Here is a video of BNSF Dash 9 number 979, painted in its original Heritage 1 scheme, leading a Watson Shuttle train from the Alcoa siding on the Harbor Sub to be unloaded at the Port of LA. These storage moves happen a couple times a week, and catching one is rather unpredictable and a very pleasant surprise to supplement the normal Harbor Sub local action. This is a scene that could easily pass for the early 2000s, as this was the norm when the Harbor Sub was a mainline. Prior to the construction of the Alameda Corridor, the 26-mile-long Harbor Sub was the primary route for the Santa Fe to get from the Ports of LA to the transcontinental mainline. The Alameda Corridor, completed and opened for rail traffic in 2002, is used by both BNSF and Union Pacific and is a means to move more trains more quickly and with higher capacity, relieving congestion on surface streets above through the use of the trench which spans 8 miles from Vernon to Compton. Since the opening of the Alameda trench, the Harbor Sub was closed to through rail traffic, only seeing regularly-scheduled local trains and occasional autorack/double stack repositioning trains on parts of the route. The Harbor Subdivision is now split into two sections, with the southern portion extending from Watson Yard to just south of LAX Airport, and the northern section from Redondo to stopping just south of the Malabar Yard in Vernon. The middle section was abandoned and converted into right-of-way for the brand-new Metro Crenshaw/LAX Line which opened in early 2023, and a rail-to-rail bike bath currently under construction along Slauson Ave. Thanks for watching!
© 2025 LARailProductions