Nostalgia & History > The running meet...timing and luck

Tehachapi being exhibit one, a rail photographer always liked, unlike the stopped crew, a train pulling to a stop at the end of a siding. That meant opportunity to get one or several cool meet shots. The rollby, one crew greeting another, different types of power passing, or just taking in the thrill of the moment. What really got the juices going though was a running meet. It was all timing and luck. One had to be just at the right spot at that precise moment. So many times when you know two trains are going to be close, and you just might get that great image one train, more likely the one closest to you, gets there first. You haplessly watch the other train slip by between the cars of the first guy. Yes, that is how it plays out more than not. But, when you get one!! Witness a southbound Amtrak, and a northbound Family Lines in a running meet south of Petersburg Va. in 1981. How sweet it was!!

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/18 05:21 by Roadjob.

---

Truely well done. A fraction of a second difference in taking the photo, and it would have been a much-less pleasing photo.
Bob

Wow.  Luck was with you.

I don't think I ever caught a running meet. It was hard enough to get a standing meet.

When it comes together its a great feeling. Worked real well.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

Great timing and a nice shot!

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Nice catch!  That's Amtrak's Southbound Palmetto headed for Savannah, Georgia.