The Eagle Mountain Railroad was constructed by Kaiser Steel in 1947 to move iron ore from the mine to its steel mill in Fontana. Due to foreign competition, Kaiser closed down the mill and mine in 1983. A loaded train has just arrived at the interchange at Ferrum on November 29, 1977. The units will cut off from the loads and move to the east end of the siding. Even though it is a couple days after Thanksgiving, the weather is still quite warm as you can see by the head brakeman standing on the front platform wearing a short sleeved shirt. You do not want to try railfanning this area in July or August.

I drove to the other end of the siding. The engines have run around the train, set two covered hoppers and the caboose over on the empties, and are now heading back up the hill for home. Ferrum means iron in Latin. You can see a little bit of the Salton Sea off to the left.

Sunset Route Index

Train LAHOT at Bertrum