and a lot of railway infrastructure. The 2025 edition ties in with the bicentenary of the modern railway – Railway 200 – a milestone that's been marked with more heritage locomotives, themed exhibitions and cap doffing than your average steampunk wedding.

The entries? Over 300. The quality? Surprisingly good. The enthusiasm? Unquestionable. The overall winner? A brilliantly named Dale Bristo (18), from St Helens. Dale scooped the top prize for what he describes as a 'hyperlapse' image taken at Liverpool Central Station of a Merseyrail Class 777 train, blurring through the frame with the sort of kinetic swagger you'd expect from a Marvel movie rather than Merseyside commuter services.