I know that the start of this thread is another absurd proposal, but the whole Iron Mountain area is pretty fascinating. It was one of my very first railfan discoveries back when I first got my driver's license in 1967 after having moved to Redding. Driving out on the the road to Iron Mountain and passing the little dam above Keswick, I saw a line across the hillside that was so level that it had to be a railroad. A friend and I hiked up there, and sure enough, there were the ties. Eventually through an article in Western Railroader, I learned of the Iron Mountain Railway. And thanks to Signor's books, I know even more. It's probably be fun to explore on a dirt bike.

However, I'm sure many of you know that Iron Mountain Mine is a superfund toxic site. The Sacramento Bee had an article on it, and said that the water in the mine is the most acidic water on earth, with a ph of -3.6! Something else you may find amazing should you drive up there along the road up to Iron Mountain is the water leaching out of the hillside leaving behind bright blue-green deposits. Copper of some sort, I suppose. But here's the brown-red soil and rock with BRIGHT BLUE-GREEN deposits on them. Wild. Check out the Wikipedia article on Iron Mountain Mine. There are some photos there too.

I don't remember the name of the dam that you pass near where the old smelter was (and where the Iron Mountain Railway ended), but it was as dam built to impound the water and minerals leaching out of the soil. I've been behind it, and it's a dry dam with no regular lake behind it, only to control the water flow into the Sacramento River.

And lastly, I belive the Iron Mountain Railway was abandoned in the early 1930s (late 20s?) in favor of a new aerial tramway that carried the ore to the SP at Matheson. It was also at this time that the smelter was closed, and the ore carried elsewhere for processing. The toxic emissions from the smelter at Keswick denuded the hills around there of all vegetation. Even now, 80 years later, the vegetation is sparse, mainly just manzanita.

By the way, that loading site at Matheson was the end of the Matheson Branch, which was the on the old SP main line right of way below Shasta Dam. Back in the 1960s, I've been down there and seen some gondolas there, but never a train. Tracks long removed now, of course.