Калифорнияның "Игл Маунтин" темір жолы

The Eagle Mountain Railroad (EMRR) was a private railroad in California, owned by the Kaiser Steel Corporation, and is owned today by Kaiser Steel's successor, Kaiser Ventures, Inc. of Ontario, California. The EMRR is 51 mile (82 km) long and is located in Riverside County, California. Constructed in 1947–1948, it was used until 1986 to haul iron ore from Kaiser's Eagle Mountain Mine in the Colorado Desert to an interchange with the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in the Coachella Valley. The last revenue train to operate over the line was on March 24, 1986.

The Eagle Mountain Railroad starts at a remote location called "Ferrum" (Latin for iron) which is located adjacent to the Salton Sea in Riverside County, and terminates 51 mile (82 km) away at the Eagle Mountain Mine (also known as Iron Chief Mine). Ferrum was the location of a five track yard that was used to interchange with the Southern Pacific Railroad. Also located at Ferrum is a wye (not disconnected) and maintenance equipment shed. The interchange yard parallels the present day Union Pacific Railroad Yuma Subdivision main line, the main transcontinental railroad line between California and Texas. The main track heading to Eagle Mountain starts at the east end of the yard. Upon leaving the Ferrum interchange yard, the track immediately climbs a hill, then descends to a wooden trestle. The track then heads east over mudflats while ascending a grade. There is a wooden trestle over Dos Palmas Wash. The track crosses over the rebuilt Coachella Canal. The canal passes under the track in a concrete siphon. The track crosses the abandoned original channel of the Coachella Canal on a three span steel bridge. While the bridge remains, water no longer flows beneath. The tracks continue climbing the mudflats east where they turn north on a sweeping curve. Continuing north, the tracks cross the Bradshaw Trail before passing through a small cut and entering the first of two horseshoe curves. After this horseshoe curve, the tracks run east along the foothills of the Chocolate Mountains while the Salt Creek Wash parallels the tracks on the south side. After curving along the Chocolate Mountains for two miles (3 km), the tracks turn south and cross the Salt Creek Wash on the railroad's longest bridge. The "Salt Creek Wash Bridge" is 500 feet (152 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) high. The original bridge located here was a wooden trestle. After a fire destroyed that bridge an all steel bridge was constructed. After the bridge, the track enters the second or upper horseshoe curve. At the start of the horseshoe curve, the track is located on a high fill; by the end of the curve, the track is located in a deep cut. The tracks head northeast with the Salt Creek Wash paralleling the line on the north side. The tracks cross numerous small washes with either small wooden bridges or cast iron culverts allowing water to pass. At Milepost 20, the uphill grade remained at a constant 2.0% ever since before Milepost 4. The railroad reaches the top of the long climb from Ferrum at "Summit", which is located at Milepost 25.

