RANDSBURG / JOHANNESBURG RAILROAD
(NOW YOU SEE IT-NOW YOU DON'T)
by
Sylvia Winslow & Phil Kirby, 1971

This story about the Randsburg Railroad really begins at the KMART restaurant in Ridgecrest, CA. It was quite crowded one day when I was having dinner there and a lady asked if I would mind sharing my table. I was glad to have company, and we soon struck up a conversation. We talked about the desert while we were eating and I asked her if she knew anything about Johannesburg and the railroad that was there. She replied, "I certainly do. I was born there." She then related some of her memories and also about a Mr. and Mrs. Moss who still lived in a part of the old Johannesburg Depot. With this new knowledge I was able to interest a friend, Phil Kirby, and together we visited the Moss residence. Mr. Moss was very helpful when we explained our project to write about the railroad. He got out his photo album and showed us some pictures. He also told us how to get in touch with a Mr. Hackman who had a great deal more photos to show and could tell us of how Johannesburg and the railroad developed.

We then went out to see the roadbed and to learn as much as we could about the railroad and when it was built. We learned that when gold was discovered in Goler Canyon in 1893, and later in the famous Yellow Aster mine in Randsburg, it brought many people into the area to work, or to set up a business, or just in hopes of striking it rich. In 1896 the Johannesburg Water and Townsite Company was a real estate venture that laid out the townsite. As population and mine production increased, the necessity for adequate transportation was apparent and work was started on a railroad to the area on October 2, 1897. Promoters for the line were A. A. Daugherty of Los Angeles, Albert Smith of New York City and J. M. Beckley of Rochester, New York. The railroad would serve the gold mines of the Rand District and plans were made to possibly extend it another 60 miles into the Death Valley area and even some mention of a northward continuation, but neither was to be.

In November of 1897, two men, a Mr. Bender and a man by the name of Hewitt filed a subdivision map of their property in the Johannesburg area. The boom had started. Property was being sold and families were arriving.

As far as we could find out, the Randsburg Railroad never did have any dramatic episodes, except for one, when over-zealous men laid the tracks right over the tops of some of the working mine shafts. This created a real problem for the miners. The rails had been laid down at night and railroad guards were stationed there. So when the miners gathered to express their grievances, it didn't do them much good and finally they went away to do their mining at another site.

The line was put into operation in 1897 and this created a rapid growth in the area. New buildings for stores, saloons, hotels and a lumberyard appeared and also a school for the area was built. The train hauled in the supplies needed as well as bringing in the unemployed looking for work. Adding to the rush were businessmen, gamblers and miners, all seeking to make their fortune. On the train's return to the main line at Kramer Junction, it hauled ore from the mines destined for milling at Barstow and also provided transportation for those who did not like living on a frontier far from a city. Although the little spur line never got beyond the town of Johannesburg, it was called the Randsburg Railroad. After nine years of operation it was sold to the Santa Fe Railroad in1907. Because business was booming they built a two-story depot, freight shed and a loading platform.

Old photographs show that the depot was located near the center of the town. Next to the depot was the post office and the first school building was built just across the street and a store was opened in the nearby Teagle building. Completed in 1913 and only a block away from the depot was the St. Charles Hotel. During that period the neighborhood kids had a great time meeting the daily train as it puffed around the Atolia bend with plenty of whistling and black smoke.

One story we heard was that when the engineer pulled the whistle to warn people and animals to get off the track some of the locals would take a break from their jobs. Whether it was mining, or a carpenter building a house, or perhaps a housewife taking a break from washing dishes, they would go down to the depot just to see what was happening or who the passengers were.

The Bank of Johannesburg opened at the corner of Bulwayo and Rand in 1922; but shortly after that occurrence the railroad activities started to decline. This came about because the Yellow Aster mine in Randsburg, which was then the largest gold mine in Southern California, began operating its own stamp mill. Also, with the increased use of motor vehicles on the roads, use of the train by passengers was greatly reduced. This caused the Santa Fe Railroad to schedule fewer and fewer runs. However, some passengers still needed transportation and to reduce costs the Santa Fe eliminated the passenger car but did provide a bus which was equipped with railroad car wheels and was powered by an internal combustion engine for the journey to and from Kramer Junction.

To my way of thinking, not enough is remembered, said or written about the hard working short lines. Until it was closed down, the Randsburg train hauled workers and supplies to the area as well as heavy machinery for the mines such as the Yellow Aster, the Kelly and others that produced millions in gold or silver for their owners. During the boom period more women and children came as they could now travel in comparative comfort. With the homemakers came the schools, churches and the social activities. This helped to get people more acquainted and working together in a community atmosphere. Of significant importance the family presence calmed down the rowdies of the town.

The boom lasted only a short time. In 1933 the Bank of Johannesburg went into voluntary liquidation and businesses in the town continued on a downgrade. On December 30, 1933 the Atchison and Topeka & the Santa Fe abandoned the line. In 1934 the tracks were taken up and the land was sold.

One story we heard about the Johannesburg depot sounds like a Wild West story by a talented author, but it is true. This is what happened. The depot originally built by the Santa Fe railroad was a two-story building, 24 by 36 feet and the station master used to live on the second floor, while the first floor was used by the passengers and the station master to sell tickets, etc. However, somewhere along the way after it was sold, the new owner decided that if the top half could be taken off the bottom half, it would make two separate residences and would make them more money and that is exactly what they did. The upper half was moved to the corner of Panamint and Rand streets and the lower half was placed on a street with the delightful name of Oompaul. This street name is said to have been in existence before the railroad was started.

