Historic Trona Monorail
Interesting information, images, and a map.
The monorail started at the sidings in Magnesia, crossed the dry bed of the Searles Lake and climbed on a ramp through the Layton Canyon with a gain of 1,800 feet (550 m) in 5 miles (8 km), i.e. a 7 % gradient. It passed the Layton Pass, whose summit is 3,500 feet (1067 m) above sea level, and followed a steep canyon downwards to the bed of the Panamint Valley with only one road crossing on its way. At the other side of the valley it climbed with a gradient of 10–12 % to the Wingate Pass, followed then the Wingate Wash and the Crystal Hills Wash and turned finally eastwards to the camp and mine.
New York Mine/Dean's Mill was financed in the 1890s by George Hearst. J.C. Dean built the 20-stamp mill and crushed ore for many of the gold and silver mines in the Slate and Argus Ranges. Dean was the postmaster, and his family lived in what they called John Searles's winter house. The military ran them off the property in 1944, claiming they would pay them $150,000 for the property. They were never paid.
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