page_title: Eagle Mountain Railroad
section_title: Route
hierarchical_section_title: Eagle Mountain Railroad / Route
caption_attribution_description: English: Route in 1963
context_page_description: The Eagle Mountain Railroad 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 miles 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.
context_section_description: 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 miles (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 up a hill, then drops down to a wooden trestle bridge.  The track then heads east over mudflats while climbing a grade. There is also the wooden trestle bridge 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 underneath.
  The tracks continue climbing the mudflats east where they turned 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 (150 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) high.  The original bridge located here was a wooden trestle, but 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, but 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 any 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.  A 3,000 feet (910 m) long passing siding and a short storage spur are located here.  A maintenance shed is also located here.
  After Summit, the track begins a long down hill run that will go almost the entire way to Eagle Mountain.  Just past Summit, the tracks turn north and head towards Interstate 10.  Just prior to crossing under Interstate 10, there are three small maintenance sheds.  The "Interstate 10 Underpass" is located at the Red Cloud Road Exit.  After the underpass, the tracks curve east and start running along the foothills of the Eagle Mountains.  At Milepost 35.8 is "Entrance", the location of a short 450-foot (140 m) storage track.  Shortly after Entrance, the tracks curve north again and head for the Victory Hills.  Just before arriving at the Victory Hills, the tracks cross Eagle Mountain Road, the original access road to the mine.  This is the first paved road (other than Interstate 10) that the railroad has crossed.
  The Victory Hills are a chain of small hills that run east of the Eagle Mountains and provide a minor obstacle to the railroad.  The railroad passes through these hills by going through a deep cut in the low part between two hills.  After crossing Eagle Mountain Road for a second time, the tracks arrive at "Telephone Pass". The railroad today passes between the same two mountains.  Telephone Pass is the end of the downhill grade from Summit and for here to the mine is all uphill.
  The uphill climb from Telephone Pass to the Eagle Mountain M
caption: Route in 1963
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