The Trona Railway brings a coal train north in the desolate Searles Valley. Every railfan has likely experienced waiting for the train, which is taking longer than you expected, and watching your ... (more)

A coal train to Trona begins its very slow creep out of Searles with nary a puff of smoke as they come out of the interchange with the UP on a downward grade.

Crossing Searles Station Road in Searles, CA, two of Trona Railway's fleet of approximately 50-year-old UP and SP castoffs smoke it up for the last bit of grade they will face.

The Trona Railway arrives at the lonely junction in Searles, where they will shove their train for the UP up the remaining stub of the SP Jawbone Branch and then grab the second half of a coal tra... (more)

Trona's Searles' Turn passes by the "alien-looking" Pinnacles. The Pinnacles are tufa spires, some as high as 140 feet, that rise from the bed of the Searles Dry Lake basin, and are a ra... (more)

Trona's Searles' Turn has just begun its run out to Searles Junction as it rounds a curve near West End. Power is a mix of old SP and old UP SD40 variations.

The railroad is owned by Searles Valley Minerals. The company produces borax, boric acid, soda ash, salt cake, and salt and interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad at Searles Station outside ... (more)

No that's not a mirage.....With the weight of their soda ash train now fully on the uphill grade leaving the barren Searles Valley, which will persist all the way to Searles, the thunderous roar e... (more)

Nestled within the Searles Valley between the Argus and Slate mountain ranges lays the vast Searles Lake. Tapping the mineral rich wealth of the dry lake, where 98 of the 104 known chemical elemen... (more)

A quiet afternoon in the Searles Valley is momentarily disrupted by the whine of dynamic brakes and the unmistakable rhythm of steel wheels on jointed rail, marking the return of Trona Railway's d... (more)