010909 Union Pacific train, Colorado, U.S.A.

Ernest H. Robl: Railroad writing & photography Stock & assignment work (If you arrived directly at this page from another site and do not see a list at left, click here to load the frames.)

More than pictures; more than words:

When you turn to Ernest H. Robl for any work related to railroad transportation, you get unparalleled subject knowledge.

Ernest H. Robl has authored some three dozen magazine articles on railroad and rail transit subjects and provided photography of railroad subjects to almost every major American textbook publisher as well as several major railroads.

He has written about railroad and transit safety and security issues for HSToday (Homeland Security Today) and Railway Age (the leading North American railroad trade publication.)

He has written commentary pieces and news reports for Trains magazine, the largest popular U.S. magazine focusing on railroads, and has contributed regularly to Railfan & Railroad, the second largest magazine in that category.

His railroad photos have appeared on several magazine covers and in each of the Tide-Mark Press Railroading wall calendars for the last six years.

Ernest H. Robl has produced books explaining intermodal operations (Understanding Intermodal) and general railroad operations (The Basic Railfan Book, and America's Classic Railroad Places). All of the above, as well as his guide to railroad and coal mining operations in the Powder River Basin, with the country's largest single concentration of freight railroad activity, (The Powder River Basin: A Guide to America's Power Railroading Base), were well received by reviewers.

The stock photo collection

Though he frequently also writes about and photographs other subjects, Ernest H. Robl has one of the largest independent stock photo collections focusing on railroads and rail transit in North America. A particular strength of that collection is its coverage of both U.S. and European railroads. That collection is continually updated to illustrate significant new developments in railroading and rail transit. I work hard at providing balanced coverage of all types of railroads and railroad activities.

On-site coverage goes back to the 1970s but also includes illustrations of many older types of equipment at museums or historic sites, or in special excursion trains.

Capturing change

America's railroad picture continues to change on many fronts.

After many years of at first decline and then stagnation, America' freights railroads have seen continuing growth during the past decade—to the point that many of them are now facing capacity problems on some lines. Intermodal traffic—containers and highway trailers carried by rail—is the fastest growing sector, with more and more of that sector moving to containers rather than trailers.

While the future for long-distance passenger trains remains clouded, there's renewed interest in high-speed passenger rail. And commuter rail and light rail operations are springing up in more and more cities.

For all of the above sectors, Europe offers a good point of comparison, being ahead in many of the passenger transport sectors but somewhat behind in transportation of rail freight.

Big railroad systems are getting bigger, with money to invest not only in buying up smaller lines but also for infrastructure and technology. At the same time, new smaller railroads are finding their own niche in the transportation world.

Turning points illustrated

• In Washington State, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) spent hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild a previously abandoned line over the Cascade Mountains to increase traffic capacity to Pacific Ocean ports.
• In the Wyoming and neighboring states, both BNSF and Union Pacific are investing heavily in double-tracking, triple-tracking, and even quadruple-tracking lines radiating out from the Powder River Basin coal fields as demand for clean-burning coal continues to grow.
• On the East Coast, CSX and Norfolk Southern carved up Conrail in a battle to form the next mega-railroad.

These are only a few of the rail subjects available from the file of Ernest H. Robl—a file not only for general publications but also for trade publications and the railroad industry. When you request stock photos, you get more than just images—you get subject expertise. This is one place where you don't have to explain what an SD70MAC, an AC4400CW, a slug, or a ballast plow is.

And, yes, there's also coverage of

Most major U.S. rail systems are covered. From the East Coast, there's diverse coverage of NS and CSX. Chicago area material features commuter operations and freights. West Coast subjects focus on BNSF trains in the mountains of Washington state and Montana's Glacier National Park, as well as SP, UP, and Amtrak in California (including snow on Donner Pass).

European railroads are well represented. Austrian images (including winter photos in snow) provide examples of European railroading and rolling stock, from streetcars in Vienna to mainline traffic in the Alps. German subjects include ICE high-speed trains. British subjects include BR passenger and freight operations; the Stratford container terminal; London transit ("tube," Docklands Light Railway, etc.); and the Dover construction site of the Channel Tunnel. And, from France, there are both the new and older TGV lines, including TGV shops in Paris and Channel Tunnel facilities near Calais.

Light rail transit, making a strong comeback in the U.S., is represented with systems from both the East and West Coasts (including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Baltimore).

Heavy rail transit includes commuter operations as well as the Washington, D.C., Metro and the Bay Area's BART system. Even San Francisco's historic cable cars and electric trolley buses are represented. Commuter rail operations from several major cities are included.

Even if your primary interest is stock photography, you get more than just images.

Unsure of what type of image could illustrate a particular transportation concept? I'm always happy to suggest possible images and to do research in my own file based on very general requests. Or, if you have a specific want list, I can work from that, too.

With the photos, you receive captions that explain not only what is depicted but also why the subject or subjects depicted are important in the context of what you are trying to illustrate.

Extended text

But if you need extended text—anything from a travel feature to technical descriptions of equipment or an analysis of the latest trends, I can help you there too. I have both a degree (and background) in journalism, as well as having attended advanced workshops on technical writing.

I can work fast under deadline pressure to produce the type of text you need, whether it has a business focus for an audience already familiar with technical terms or whether the project is aimed at explaining issues to a more general audience.

Contacts & reference materials

Over the years I've developed an extensive network of contacts that can help with either setting up photography or with providing information or quotes for an article. Where my contacts don't have the information I need, they can usually point me to other sources that can help.

And, over the years, I've developed an extensive collection of reference materials relating to railroads and rail transit, both in the U.S. and internationally. (A few of those reference sources produced by others even include some of my photos.)

Other transportation subjects

Other general transportation photos (highway, aviation/airport, port/ship/ferry) and related military subjects are also available.

For information on new coverage, check my Web site: http://www.robl.w1.com [rev.2005-07]

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