Pacific Harbor Line

Infobox SG rail
railroad_name=Pacific Harbor Line
logo_filename=PHLlogo1.pnglogo_size=
marks=PHL
locale=Port of Los Angeles/Port of Long Beach, California
start_year=1998
end_year=present
old_gauge=
hq_city=Wilmington, California

The Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) was formed in 1998 to take over the Harbor Belt Line (HBL). In 1998, the Alameda Corridor was nearing completion, allowing 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 with a web of 59 miles of track.

The PHL was formed to create a level playing field for shippers. Up to that time, the HBL was owned and operated by the major railroads in Los Angeles; the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe Railway and the Union Pacific. The PHL, in contrast, is privately owned by the Anacostia & Pacific Company. It operates on tracks and facilities owned by the ports.

One of the problems with the HBL arrangement was that shipper could have problems getting their goods to or from the port depending on where an individual railroad's track ended.

The PHL hailed itself as a "neutral" switching railroad that could reliably serve shippers at this large port complex. PHL handles 40,000 carloads of freight a year excluding intermodal traffic.

References

*cite book | author=Fickewirth, Alvin A.| title=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)| publisher=San Marino, CA: Golden West Books| year=1992| editor=| id=ISBN 0-87095-106-8
*cite book | author=Robertson, Donald B.| title=Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History - Volume IV - California| publisher=Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. | year=1998| editor=| id=ISBN 0-87004-385-4
*cite book | author=Stindt, Fred A. | title=American Shortline Railway Guide - 5th Ed.| publisher=Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co.| year=1996| editor=| id=ISBN 0-89024-290-9
*cite book | author=Walker, Mike| title=Steam Powered Video's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America - California and Nevada - Post Merger Ed.| publisher=Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom: Steam Powered Publishing| year=1997| editor=| id=ISBN 1-874745-08-0

External links

* [http://www.trainweb.org/richard/APTA/APTA_Page_1.html About PHL founding]
* [http://www.anacostia.com/phl/phl.html PHL Official Page]