Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, and its operating entity, the Sierra Railway, is known as "The Movie Railroad." Both entities are a heritage railway and are a unit of the California State Park System. Railtown 1897 is located in Jamestown, California. The entire park preserves the historic core of the original Sierra Railway of California (later reincorporated as the Sierra Railroad Company). The railway's Jamestown locomotive and rolling stock maintenance facilities are remarkably intact and continue to function much as they have for the last 100-plus years.
The California State Railroad Museum (CSRM), headquartered in Old Sacramento, assumed responsibility for Railtown 1897 State Historic Park on July 1, 1992.
The Sierra Railway served the West Side Lumber Company mill at Tuolumne. The West Side operated an extensive narrow gauge (36") logging railroad in the Sierras. It operated into the 1960's, and was the last of the narrow-gauge logging railways operating in the American West.[1][2]
In addition to seasonal steam and diesel-powered train rides, the Railtown experience includes tours of the circa 1920s locomotive roundhouse and machine shop and related exhibits. Movie paraphernalia used in filming train sequences is on display.
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[edit] Movie heritage
Since 1929, when The Virginian (the first talkie filmed outside a movie studio)[citation needed] was filmed with the Sierra locomotive number 3, the Sierra Railway properties have been a major resource to the motion picture industry. Sierra's tracks, locomotives and cars have long been seen on the silver screen; film credits include Go West with the Marx Brothers, High Noon with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, 3:10 To Yuma (1957) featured #3 in the end of the movie, as well as Back to the Future III with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Television programs that regularly used the Sierra property include Wild, Wild West, Iron Horse, Tales of Wells Fargo, and perhaps most famously, Petticoat Junction.[3][4] The Sierra No. 3 locomotive and Sierra's coach number 5 were the Hooterville Cannonball.[5][6][3] Locomotive No. 3 was also used in Season 2, Episode 17 of Little House on the Prairie.
[edit] Proposed for closure
The Railtown 1897 State Historic Park is one of the 48 California state parks proposed for closure in January 2008 by California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of a deficit reduction program.[7]
But Railtown is still open as of October 2011. Its closure now seems doubtful with Jerry Brown, who is highly pro-rail, as governor again.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
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[edit] References
- ^ Ferrell, Mallory Hope, West Side: Narrow Gauge in the Sierra, pp. 1-32, 293-312, Pacific Fast Mail, 1979.
- ^ "West Side Lumber Company," Tuolumne City Memorial Museum Web site (http://tuolumnecity.wordpress.com/4-museum-exhibits/westside-lumber-company/), Retrieved 9-22-2011.
- ^ a b Petticoat Junction at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Bienick, David (July 1, 2010). "Movie Locomotive Restored To Old Glory". Sacramento, California (field report from Jamestown): KCRA. http://www.kcra.com/video/24116982/detail.html. Retrieved 01-28-2012.
- ^ Stein, Dave (2005). "Petticoat Junction Hooterville Cannonball". http://petticoat.topcities.com/hooterville_cannonball.htm. Retrieved 01-28-2012.
- ^ "Railtown 1897 State Historic Park - Welcome". Railtown 1897 State Historic Park. http://www.railtown1897.com/railtown/default.asp. Retrieved 01-28-2012. "Known as “The Movie Railroad,” Railtown 1897, its historic locomotives and cars have starred in hundreds of film and TV productions, including High Noon, Back to the Future 3, and Petticoat Junction."
- ^ CBS5.com: List Of Calif. Parks To Close In Budget Proposal
Warwick Frost (2009). 'Projecting an Image: Film Induced Festivals in the American West'. Event Management 12:2, pp. 95-103.
[edit] External links
- Official Railtown 1897 Historic Park website
- CSP: Official California Railtown 1897 State Historic Park website
- Railtown 1897: Home page
Coordinates: 37°57′3.54″N 120°25′3.75″W / 37.9509833°N 120.4177083°W
