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The owner of California’s Trona Railway, the mineral-hauling short line known best among railfans for its fleet of vintage six-axle EMD locomotives, filed for bankruptcy on June 15. 

In a press release, Searles Valley Minerals blamed its struggles on a changing mineral market. The company said it will continue operations during bankruptcy proceedings and that its ultimate goal is to sell all of its assets, including the railroad.

“For more than 150 years, Searles Valley Minerals has produced critical minerals from one of the world’s few water-soluble borate deposits,” said Dennis Cruise, president of Searles Valley Minerals. “As the soda ash market changed, we repositioned the business around borates — a mineral with no synthetic substitute and growing strategic importance. A court-supervised sale is the most orderly and transparent way to place this rare resource base, and the people who run it, with an owner who can invest in its next chapter.”

Even before the bankruptcy, Trona’s future seemed uncertain. Earlier this year, Searles Valley Minerals announced it was laying off employees at its mine, resulting in a sharp decline in traffic on the railroad.

—Justin Franz 

The post Trona Railway Owner Files for Bankruptcy appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Railroading Heritage of Midwest America is working at a brisk pace to restore Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 “Challenger” 3985 to operation. This spring, significant progress was made on the restoration of the boiler and tender, important steps in the locomotive’s return to mainline service.

UP 3985 is one of 105 Challengers built by the American Locomotive Company between 1936 and 1943. The Challengers were used in freight and passenger service, mostly in California and Oregon. Engine 3985 was taken out of service in 1957, retired in 1962 and then put into storage until 1975, when it was placed on display in Cheyenne, Wyo. Not long after, a group of UP employees began to restore the engine to operation, and it returned to service in 1981. The engine remained in service into the 2000s. In 2022, the engine was donated to RRHMA, which is restoring it and 2-10-2 5511.

Since arriving at Silvis, both engines have been torn down, and now 3985 is getting to a point where assembly can begin. This spring, 222 tubes and flues were installed in the boiler, a major step toward conducting a hydro-test. A new Nathan 4000C injector — one of a number of new ones built in partnership with the Pennsylvania T1 Trust and Valv-Trol manufacturing in Stow, Ohio — was also installed. Lastly, the group has been working on adding new roller bearings to the locomotive’s centipede tender. The bearings will reduce servicing requirements and increase service life.

For more information about the locomotive and its restoration, visit rrhma.com.

—Justin Franz 

The post Work Continues on UP 3985 at Silvis appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.