I was recently looking at some of J. Parker Lamb’s images and started to see locations I’ve shot at myself around Meridian, Mississippi, over the last couple of years. It’s truly amazing to see stuff that has changed over the decades. You see things in a totally different perspective and it kind of gives you the desire to go out and explore and try new techniques. At least that is what happened with me.

I stumbled upon an image of a Southern Geep pulling a local into Meridian. According to the image’s description, it was a southbound train taken in July of 1965 just outside of Meridian. I began to analyze the area around the unit. Since it was a pan shot, there wasn’t much to go by. Parker was obviously on Highway 11/80, east of Meridian but before the Alabama state line. It appears to be in an elevated area and the train was leaning into a curve. After a ride home one evening, I finally found the spot—right in front of my Great Aunt’s Church, a place I used to go to on a weekly basis for years. It blew my mind how a place could pretty much stay the same all of these years, yet the subject changes. Seeing this image gave me the urge to pull a Parker, if you will, and try something new: the pan shot.

After finding the spot, I started trying to replicate Parker’s photo. I would go out in the morning hours to shoot north bounds and maybe go back out and bag a southbound or two in the evenings, just to get the lighting right and to get some practice in. After a few tries, I finally began to get than hang of it. I knew what settings to adjust my camera to and I finally felt confident to get the shot I was aiming to get.

. . . never be afraid to try something different.

Fast forward to February of 2019. A few railfans got wind of UP 1982, the MoPac Heritage unit, leading train 225 out of Atlanta. It happened to be one of my days off and I was planning where I wanted to shoot the train. I scouted around Meridian and picked out about four locations and then it hit me—I needed to “Pull a Parker.” I set up a little farther east of Meridian, around the small community of Russell and waited. As the train approached, I got some shots at that location, hopped in the truck and away I went to attempt to get the photo I wanted. I told my buddy, Michael, to drive and to pace the train. We got to the head end and I had the camera ready to fire. As we approached the spot I started to click away on the shutter and the results were better than I was expecting. It was a dreary day, but the bright colors of the big SD70Ace made the image pop. I finally accomplished my goal of not only getting a decent pan shot, but also trying to replicate one of my favorite photographers who was a regular in my neck of the woods.

Moral of this tale is this: never be afraid to try something different. If you have a favorite photographer, like most of us do, it’s okay to try their techniques. Unlike Parker, I wasn’t around when Southern GP7’s were a regular sight, but I have been around long enough to document what I see now. Just seeing Parker’s image and then looking at mine, a 54 year difference, makes me want to keep documenting and trying to see what else it out there.

Dylan Jones – Photograph and text Copyright 2021