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