Prototype News

by Paul B. Larsen/photos by the author

Nestled at the doorstep of Death Valley lies one of California’s most valuable mining operations. While not the kind of discovery to prompt a cry of “Eureka!,” the resources first identified by gold-seeker John Searles in the valley just east of Ridgecrest — later named in his honor — have proven far more valuable than the gold and silver that dominate California lore.

Since the late 1800s, extraction of soda ash, boric acid, and other minerals has fueled a largely prosperous run for the succession of companies that have worked these deposits. Of course, an operation of this scale depends on a reliable connection to the outside world — a role long filled by the railfan-favorite Trona Railway, which replaced the famed 20-mule teams that once hauled product to Southern Pacific at Mojave.

ABOVE: During summer months, sun angles often allowed for catching northbound trains in daylight as happened for this loaded coal train in late April 2023.

Trona Railway’s birth in 1914 coincided with the early stages of large-scale mining of trona ore (a naturally occurring mineral, sodium sesquicarbonate) in the Searles Valley by American Trona Company, primarily by extraction with water pumped in to draw out the minerals for subsequent processing. The purpose of the railway, lovingly referred to as the “Three Elephant Line” because they could arguably do the work of those 20 mules, has almost exclusively been to bring in supplies such as sulfuric acid for mineral extraction while taking out finished product for a connection with Southern Pacific — and more recently Union Pacific — at Searles Junction on the Lone Pine Subdivision.

Mixed in with the coming and going of covered hoppers that carry product to the outside world, until just recently the railway was also the conduit for a steady supply of coal to be used for generation of electricity for the energy-hungry drying kilns at the Argus facility, which is the main processing and distribution plant for Searles Valley Minerals and the location of Trona Railway’s headquarters, sorting yard, and shops.

ABOVE: Black Friday often produced unique photo opportunities, as on this day the railroad would make the run up to Searles Junction in the morning such as on November 26, 2021.

In prior years that represented a prolonged boom time, most days on the railroad were like any other. The day shift would sort cars at Argus and at an off-site processing plant known as Westend a few miles south, and the night shift often would make the 30-mile journey south to the UP connection to deliver loads, retrieve empties, and, as needed, hustle a coal train back into town. This all has been in conjunction with an intraplant switching operation, which is in part handled by one of the last “Kodachrome”-painted ex-SP locomotive in existence and is responsible for moving coal trains around, along with sorting covered hopper cars based on commodity grade and type to be stored until ready for shipping.

Rumblings of Change
As with any endeavor, good times are fleeting, and since 2019, the fortunes of both the railroad and the mining operation it supports have changed dramatically. Pressures have mounted to the point where both are now struggling.

ABOVE: On October 14, 2021, a long telephoto lens gives a unique perspective on a southbound Trona Railway train that has begun its climb up and out of the Searles Lake basin, seen in the distance at the foot of the now-shuttered Argus plant. In the midground is the Oxy yard, used for overflow car storage.

Across two days in early July 2019, the Ridgecrest and Searles Valley communities were rocked by a swarm of earthquakes and aftershocks, the largest measuring Mw 7.1 — one of the most powerful in California in the past 30 years, and strong enough to send residents fleeing outdoors. The damage was extensive, affecting the community, the plant, and the railroad. In places near the Trona Pinnacles, the track resembled a length of model railroad flex track that had been picked up and twisted.

To this day, parts of Searles Valley remain damaged, awaiting rebuilding that may never come. While the Argus plant suffered heavily, including the loss of a smokestack and other facilities, it was able to reopen. Likewise, in a testament to the determination of the railroad’s crews, the line to Searles Junction was rebuilt with remarkable speed, and service was soon restored.

Literal and figurative aftershocks have continued since for the mine and its railroad, the latter of which have nothing to do with fault slippage but instead are the result of difficult economic and regulatory headwinds. In the nearly seven years since the Ridgecrest earthquakes, the boom times have progressively become more dire to the point that the very existence of the mining and railroad operations is in question…

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