Trukdj wrote:
Thanks Dave Wright for bringing up a nightmare of mine. Trona ,Ca. I used to load Soda Ash from Kerr-Mcgee out there. ... What a Hell hole that place was.
I went to work for Kerr-McGee in 1986 in Wyoming coal mines, transferred to Trona in February 1987. My ex-wife's family all lived there. I worked in Argus process (soda ash production) 1987-1992, company stores in Argus 1992-1995, then Logistics right across the tracks from Argus shipping next to the old Trona Potash buildings for the rest of my tenure there.
I remember during K-M days many used to transfer back and forth between Trona and K-M's facility in Henderson. Sometimes I wished I transferred to Henderson, I'd have been out of California and in Nevada much sooner than I did.
Yeah, Trona was a hell hole, but it was a much better place during the Kerr McGee days, which ended when K-M sold the place in 1991. I finished raising my kids there and it was a great place for kids as there were a lot of activities then. From 1992 onward, downsizing took place and many people moved away. People who couldn't sell their homes burned them down, then the Tweekers invaded Trona. Since most of the homes were built in the 1930s and sided and shingled with asbestos, San Bernardino County refused to clean up the mess and all the burned homes were left as a pile of rubble or partially standing. Many eyesores dotted every block. It was sad.
I was fortunate and sold my home there early and moved back to the eastern Sierra near Bishop (I lived north of Mammoth Lakes - 1974-1985 - before I moved to Wyoming) and got an apartment there in Trona to use on my working days down there. Most businesses closed and the school is barely hanging on. It's stabilized now, but I haven't been back there since I left in 2004.
