After getting reports that Long Beach’s Metro Ports’ new locomotive was sitting in Union Pacific’s Mead Yard, not far from Metro Ports’ facility in the Los Angeles Harbor area, I headed down there. And thus began a futile tour of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, looking for this engine. I eventually got a tip that it might be a few miles north, tucked away in UP’s Dolores engine facility in Carson. And, sure enough, there it was, buried away from prying eyes and, of course, spray paint cans. Built by Knoxville Locomotive Works, and carrying a temporary reporting mark of KLWX, Metro Ports’ 1923 is a Tier 4 compliant NZE32C. Its number honors the year that Metropolitan Stevedore, the company’s previous name, was founded in Long Beach, stevedoring materials onto and off of ships. This engine was delivered to Metro Ports late in the afternoon – after I had headed home, of course! (Carson, California – January 21, 2021)
Not
just heritage schemes, not just commemorative schemes - this album is devoted to some of the world's most interesting paint schemes, past or present.
