Here's a photo I took on January 17, 1983 FORTY-TWO YEARS AGO, of a loaded iron ore train running on the now-abandoned Eagle Mountain Railroad that ran from the now-abandoned Kaiser Steel Eagle Mountain mine to the junction with the then-SP Sunset Route on the eastern shore of Salton Sea in Riverside County, CA. This mine and railroad kept the now-abandoned Kaiser Steel mill in Fontana, CA supplied with taconite pellets used in the production of steel. Coal was brought in from the now-closed York Canyon mine in northeastern New Mexico, served by the Santa Fe, and from central Utah, served by the Utah Railway, Rio Grande and Union Pacific.

Since the Eagle Mountain Railroad was a non-common carrier that basically hauled one commodity, it died when the steel mill died.

The photo shows the Ferrum-destined train crossing the Coachella Canal, a waterway the brings irrigation water into the Coachella Valley from the Colorado River. In 1983, the canal was an earthen ditch and in the ensuing years it has been upgraded to a concrete-lined canal built adjacent to it.

I found it interesting that the words "Kaiser Steel" were painted on the bridge girders for publicity purposes, even though very few people would have seen it due to the isolated location. In contrast, there are other railroad bridges that span busy highways in a similar fashion where there is no wording on the bridge identifying the railroad.

In the last few years of the operation, Kaiser Steel had painted the battery boxes on the locomotives white to reduce high temperatures.

Here's a GOOGLE aerial photo that shows the location and you can zoom out to see where it is in relation to everything else.

[maps.app.goo.gl]

For a while there was talk of turning the open pit at the abandoned mine into a large receptacle for trash (a.k.a."urban ore") from the greater Los Angeles area and the trash could have been brought in by rail. The plan never got beyond the talking stage and, now that the railroad has been ripped up, it will probably never happen.

Here are some links that show some additional photos I've posted of this now-abandoned railroad:

[www.altamontpress.com]

[www.altamontpress.com]

[www.altamontpress.com]

[www.altamontpress.com]