Trona Railway HO Scale Models

The Trona Railway traces its origins to 1914, when the American Trona Company constructed a standard gauge line across the Mojave Desert of California to connect the mineral-rich Searles Valley with the broader national rail network. The impetus for the railroad came from Stafford W. Austin, the receiver of the American Trona Corporation, who recognized that mule-drawn wagon teams were wholly inadequate for moving industrial quantities of potash and other evaporite minerals to market. Ground was broken in late September 1913, and a workforce of approximately 400 laborers representing a diverse range of national origins completed the roughly 31-mile line by the end of March 1914, with the first excursion train operating in May of that year. The railroad interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad at Searles, California, over what was formerly the Southern Pacific Transportation Company's Lone Pine Subdivision. Operations commenced with oil-fired Baldwin 2-8-0 steam locomotives and quickly proved essential to wartime mineral supply. By 1916, Searles Lake was among the very few known potash sources outside of Germany, and the railroad became a critical artery for delivering fertilizer to American farmers during World War I. Beyond freight, the Trona Railway also carried passengers until 1937 and operated a dedicated school coach serving the communities of Westend, South Trona, and Borosolvay until 1941. That coach was subsequently sold to the California Western Railroad for use on its famous Skunk Train service between Willits and Fort Bragg. The railroad's colorful branding during this era included the so-called Three Elephant Route logo, which adorned equipment into the late 1940s. The Trona Railway transitioned to diesel motive power in April 1949 with the acquisition of two Baldwin DT-6-6-2000 center-cab locomotives, each rated at 2,000 horsepower, followed by additional Baldwin AS-616 units. These were eventually retired in late 1992 and replaced by leased EMD SD45-2 locomotives finished in the railroad's red and silver livery. By 2004 the motive power fleet had evolved again, this time to a collection of EMD SD40-2 and SD40T-2 units acquired secondhand from Union Pacific and Southern Pacific, several of which still wear the paint schemes of their previous owners. Ownership of the railroad has changed hands multiple times over its history, passing through American Potash and Chemical Corporation, Kerr-McGee Corporation, IMC Global, and Sun Capital before arriving at its current owner, Searles Valley Minerals, which is itself a subsidiary of Nirma Limited's Karnavati Holdings following an acquisition completed in December 2007. Today the railroad continues to haul commodities including soda ash, potash, borax, sulfuric acid, and salt cake over its 30.5-mile main line, remaining a vital industrial link for one of the most productive mineral-processing operations in the American West.