Was the entire Lone Pine branch abandoned north of Searles at one time, or was it gradually shut down in sections from the North?

My principle interest is when was service to China Lake stopped, and did it precede the Lone Pine branch, or did SP maintain service to the base after the Lone Pine north of Inyokern was shut down?

Greg

I happen to have Phil Serpico's Jawbone: Sunset on the Lone Pine right next to me this evening.

The ICC approved abandonment of the line north of Searles in August 1982. This despite protests by several business and the Naval Weapons Station.

Subsequent rail deliveries to the Naval Station were handled through a new siding on the Trona and trucked into the base from there.

But apparently there were occasional movements over the SP to the base until wash-outs occurred on August 15, 1884. No information as to when operations on the base ceased. During the late 1990s Orange Empire Ry Museum salvaged rail, switches, etc. from the base. OERM also obtained a box car that had apparently been used on the base for Civil Defense supplies as it was painted with the Civil Defense emblem.

I seem to recall that a large amount (several miles) of Jawbone rail was acquired by the now defunct effort to extend rail from Laws to Bishop, CA. Was that rail 85 or 90 lb? Anyway, I also recall that the leadership of that time seemed to think that the rail was all they needed, and did not save any joint bars or OTM, which was a stumbling block for relaying any track (besides a very slow use of ISTEA funds by the county in implementing the project). Sigh. I don't know what the status is with that pile of rail in Bishop.

(OT). A Trains article I loved as a kid was, "The broken Jawbone", August 1983, by Steinheimer and Ted Benson about putting the Mojave-Lone Pine line back in service following a tunnel fire. A really nice photo essay. This thread reminded me I should dig that issue out and read it again.

There is one tunnel on the line and it is immediately south of Searles. When the tunnel was being dug there was track laid over the top. After the tunnel fire the SP pulled up track up near Owens Lake and used it to relay over the old sho-fly. Later the tunnel was restored.

Yes, great article!!

Found it. (At the bottom of the last box, of course!)

The above-mentioned Trains piece has some chronology in it, though nothing specific about the Navy spur to China Lake. From the article, service on the Lone Pine branch was reduced in two stages: cut back to Linnie (which is north of Inyokern) in 1981, then cut back to Searles in 1982. Following is some chronology from the article:

2-28-81 - The Lone Pine Local discovers fire in Searles tunnel and becomes the last regularly scheduled train to call at Lone Pine.

After the tunnel fire, a Trona RR Baldwin road switcher is sent up the Lone Pine branch to collect all cars on the branch between the Linnie sawmill and end of track at Lone Pine. SP section crews then remove enough rail near Lone Pine to reconstruct 3 mile shoofly around the tunnel over El Paso summit.

April 1981, trains begin running over the shoofly.

A weekend "Linnie Turn" (vestige of the former Lone Pine Local) continues to operate north of Searles as far as the Linnie sawmill. The sawmill is "the only steady customer" left north of Searles.

September 1981 - The SP files for abandonment of the 88.4 miles from Searles to Lone Pine. Receives ICC approval 3-12-82 to cease service north of Searles "within 180 days."

7-27-82 - The Searles tunnel is reopened.

8-15-82 - The Linnie Turn officially ends.

_____

PS. I searched on SP 8359, the SD40T-2 on the cover of that Trains issue. It was in storage as of August 2012 and lettered "USRP". It's one of the long "snoot" tunnel motors, so it looks slightly different than the SD45T-2 preserved at the Cal State Ry Museum. Worth saving a 40T? Who knows, and who can afford it. But it would be a cool sight at a place like Niles Canyon for one.

With all of this discussion about the Jawbone branch…

The Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge Historical Society (www.spnghs.org) will be having its annual meeting and symposium in Independence California, in the Owens Valley next weekend, May 8-11 registration form at

http://www.spnghs.org/pdf/2014_Registration_Form.pdf

Included will be a presentation by author Phil Serpico, author of Jawbone, Sunset on the Lone Pine on Saturday evening… Sunday we will explore the location of the Lone Pine depot then head south exploring…

I may be giving a presentation on Saturday Night...

Randy