People driving on Highway #395 can still catch a glimpse of the old rail line bed as it winds its way, sometimes with graceful curves before losing itself in the endless space of the California Mojave Desert. There are no ties or rails left. All you can see is the rail bed and, from a slight rise on the embankment, we could look over a vast area of the creosote bushes reaching to the far horizon.

There were several ruins in the area. What they all were, we have not been able to trace. One old ruin near the railroad track had us totally mystified at first and Phil was frustrated for a while because he couldn't find any dates scratched into the walls, but some of our research caused the old buildings to give up their secret. It was, or had been, of all things, a dairy. "Donker's Sunshine Dairy.

Not too far away we found many shards of old glass milk bottles. It could be said that while the towns of the area were liberally supplied with saloons, not all the miners were drinking whiskey because some of them drank milk.

The entire desert here is dry and sandy land but the pioneers with their stories told us it was once cattle country with lots of bunch grass. Cowboys and other stockmen told me it is also called rice grass.

This shortline railroad that ran from Kramer to Johannesburg was only 29 miles long, but because of the detours and washouts and stopping to explore old ruins, it took us three full days to follow the roadbed. Each night we drove back to our respective homes and start again the next day to see more of the line. My little Chevrolet S-10 was ideal for this job, principally because it had a narrow wheelbase, good clearance and 4-wheel drive.

As we continued our journey into yesterday, the road had gotten narrower and the sides much steeper at times. I had to get out of the car and hold back the long wiry branches of the creosote bushes while Phil eased the vehicle carefully past them. At this time we missed the spare tire cover from off the back of the car. As it was too dangerous to back up and we could have tipped over if we had tried to turn around, Phil said he would walk back to see if he could find it. It was less than a mile back to where a washout had forced us to make a detour. Earlier the car had to scramble to get back up on the top of the embankment and we thought that might be where the cover had been dragged off the spare tire.

When Phil disappeared around the bend, there was a great silence as if I was alone on the earth. Our way ahead did look much better and soon Phil came back with the cover and an interesting story. It seemed he found some company, two sidewinder snakes came out from under a bush to see what was causing all the commotion and upsetting their peaceful habitat; but when they found out what the problem was, they slithered off on errands of their own.

Although we encountered more washouts and several detours, nothing too bad occurred. Soon the roadbed ran into what we expected--- the huge Solar Electric plant near Kramer Junction called "Luz International Limited." Luz has built the world's largest solar plant. It produces enough electricity to meet the needs of a residential community of over 270,000 people, should the need arise. At least here in the desert we have found a new form of gold, as we are beginning to harness the power of the sun.

But since we were more interested in the railroad, by circumventing the solar plant, we picked up the railroad embankment again on the far side, but not without considerable difficulty. The embankment was now badly eroded and in some places it just had melted into the ground completely.

Finally the railroad bed emerged from the cover of the low bushes and led us to where we wanted to be. We were at the terminus of the Kramer Junction to Johannesburg short line where it joined the junction of the Santa Fe, approximately two and one-half miles west of Kramer Junction. Here also were old dilapidated stockyards verifying what we had been told about this area having once been cow country.

Looking around, we found signs of many old labor camps where people had lived while laboring to build the railroad and perhaps some had lived there for some time. The Mexican presence was verified in a sad manner. Nearby was a small lonely little cemetery with several graves having Mexican names and like the railroad, it too was abandoned and was in a sad state. One cement cross lay broken on the ground, the name still legible. It read "Santos Garcia, 4 years and 5 months old 1922." Most graves were outlined with rock but the workers had all moved away and there was no one in the area to care for the graves. The desert's blowing winds and sand continue the process of burying more of the site including several scattered old cans and decayed pieces of wood.

Leaving the quiet solitude of the open desert we traveled Hwy. #58 which took us to Boron and its museum. I had always thought this was just a rough mining town but at the Boron Museum we found friendly well-informed volunteers. They told us about the happier days when hardships were minimized and how their evenings were filled with socials such as potlucks and dances.

At their suggestion we visited a local old timer named Gus Green, but he knew very little about the Randsburg Railroad. He had just lost his wife of many years so he was feeling very sad. I know from my own experience about that terrible gap that nothing or no one can fill.

While Phil talked to Gus, I examined a tall cabinet against the wall. In it were some of the loveliest dishes I have ever seen. It was as if his wife was speaking to us from her beautifully flowered and intricately patterned plates and cups. Near them on the floor, perhaps because of its size, was a pure white china wash basin and matching pitcher with elegant scalloped edges.

Back at the Boron Museum, they had a treat for us in a quiet room where we were able to listen to audio tapes of some of the pioneers talking in their strong happy voices---voices speaking of the years long past, telling tales we might never have otherwise heard.

A WORD OF CAUTION---DANGER

A word of caution for those who may desire to trace and drive on the old roadbed of the Randsburg Railroad. Where the roadbed is about a foot above the desert floor, it has not been crowned over by wind and rain. Some sections of the roadbed are wide enough for a standard width vehicle to drive on with room enough to maneuver. However, the roadbed could be dangerous due to washouts and the narrowing of the roadbed itself. Not a bit obvious is where rodents may have burrowed on the edge of the old roadbed and a wheel could unexpectedly collapse the cavern and drop into it. Once started on narrow sections of the roadbed backing up is almost impossible. For your safety, it is not recommended to drive on the roadbed.

For an Excellent site, go to Doug Johnson's http://www.randsburg-railway.com/

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