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 elements can be found beneath its crust, is the Searles Mineral Company which ships much of its product via the Trona Railway. Completed in 1914 the Trona Railway operates roughly 30 miles of mainline between Trona, CA and its interchange with the Southern Pacific's (today Union Pacific's) Lone Pine Branch at Searles, CA. For railfans the Searles Valley holds another distinction and that is home to a handful of classic second generation EMDs, long gone from regular service on class 1 mainlines, the veteran workhorses still carry on in daily service for the Trona Railway. With the Slate mountain range and Searles dry lake in the background Trona's daily Searles Turn prepares to leave the floor of the Searles Valley, starting up a stiff grade at Oxy, which will endure for the next 25 miles up to the Union Pacific interchange at Searles. All seven of Trona's current road motors, all of which wearing the colors of their prior owner, have command as their train approaches Oxy.
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.
