Lone Pine Branch

The Southern Pacific (SP) railroad established a yard in Mojave and made it a division point. In subsequent years tracks were laid to Lone Pine that still connect the main line with the busy Trona Railway on the Jawbone Branch, and to the CalPortland Cement company west of Mojave on the Oak Creek Branch.The Union Pacific / Southern Pacific Lone Pine Branch starts at the Main 2 Switch just north of the Mojave Yard, heading northeast passing through Highway 14 grade crossing. The branch originally ran for 150 miles to Lone Pine, CA until in the early 1980's when SP filed for abandonment of roughly 100 miles of the line from Lone Pine, CA to Searles, CA. Present-day, the branch line is only 50 miles in length from Mojave, CA to Searles, CA. Union Pacific Railroad operates local trains almost daily, which is mostly taking empty cars to Searles Yard for the TRC to take from there, and brings back loaded cars to Mojave Yard for future classification. On an as-needed basics, Union Pacific wil