Lori Carey Photography

Monday, February 23, 2009

Eagle Mountain Railroad



The Eagle Mountain Railroad (EMRR) was a private, 51 mile long railroad owned by Kaiser Steel which was used from 1948 to 1986 to move iron ore from the Eagle Mountain Mine in Riverside County to an interchange with the Southern Pacific Railroad. One of the longest privately owned railroads in the country, it is currently owned by Kaiser Steel's successor, Kaiser Ventures.

Eagle Mountain Railroad (EMRR) was a private 51 mile long railroad owned by Kaiser Steel which was used from 1948-1986 to move iron ore from the Eagle Mountain Mine in Riverside County to an interchange with the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is currently owned by Kaiser Steel's successor, Kaiser Ventures. This railroad bridge is located where the line crosses the Bradshaw Trail.


This railroad bridge is where the rail line crosses the Bradshaw Trail not far from the Salton Sea.


Two Burt Lancaster movies were filmed along a portion of the Eagle Mountain Railroad. In 1966 Columbia Pictures filmed several scenes for The Professional and in 1986 Touchstone Films filmed the movie The Tough Guys along stretch of the rail line.



While doing some research on the railroad I discovered that the ghost town of the Eagle Mountain Mine supposedly has more standing buildings than the well-known town of Bodie, but that very few people know about it and it doesn't get many visits. I can't wait to go find it and will be planning a trip for it soon.


Nothing after the jump.


Sunday, February 15, 2009

Flying Cloud



Saw this Airstream Flying Cloud trailer parked on a ridge overlooking an expanse of nothingness when we took a short detour to the Houser Geode Beds near Wiley's Well near the east end of the Bradshaw Trail in the Sonoran Desert. I love that even the new models have a vintage, retro look about them. Here in California where hippies are alive and flourishing, I can't help but smile every time I see an Airstream trailer, and maybe sing a little Grateful Dead.

Near by is the Mule Mountain Long Term Visitor Area, where for the price of $180 snowbirds can park their trailers for up to seven months (September 15 - April 15). There was a good sized crowd when we drove by. Now if I were going to set up home in the middle of nowhere, I wouldn't want to be surrounded by a crowd of people. I supposed it's a cheap way to go if you're living a nomadic life and still crave the company of others. But in my book, the owner of this Flying Cloud did it right.




Nothing after the jump.



Friday, February 13, 2009

Yet there the nightingale...

...filled all the desert with inviolable voice,
And still she cried, and still the world pursued...













A long stretch of the Bradshaw Trail through the Sonoran Desert in Riverside County, California follows closely along the border of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, where live bombing exercises are conducted. The bombing range is well marked (in both English and Spanish, for this area is close to the Mexican border), but one has to wonder if the bombs lying along the side of the trail were left there by the military as curiosities for travelers, or mistakes that missed their target.

And yes, the quote is once again from T. S. Elliot's The Wasteland. :)

Nothing after the jump.