Fred Wrote:
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> In the 1960s there were trains of iron ore from
> this mine moving westbound on the SP. I recall one
> train with 18 SD 7s or 9s, eight on the front,
> eight in the middle and two on the rear.

Yup. Large, split consists of SD9s, or GP9s and F units, were the normal power for the train until replaced by the 10 U28Cs that SP purchased specifically for this service in late 1966. The U28s were supplemented by 10 or so SD35s that had been transfered from the Tehachapi Freight Pool, since by then Kaiser was often running two loaded and two empty trains per day - the "Kaiser Ore" (and corresponding empties) from Eagle Mountain to the steel mill in Fontana, and the "Export Ore" (and empties) from Eagle Mountain to the harbor.

Typically, an LA Division East Pool crew (Yuma-Indio) would be called at Indio either to take empties or run cab hop to the interchange at Ferrum and bring the loads back to Indio. There, a West Pool crew (LA-Indio) would take over, and a two-unit helper would be added ahead of the caboose. The train would then be lined into the siding at Thousand Palms where the middle crossover would be used to entrain the Swing Helper that had run light from Colton using an (old) Colton-assigned Helper Pool crew. Then it was time to start the long trip over Beaumont Pass (usually including "going to beans" in the siding at Cabazon). The Swing Helper would normally be cut out at Loma Linda or Colton, with the rear helper staying with the train.

> Did the
> SP consist run all the way to the mine or did
> Kaiser have enough of a railroad to deliver this
> kind of tonnage to the SP?

Kaiser used their own units on the Eagle Mountain Railroad after the line opened in 1948, using four 6-axle Baldwin roadswitchers Kaiser bought for this purpose (one pair in 1947 and a second pair in 1952), that were originally painted in a very striking red, orange and gray paint scheme. In 1958, Kaiser purchased a used former Chesapeake & Ohio Baldwin, and the four original units were slowly repainted dark blue and yellow to match it. By the early Sixties, Kaiser was routinely leasing Baldwin roadswitchers from SP to supplement their own units. Then in 1968, Kaiser replaced all the Baldwins with five new U30Cs from General Electric that had been built as add-ons to an SP order. They were painted (mostly) solid red, and lasted until the railroad finally shut down in 1986. After that, they were hauled dead to the mill at Fontana where they were stored until cut up for scrap around 1995.