SP - Jawbone Branch

Southern Pacific
Jawbone Branch

Thanks to Paul Lamos for loaning me Phil Serpico's book Jawbone, Sunset on the Lone Pine.
All photos and graphics are from Phil Serpico's book Jawbone, Sunset on the Lone Pine unless otherwise noted.
See USE NOTICE on Home Page.

03/21
First Real Railroad in Owens River Valley
(From the Tonopah Daily Bonanza - April 5, 1910

Southern Pacific Train Service to Owens Valley

Regular train service from Los Angeles to Owenyo via Mojave began October 22, 1910. The cost roundtrip was $15.45; the connection to Laws was $19 .50. Unfortunately, this schedule was not conducive to the arrival of the narrow gauge trains at Owenyo, which necessitated an all-night layover, one that even SP men admitted to was not pleasing to valley travel. To add insult to the situation, the "hotel" accommodations consisted of a few boxcars. It need scarcely be mentioned that this circumstance created a profitable business for the auto-stages operating between Owenyo and Bishop, and all other valley points as road improvements continued. In fact, some travelers from Los Angeles would take an auto the entire journey and arrive at Bishop in less time than by train when the twelve-hour layover at Owenyo was taken into consideration.

On April 7, 1911 railroad officials arrived in Bishop and met with local businessmen to discuss possible train schedules that would best serve the valley. It was decided that the southbound train from Owenyo be run at night not only to avoid the layover for passengers, but to afford a better connection for shipments of milk, cream and perishable products so they would not have to endure a day journey through the hot desert. The change was made on the narrow gauge effective February 26, 1912 wherein trains were run to allow layovers at Laws and Mina instead of Owenyo and dairy products and perishables would be delivered the same day.

Action on the Jawbone Branch
"Bad Day at Blackrock"

The "Lone Pine local" waits for its crew at the wye track at Owenyo - 1972 A wye or triangular junction, in rail terminology, is a triangular shaped arrangement of rail tracks with a switch or set of points at each corner. In mainline railroads, this can be used at a rail junction, where two rail lines join, in order to allow trains to pass from one line to the other line or to turn the locomotive around.
The westbound 2751 arriving at Little Lake, CA in 1948.
Remains of the Southern Pacific RR trackbed going north heading into the townsite of Little Lake, CA. (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea)
Fantrip from Los Angeles to Owenyo in 1954	Engine No. 22 at Owenyo prepares for the return trip to Laws. It began service in 1929 and was scrapped in 1949.
Engine No. 5310 arriving at Lone Pine depot in 1972	Lone Pine depot. Constructed in 1910 for $5,400.
Lone Pine depot - 1980	Lone Pine depot today. A private residence. - 2015 (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea)
Pipe sections of the Los Angeles aqueduct being transferred from the Souithern Pacific Railroad to the 52 mule team.
The Southern Pacific RR's Owenyo Branch - "The Jawbone" - from Mojave, CA to Owenyo, CA

Southern Pacific RR Sidings and Depots - Jawbone Branch

Heading north near Bartlett siding along Owens Lake - 1962
A pair of locomotives near Sykes - 1954	Engine No. 4310 turning on the wye in Lone Pine for the return trip to Mojave - 1972
Olancha signboard and loading platform - 1974
Southern Pacific train near Olancha - 1952
Lone Pine depot - circa 1913	SP No. 788 arriving at Owenyo in 1940
Wreck at Ash Creek due to severe cloudburst washing out the tracks - 1920s	SP Engine No. 2751 at Cartago - 1948
Engineer Killed in Train Wreck
Driving of the "silver spike" at Owenyo in 1910 by H. V. Platt	SP Engine No. 9 in action in Owens Valley.
Special American Potash & Chemical Corporation employees' train on the "Jawbone" line at Cantil, CA in 1952 (Photo courtesy of Rich McCutchan)	SP Standard Gauge Engine No. 3203 and Narrow Gauge Engine No. 18 at Owenyo in 1951
08/22 SP Lone Pine depot - 1979 (Photo courtesy of Rick Donaldson)	Narrow gauge Engine No. 9 adjacent to a standard gauge "Jawbone Branch" diesel engine.
08/22 SP Lone Pine depot - Spring 1981 (Photo courtesy of Rick Donaldson)	08/22 Looking south from the standard gauge "Wye" at the SP Lone Pine depot. The Lone Pine freight and passenger depot is in the background. - April 1970 (Photo courtesy of Rick Donaldson)
08/22 Looking north towards the Inyo Mountains and the site of Owenyo on the SP Jawbone Branch. Taken at the Wye just north of the Lone Pine SP Depot. A scene from the movie "Joe Kidd" was filmed here, and the set for the movie Bad Day at Block Rock was located just north of here. Summer 1970 (Photo courtesy of Rick Donaldson)	08/22 SP Lone Pine depot - April 1968 (Photo courtesy of Rick Donaldson)

