Jawbone Branch

With the construction of the L.A. aqueduct in 1908, the Southern Pacific took the opportunity to build a long sought after standard gauge connection with Mohave and Los Angeles. Phil Serpico has published a wonderful book on the route entitled Jawbone.

The Jawbone branch was in service to Lone Pine until 1981 when a tunnel fire at Searles resulted in the northern portions abandonment. The rails between Searles Junction and the Owens Lake were finally torn up in 2000, with some of those rails having been salvaged to relay at the Eastern California Museum. As the years march on, traces of the standard gauge continue to fade away. In 2025, a major highway realignment project near Olancha utilized a portion of the roadbed for the new highway alignment.