December, 1897: JOHANNESBURG was the transportation hub of the Upper Mojave Desert from the arrival of the Randsburg Railway in December of 1897 until the inauguration of railway services to the town of Trona in September of 1914. Freight was hauled to Randsburg from the railhead in Johannesburg and in the early days ore was hauled from Randsburg to Barstow. Even after the Southern Pacific opened a siding at Searles in 1908 the freight teams to haul freight from this siding had to come out of Johannesburg.
Freighting and passenger services by mule teams and stages, both horse drawn and auto stages, to the mining areas in the Argus, Slate and Panamint Mountains was the mainstay of Johannesburg’s business. Freight and stage service to Ballarat, Skidoo, Harrisburg and Trona, was paramount in maintaining the stores, hotels, saloons, lumber yards, and blacksmith shops that made up the town.