The first locomotives used by Kaiser Steel on the Eagle Mountain Railroad were a pair of Baldwin Locomotive Works DRS6 6 15 diesels numbered 1010A and 1010B. They were constructed in June 1948 and delivered to the railroad in August 1948. They were Builder Numbers 73749 and 74451. They had
As production at the mine increased, the railroad purchased two more locomotives from Baldwin. These were AS616s and were numbered 1012A and 1012B. They were constructed in early 1951 and delivered to the railroad in June 1952. They were Builder Numbers 75356 and 75357. They had
In 1958, with production continuing to increase, the railroad purchased another Baldwin AS616 from a second hand locomotive dealer. This locomotive was built in November 1950 and delivered to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in December 1950 as their No. 5533. It has Builder Number 74917 and also had It was sold by C&O to Pan American Engineering in Dallas, Texas in January 1958 and resold to Kaiser Steel later that year. It was assigned No. 1020 by Kaiser Steel. In 1966 and 1967, all locomotives were renumbered by Kaiser Steel. 1010A and 1010B become 1025 and 1026 respectively while 1012A and 1012B becoming 1027 and 1028. Locomotive 1020 become 1029. These five Baldwin locomotives were being used on a daily basis and all five were required to move a single train from the Eagle Mountain Mine to the interchange at Ferrum. By 1968, these locomotives were at the end of their useful lives and were constantly breaking down. The railroad was leasing two additional Baldwin AS616's from Southern Pacific, but still couldn't keep five locomotives running on a regular basis. This required the railroad "double" the train, which is a costly and time consuming procedure. By 1968, the railroad decided it was time to purchase new locomotives. In 1968, Kaiser Steel purchased five new General Electric U30C locomotives. These were numbered 1030 through 1034. The first three were constructed in March 1968 and the other two in April 1968. All five were delivered to the railroad in late April 1968. They were Builder Numbers 36762 through 36766. They have They met Southern Pacific specifications since they were built from five production slots from an existing Southern Pacific order. The five original locomotives were kept as spares until 1971 when they were either sold or transferred to other Kaiser operations. Locomotives 1025 and 1026 were sold in March 1972 to Railway Supply Company of Montgomery, Alabama. There they were rebuilt for Peabody Coal Company for use at its River King Mine in Marrisa, Illinois. 1025 was later sold for scrap to Hyman Michaels in Alton, Illinois and was scrapped in August 1978. 1026 was sold in August 1978 to Koppel Bulk Terminal at Long Beach, California. It was then sold in early 1980 to Chrome Cranshaft in Alhambra, California and was scrapped in late 1980. Locomotives 1027 and 1029 were sent to Pan American Engineering in 1971 for repairs. They were then sent to Kaiser Bauxite in Discovery Bay, Jamaica where they became 5108 and 5107 respectively. As of 2008, reports from railfans indicate they are still there, but long out of service. Locomotive 1028 was sold in 1971 to Rayonier, Inc. at Grays Harbor, Washington, where it was numbered 14. It was then sold in late 1985 to Trona Railway in Trona, California, where it became No. 54, entering service in late 1986. In late 1992 it was sold to Johnston Terminal in Enid, Oklahoma. It was then sold in July 1995 to SMS Rail Service in New Jersey and given the number 554. As of 2008, it was still in service at SMS Rail Service, assigned to the Pureland Industrial Complex in Bridgeport, New Jersey. The five GE U30C locomotives worked on the Eagle Mountain Railroad from 1968 to April 1986. Most of the time, four were assigned to the daily iron ore trains, while the fifth locomotive would be used as a spare or be cycled through the Southern Pacific's Taylor Shops for routine maintenance and repairs. When the mine shut down in 1983, the railroad continued operating, hauling out the stockpiled iron ore. When the stockpile ran out, the locomotives were sent to the Fontana Mill for storage. The last three locomotives left the property on April 8, 1986. All five locomotives remained in storage at the Fontana Mill until 1995 when they were scrapped.

Kaiser Steel had two home built cabooses it used on the Eagle Mountain Railroad. The first caboose was KS 1905 and was constructed at the Fontana Mill in 1948. The second caboose was KS 1918 and was constructed at the Fontana Mill in 1953. Both cabooses were similar to those used on the Southern Pacific Railroad at that time. Both were bay window style with ASF Andrew type four wheel trucks, National coiled spring bearings, and used Kaiser ship type welded steel plate construction. They had swamp cooler air conditioning and unusually wide bay windows. The windows in KS 1905 were slightly larger than those on KS 1918. Both cabooses were used on a regular basis and one caboose was always at the rear of loaded ore trains from Eagle Mountain to Ferrum and just behind the locomotives on the return trips to Eagle Mountain. When the railroad reduced operations from two to one round trip ore train per day, KS 1905 become the only caboose used and KS 1918 was stored at Ferrum, where it was severely vandalized. In June 1975, KS 1905 received severe frame damage in a switching accident at Eagle Mountain. The maintenance shop at Eagle Mountain started repairs on KS 1905 but it was quickly halted once the damage was determined to be too extensive. At this point, KS 1918 was moved to Eagle Mountain and rebuilt by the maintenance shop. Renumbered as the "new" KS 1905, its metal toolbox and wire alternator cage are from the "original" KS 1905. The rebuilding gave the "new" KS 1905 rubbered molding windows, axle belt driven alternator, ice box, new water tank, and an air flush commode. It was painted red with white Kaiser Steel lettering and numbers on the side. The "new" KS 1905 was used on the ore trains until 1983 when trains started operating without cabooses. The "old" KS 1905 was stored at Eagle Mountain until 1983. Since its aborted rebuilding had left it nothing but a steel shell on railroad wheels, it was sold and was on display at Ragsdale's Desert Center Cafe in Desert Center, California, about 12 mile (19 km) south of Eagle Mountain. As of April 2009, it was still there. In November 2019, it was sold via auction for $7,500 to an unknown buyer. The "new" KS 1905 was donated by Kaiser Steel to the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association (PSRMA) in June 1984. On January 28, 1985, it was taken to Campo, California by truck since the railroad wasn't operating at the time. Now on display in operating condition, the "new" KS 1905 is the San Diego Railway Museum's primary work train caboose due to its sturdiness, excellent visibility and air conditioning. It has even carried revenue passengers on occasion.