Pacific Harbor Line
standard gauge | |
| Length | 18 mi (29 km) |
|---|---|
| Track length | 59 mi (95 km) |
| Other | |
| Website | anacostia.com/railroads/phl |
The Pacific Harbor Line (reporting mark PHL) was formed in 1998 to take over the Harbor Belt Line (HBL). In 1998, the Alameda Corridor was nearing completion, allowing for a massive amount of railroad traffic from the largest harbors in the Western hemisphere: Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach.
The railroad has 18 route miles (29 km) with a web of 59 miles (95 km) of track.
Overview
The PHL, privately owned by the
History
The original Harbor Belt Line was formed in 1929 by a joint agreement of the city of Los Angeles and four major railroads: the
Also in 1998, the HBL was re-organized as the Pacific Harbor Line to create a more even distribution system for shippers using the ports and the two surviving railroads (BNSF and UP). Although HBL's switching operations had been handled jointly, shippers could have problems getting their goods to or from the port depending on where an individual railroad interchanged with the HBL. The PHL aimed to resolve these issues.
Pacific Harbor Line was named the 2009
In July 2013, Pacific Harbor Line signed a new five-year collective agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), which has represented workers at the company since PHL was formed in 1998.[4] A new five-year contract was signed and took effect in September 2020.[3]
On March 31, 2020, Eduardo Moreno attempted to crash a PHL train into the hospital ship USNS Mercy, which was in the Port of Los Angeles to provide Los Angeles with additional hospital capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic in California, but the train stopped approximately 250 yards (230 m) from the ship.[5]
PHL was the first railroad to have its locomotive fleet composed only of Tier II and Tier III "clean diesel" locomotives. An EMD Joule Battery Electric Locomotive arrived in 2023 for testing and demonstration purposes for 2 years.[6]
References
- ^ "PE and the HARBOR BELT" (PDF). Pacific Electric Magazine. 28 (1): 2, 8. July 1947. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ Lennon, J. Establishing Trails on Rights-of-Way. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior. p. 51.
- ^ a b Marybeth Luczak (September 21, 2020). "Pacific Harbor Line Signs 5-Year Union Contract". Railway Age. Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ Douglas John Bowen (July 15, 2013). "Pacific Harbor Line, BLET sign pact". Railway Age. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- ^ "Prosecutors: Engineer deliberately ran train off tracks in attempt to smash the USNS Mercy". KABC-TV. April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ^ Lustig, David (April 21, 2023). "EMD Joule Battery Electric Locomotive arrives in Southern California". Trains. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
Further reading
- Fickewirth, Alvin A. (1992). California railroads: an encyclopedia of cable car, common carrier, horsecar, industrial, interurban, logging, monorail, motor road, shortlines, streetcar, switching and terminal railroads in California (1851–1992). San Marino, CA: Golden West Books. ISBN 0-87095-106-8.
- Robertson, Donald B. (1998). Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History – Volume IV – California. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. ISBN 0-87004-385-4.
- Stindt, Fred A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide (5th ed.). Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co. ISBN 0-89024-290-9.
- Walker, Mike (1997). Steam Powered Video's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America – California and Nevada – Post Merger Ed. Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom: Steam Powered Publishing. ISBN 1-874745-08-0.
External links
