Pacific Harbor Lines - New Paint Scheme?

I saw a freshly painted PHL SD40-2 come through Boise today on the end of a Idaho Northern & Pacific local. All sorts of locomotives from all over the country are bought to Boise to go to Motive Power Indusries here in Boise.

Anyway... I had never heard of PHL. I got on Railpictures.net to see if I could find some pics of PHL locomotives and I did... Just none in the scheme that I saw on that SD40-2 today.

Does anyone know if the PHL has anymore locomotives freshly painted? Are they using a new paint scheme?

That locomotive was really really sharp looking! I'm not sure which way it'll get down to the LA area... either west on the UP through Hinkle Oregon and Portland and down the coast or east on the UP through Pocatello Idaho and then south through Salt Lake City and Vegas. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

Hi,

Just happened along this post and have a bit more info for you-- the locomotive you saw was not an SD40-2, but rather an all new, Boise-built low emissions diesel. The model is a MP20-3C, and the PHL will replace their entire roster with 14 of these, and 2 of a yet to be seen 4-axle version.

And yes, the ATSF-inspired black with zebra stripe scheme will be standard on all. The railroad never really had a standard scheme, because they knew they would be replacing their older units in the near future, and it didn't justify the cost of the paint.

As background, the PHL works the L.A. Harbor and Port of Long Beach and is EXTREMELY busy. A typical day finds approximately 30 crew starts, but would you expect anything less at the busiest container port in the U.S.? Unfortunately, much of the activity occurs behind fences and the port police are constantly lurking, but photography can be done in a few public spots.