Dusty Desert Trails - E5 - Searles Station / Garden City (Ridgecrest's Origin Story)
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2024
- In this episode of Dusty Desert Trails, we take a look at Searles Station / Garden City in how Ridgecrest would not be what it is today without this train station in the middle of the desert.
Full series episode list can be found here:
edwardczajka.blogspot.com/201...
This has been a long time coming, as I wanted to do this video with my father before he got sick and passed away, but he didn't know much about the area. I was able to comb thru many resources and piece together why it was here, and when it was built as well as how it influenced the Navy to put a base out in the middle of the desert. Much of what this station did is gone, and the history of it is not well known, yet many of us pass by this important location on a regular basis. This is to acknowledge the importance of this location of this area, and why it got started in the first place. Many people do off-roading in these areas, and may know them as Dirt Diggers Camp, Dove Springs Staging Area, or The Football Field OHV.
Prior to the fire in Searles Tunnel, it was 4340 feet long, making it one of the longest operational tunnels. As part of the repair work, a northern section was daylighted, making the official tunnel section 3680 feet long.
And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
00:00 - Start
00:36 - Intro
00:46 - Indian Wells
01:12 - Coyote Holes
01:59 - Sylmar
02:53 - Aqueduct
03:39 - Garden Station
04:10 - Willow Springs
04:42 - Trona Rail
05:04 - Garden City
05:57 - Shoo-Fly
06:30 - Railroad Bed
06:54 - Red Rock
07:29 - Dove Springs
07:45 - Searles Station
08:32 - Searles Tunnel
09:29 - Retiring Old Rail Bed
09:51 - Spangler Siding
10:24 - Trains in use
11:10 - Ending
11:29 - Credits
I spent part of the summer of 1956 in China Lake, my parents were school teachers in Los Angeles and my dad got a summer job out there. After a few weeks our maternal Grandfather came and rescued us and we spent the remainder of the summer in the Mammoth lakes area. I often wondered why rail service stopped, now I know more, thanks. Even today it is an interesting part of the world, for motorcycle riders to Burning man from Los Angeles it makes for an intriguing place to spend the night.
Interesting! I live in Ridgecrest and have visited Searles Station, even walked through the tunnel. But I didn't know all this info.
Very interesting! thanks
The water came from the ground or from the mine across the highway at the north base of laurel mt
The most credible information I have found so far is this:
From the book Borax, Bears, and Gold
While there are numerous references to the well at “Garden City” this researcher believes that the well was not located directly at this site but at the edge of the hills to the west and the water was piped down to the site. There is a hand dug well on the hillside where in the early 1960’s some very old bottles were found of the 1870 era. This well site would provide gravity feed for irrigation purposes.
maybe stage coach brought a barrel of water a day with the mail? also, great drone shots
I thought about that as well, but water was such a precious commodity out here, and I know wells were possible, just trying to isolate the exact source to support a full orchard. That seems a bit much for a mule team to pack in.