Construction and Operation
Construction of 52-mile (84 km) long Eagle Mountain Railroad began in August 1947. This included 50 miles (80 km) of main line from Ferrum Junction (changed in 1956 to just Ferrum) to the mine yard and another two miles (3 km) of mine trackage. This was one of the longest privately built standard gauge railroads constructed in the American Southwest in the post World War II era. The line was completed on July 29, 1948 at a cost of $3.2 million dollars. In August 1948 the first carloads of raw iron ore rolled over the newly laid rails.
The railroad was originally constructed with 110-pound per yard jointed rail laid on wooden crossties. Later welded rail was tried but difficulties in retrieving this rail after flooding resulted in the railroad switching back to jointed rail. By 1980, 119-pound per yard rail was used in tangent sections while heavier 136-pound per yard rail was used in the majority of the curves.
During early operations, ore was loaded into Southern Pacific gondola and open-top hopper cars of 50-, 60- and 70-ton capacity. Starting in 1958, these cars were replaced by about 700 closed-bottom 100-ton ore cars. This cars were constructed by Southern Pacific at its Sacramento, California shops. During the 1960s, these cars were modified to give them increased height, needed to carry pelletized ore (which was less dense) and this increased car loadings to 108 tons. From the early 1960s until the early 1970s, two loaded 100-car trains left the mine each day, seven days a week. One train carried the iron ore needed for the Fontana Mill while the second train handled ore to Long Beach, California where it was shipped to oversea steel mills.
From the early 1970s until the early 1980s, one 100-car train was dispatched to the Fontana Mill each and every day. By 1982, operations varied from three to five trains per week, with as few as 40 carloads per train. After a short suspension of operations in early 1985, trains were run once a week until the complete discontinuance of operation in March 1986.
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