Photographs Courtesy of Rich McCutchan Archives
SP Jawbone Branch engineers checking out the washed out tracks at Ash Creek due to severe cloudburst - 1920s
Look-e-loos and SP engineers at the SP Jawbone Branch track wash-out at Ash Creek - 1920s
Look-e-loos at the SP Jawbone Branch track wash-out at Ash Creek - 1920s	Wreck at Ash Creek due to severe cloudburst washing out the tracks - 1920s
Wreck on the SP Jawbone Branch at Ash Creek due to a severe cloudburst washing out the tracks - 1920s
Fatality (the engineer) from the wreck at Ash Creek due to severe cloudburst washing out the tracks - 1920s
Wreck on the SP Jawbone Branch at Ash Creek due to a severe cloudburst washing out the tracks - 1920s	Wreck on the SP Jawbone Branch at Ash Creek due to a severe cloudburst washing out the tracks - 1920s

SP train depot at Owenyo, CA - 1948
Owens Lake during the Cerro Gordo mining days - circa 1880s
The Molly Stevens steamer on Owens Lake	Mt. Whitney depot - constructed circa 1884. The depot was closed when the Lone Pine depot on the SP standard guage line was constructed.
Owenyo depot and hotel - circa 1946 Both the depot and the hotel were constructed from discarded boxcar bodies.	Laws depot circa 1911 with engine No. 5. One of the original Carson & Colorado RR locomotives
Southern Pacific RR Keeler Branch stations
Southern Pacific boxcars at Cartago (Eastern California Museum - Virtual Transportation Museum photo)

Construction of the Jawbone Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad - circa 1908
(Photo Courtesy Calisphere)

the SP Standard Gauge trestle abutments in Owens Valley crossing the Owens River.
(Photo and text courtesy David Wayne Bailey)

Pine SP Lone Pine Depot
(Click HERE for a color photo of the depot)
(Photo courtesy David Wayne Bailey)

06/21 SP tracks spanning the Owens River on their way to Owenyo (Photo courtesy Rick Olson)	06/21 SP bridge abutment - looking south along SP Jawbone Branch route. (Photo courtesy Larry Evans)

08/22

Aerial photographs Courtesy of Andrew Wilkinson
Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot	Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot
Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot	Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot - crossing over the Owens River
Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot - crossing over the Owens River	Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot - crossing over the Owens River
Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot - crossing over the Owens River Note the movie set in the dead center near the top where the movie "Bad Day at Black Rock" starring Spencer Tracy was filmed.	Drone view of the SP standard guage branch just north of the Lone Pine depot - crossing over the Owens River

8/24

Aerial view of the SPNG Lone Pine Station - 2024
(Photo courtesy of Steve Osterberg)

09/22

These are the abandoned tracks of the old Jawbone branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad leading to the Owens Valley. It was constructed to help build the Los Angeles Aquaduct. It was a standard gauge line, four feet, eight and a half inches. It came up from Los Angeles, by way of Mojave and it ended at Owenyo. It was part of the Carson and Colorado Railroad, by proxy, they both were eventually Southern Pacific, but never connected, the old Carson and Colorado was a three-foot narrow gauge railroad, they transferred the cargo, mostly mineral products.
I think I shot this around 1990 before most of the track was removed, this might have been a section left behind when Highway 395 was being improved.
(Photo and text courtesy of David Wayne Bailey)

Further Reading

Jawbone, Sunset on the Lone Pine by Phil Serpico - 2006