Digital Railroad falls off the tracks

A message on the online photo and digital imagery company's Web site notes that it is calling it quits. The abrupt closure has left many photographers outraged because of the short window that they were given to access their images.

We deeply regret to inform you that Digital Railroad (DRR) has shut down.

On October 15th we reported that the company had reduced its staff and was aggressively pursuing additional financing and/or a strategic partner. Unfortunately, those efforts were unsuccessful. Therefore Digital Railroad has been forced to close all operations.

Digital Railroad has attracted a loyal set of customers and partners, and we regret this unfortunate outcome. Without sufficient long-term financial support, the business had become unsustainable.

Thank you for allowing us to serve the photographic community these past few years.

Photo Business News, which has been covering all of the details of the Digital Railroad situation, reports today that Newscom may be swooping in to purchase the assets. It also has become a forum for photographers to vent over the situation.

Digital Railroad, which raised $10 million from DN Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures and Venrock Associates last year, established a Seattle operation in 2005 after hiring former Microsoft executive Charles Mauzy as president.

The P-I's Dan Richman has more details on the closure, quoting Ballard freelance photographer Kevin Casey who notes that losing the archival service is "like someone turned your file cabinet upside-down."

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John Cook is co-founder and executive editor of TechFlash. He has been covering the technology beat for nearly a decade, writing about startups, entrepreneurs and venture capital, most recently serving as a reporter/blogger at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

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