March 01, 2008 After a full week of working 12-hour days, I was ready for the weekend to arrive. My plans of hitting the rails again was in full force. I have always wanted to shoot the Pacific Harbor Lines based in Long Beach, CA and was determined to find at least one Green Goat belonging to the Union Pacific.

Relying on my GPS to guide me, I traversed one road after another looking for the PHL yard near the port of Los Angeles. After several dead ends - the GPS had my car icon driving in fields - I found the yard. I parked the car and went for a walk along the road that follows their yard. From my perch I could see the diesel house, where several units sat, too far away for pictures and half hidden by cars in the yard. I took what pictures I could of a few SW locomotives they had plus a few MP20C-3s, their newest "eco-friendly" locomotives then went in search of the other end of the yard.

Again, as before, my GPS was way off-the-mark. I ended up nowhere near the PHL’s yard but found myself next to a small Union Pacific yard where I was shocked to find not one Green Goat but six of them along with several GP15-1s. Not knowing where I was, and aware of the risk having no chance of finding this place again, I hopped out of the car and walked up the sidewalk to get my pictures. I must point out the area I was in was industrial, very noisy, dirty and the smells where horrible. I saw and smelled firsthand why these Green Goats are needed out here.

I continued along the sidewalk, taking pictures about every 15 feet. As I got to the end of the yard, I saw that I was on a bridge leading over a small waterway with even more tracks on the other side. I crossed the bridge just in time to catch a string of wellcars being shoved towards the massive container facility a few miles away. As I got into position to take pictures of what I figured would be UP or BNSF power, I was happy to see it was two PHL Green Goats!

With a few overhead shots, I was off and running back to the car to try and find them again. I figured I could do no worse than the GPS so I turned it off and used the tracks as my guide to find the yards. Following a set of tracks which looked like mainlines, I found myself driving for several miles. Just as I was ready to turn around, a set of UP ACes caught my eye. Pulling off to get some pictures I could not help but notice a large building just down the road with what looked to be ten or so UP units sitting outside. Now on a mission, I continued down the road to find what turned out to be the UPs Dolores yard. Not ten, but close to 60 UP units of every model designation where here.

Overwhelmed, I walked up and down the side of the yard - walk five feet take a picture, walk five feet take a picture, and so on. So many units, I was in diesel heaven; it took 45 minutes to get them all, but I did it. Another 72 pictures in the camera and I was off to find my way back to the harbor to spend some more time with the PHL.

As I drove back towards Long Beach I passed lots of places I thought would have industrial-type units, but I could not locate any... that was until I saw a nice, green locomotive tucked away at the British Petroleum refinery.

Seeing that there was no way to get a picture from the side of the road and no way I would ever be able to gain access to the facility, I was about to throw in the towel. Just then I spotted a bridge south of where the units sat. Finding a spot to park, I made my way to the center of the bridge. As I got to the railing I was happy to find the green SW locomotive along with a surprise - another rust colored SW unit two tracks over. Getting a few pictures before someone could call me in to Homeland Security, I walked back to the car and found my way back to Long Beach, or so I thought.

I drove along a scenic road when I came upon a set of rails next to the road. While tracks are not out of the ordinary out here, what was odd was that these tracks had overhead powerlines, like the Como-Harriet streetcar line in Minneapolis. Keeping an eye on the side of the road I spotted a small platform with two restored streetcars along side it. Stopping to check them out I saw that I was now in L.A., in an area called San Pedro.

Both streetcars operate to this day and are in great shape. Not one to pass up a photo chance, I got a few and said good-bye to my electric pals as I was in search of something a bit more powerful.

Driving out of this posh area of San Pedro, I headed back towards the industrial areas and back roads when I spotted a BNSF GP60M street running, light, down a road. Turning around to chase it down I had to chuckle at the sight: GP60M was running longhood forward with a red Jeep right behind him, as if it was a french poodle chasing down a pitbull.

Getting ahead of the engine as it left the street, I made my way to a grade crossing to get a picture. Looking around I figured this was not a place for an out-of-towner and could only hope I needed a picture of this unit for my roster collection. (As it turned out I did so it was worth it.)

Turning fast and finding a main road I drove until I found the Pacific Coast Highway. I knew this road would get me back to Long Beach. What I did not know was that I was within three miles of Long Beach almost the whole time. Getting back to the PHL yard I saw that they had shifted some power around. Now outside the diesel house was a set of Ex-Southern Pacific SD40T-2s and several more MP20C-3s. I followed a Green Goat as it left the yard to the south where it entered an auto reload facility.

Driving along the side of the yard, I got a great view of how they drive cars on and off the autoracks, as well as from one car to another. There are ramps which slide between the cars; employees just drive through like a long tunnel. A few pictures of the operation and I was off again, this time to make camp for the rest of the day at the end of the PHL yard. Although I was not rewarded with any more PHL units, I got my fill of UP and BNSF stack trains arriving and departing the massive terminals that serve the big ocean freighters.

I sat back and watched as a crane swung back and forth, unloading a ship, transferring containers. I could only wonder if I would see one of these trains in the next few days, running through the cities on its way to Chicago once I arrived back home. I never did see one, but then again, I did not make it trackside for another week after I arrived home. Worn out from my adventures in California, I was ready to go over my pictures and my memories of two great days of railfanning in California.