D. B. Arthur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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]?
> 1,278298,278298
>
> [www.altamontpress.com]?
> 1,278449,278449
>
> [www.altamontpress.com]?
> 1,278620,278620
>
> [www.altamontpress.com]?
> 1,278755,278755
>
> [i.ibb.co]


1)It is "ea$y" to replace rail

2) TYE hated that class of locomotive

3) Trash universe was flipped on le head with recycling, so future pit trash capacity was/is not as needed as projected, even today. Those 25 plus year projections never appeared with new ways to deal with trash

4) The San Berdoo steam group looked at running on the ex-line until they got the cost estimate back, L O L