Nostalgia & History > Re: Lone Pine Branch

An earlier thread dealing with SP's Lone Pine branch led me to the San Joaquin Division Employee Timetable, April 29, 1962. It shows a Train #700 leaving Mojave at 7:01 AM and arriving in Lone Pine at 12:35 PM! Does anyone know of such a train? No such train shows in the April 30, 1950 Timetable!
Anyhow if such a train existed it appeared to average less than 30 mph! Probably not a commuter train!

#700 and #701 were the scheduled freight trains on the Lone Pine Branch or "Jawbone" as it was called during that time. The employee timetable is listing the only "scheduled freights" on the line, while unscheduled or extra trains were run as needed.

Special Instructions San Joaquin Division #1 (January 23, 1949) through #8 (April 26, 1959) shows Mojave to Owenyo as 30 mph both eastward and westward save for a 1/2 mile stretch at Mojave and 3/4 mile stretch at Owenyo. Ironically the narrow gauge branch had significant stretches of 30mph.

The SP must have put some money in the track between Mojave and Cantil because by Special Instruction #9 dated April 24, 1960, it was 49 mph between the two points.

This may have been when scheduled freight #700/701 to Owenyo appeared in the timetable. The first listing of 700/701 that I have is in #191 of 24 April 1960 (unfortunately I don't have #190). In #185, dated April 28, 1957, they are not there.

Incidentally, the narrow gauge got a schedule in #191 -- #702/#703 between Owenyo and Keeler.

Thank you folks for your information. I was preety sure it was not a passenger train. I doubt these was ever passenger service on the line!

TomPlatten Wrote:
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> Thank you folks for your information. I was pretty
> sure it was not a passenger train. I doubt these
> was ever passenger service on the line!


Not that I know of. I am friends with a long time retired engineer and he had photos of him running the 4449 on the branch in the 1940's. He was an engineer on many of the trains that took the interned passengers to Manzanar.

TomPlatten Wrote:
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> Thank you folks for your information. I was preety
> sure it was not a passenger train. I doubt these
> was ever passenger service on the line!

Actually there was. My 1935 timetable shows that it was possible to connect to the Overland Route from Los Angeles at Hazen,NV via Lone Pine and the narrow gauge. I'll dig it out later and give some train numbers.

I was told that many desert scenes of passenger trains in the Hopalong Cassidy movies were filmed on that branch. I do recall seeing a stout wooden depot building in several episodes. Much of the horse work was done in the Alabama Hills area near Lone Pine. Also, wasn't "Bad Day @ Black Rock" RR footage filmed there on that branch also?

TomPlatten Wrote:
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> I was preety
> sure it was not a passenger train. I doubt these
> was ever passenger service on the line!

Guess again. San Joaquin Division #150 from February 14, 1932 listed first class mixed number 88 and 89 Mojave to Owenyo. Every station was either a flag or scheduled stop. Running time for 88 was 6 hours 50 minutes, for 89 it was 7 hours and 15 minutes.

At one point in history you could transfer to the narrow gauge at Owenyo and continue your journey westward to Mina on a combination of mixed trains, however, a transfer was required at Laws. This from ETT Salt Lake Division #27 from May 3, 1925.

Yes on Bad Day at Black Rock. And it's still called the Jawbone by those of us who have been around here for a while...