Sierra No. 3-The Movie Star Locomotive by Zina Abbott

 

Although built to transport agricultural products from the valley to the foothills, and lumber and mining ore from the mountains to the connecting rail lines in California’s Central Valley, the Sierra Railway line is probably best known for being featured in multiple Western movies and television shows.

The Sierra Railroad was a Hollywood favorite location for almost eighty years, beginning in 1919. From big-budget Westerns to television commercials, Sierra’s trains have been featured in over two hundred productions.

Among the dozens of motion pictures filmed on this line were The Virginian in 1929, 

Gary Cooper in High Noon

High Noon in 1952, for which Gary Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor, Bound for Glory in 1976, Back to the Future III in 1990, and 

Clint Eastwood

Unforgiven, starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1992.

Television series include “Gunsmoke,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Bonanza,” and “Little House on the Prairie.” Also known at the “three-spot,” possibly its best-known role was as the “Hooterville Cannonball” in the 1960s television series, “Petticoat Junction.”

Although several Sierra locomotives have been used in films over the years, it is No. 3 that became the big star. It has appeared in more pictures than any other engine in the world.

Its design allowed it to be easily adapted to various eras through swapping out smokestacks and headlights. 

Back to the Future III stack

Also, changes in paint design and lettering was used. Although converted from a wood-burning steam engine to an oil-burning engine, often the oil tanker was covered by a wood pile to help it appear from an older, wood-burning steam engine.

No. 3 was built in 1891 and purchased by the Sierra in 1897. No. 3 is a 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler steam locomotive built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey. Construction of the locomotive was completed on March 26, 1891, and was given Rogers construction number 4493. 

It was built for the Prescott & Arizona Central Railway (P&AC) as their locomotive #3 and named W.N. Kelley after the company's treasurer.

The P&AC went bankrupt in 1893 and its chief promoter, Thomas S. Bullock, relocated much of its equipment and hardware to California, including the No. 3. He then entered into a partnership with Prince André Poniatowski and William H. Crocker. In 1897 they incorporated the Sierra Railway Company of California to connect Oakdale, California with the mining and timber producing regions of Tuolumne County and Calaveras County. (See my earlier post by CLICKING HERE.)

The locomotive became Sierra No. 3 (dropping the W. N. Kelley name) and played a key role in the construction of the railroad to Jamestown, California in 1897, Sonora, California in 1899 and the city of Tuolumne, California in 1900. It was the primary locomotive pulling freight trains on the railroad until 1906. The Sierra No. 3 made her first known Hollywood film appearance, in a silent film, The Terror, starring Tom Mix in 1921.

 

Because in 1886, the Sierra Railway was three years away from arriving in Sonora, the characters in my latest release, A Watchman for Willow, still arrived by stagecoach. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Wikipedia

Railtown 1897 State Historic Park

Formation of the Sierra Railway by Zina Abbott

 

The Sierra Railway Company of California was incorporated on February 1, 1897 by founders Thomas S. Bullock (New York railroader and former owner of the defunct Prescott & Arizona Central Railroad), Prince André Poniatowski (Polish nobleman who became a prominent French financier and industrialist), and William H. Crocker (of Crocker National Bank). Its purpose was to connect the California Central Valley to the Mother Lode Gold Country foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Construction began on March 24, 1897. The first rails were laid in the grain fields just east of Oakdale in May.

The stops included Occidental (Now called Arnold), Paulsell, Warnerville, Cooperstown, Chinese Camp, and finally, on November 8, 1897. Jamestown, California, the headquarters for the rail system. From there, the line was extended to Tuolumne City, some sixteen miles from Jamestown.

 In 1899, it reached Sonora, where it was received with much fanfare. The architecture of the Sonora depot displays its Chinese temple influence. 

The depot burned down in 1946. The current Sonora Post Office was built on the site. The line was also beneficial to the Standard factory in Sonora, which was located next to the depot building. Cut lumber was transported from the company’s mill at Standard via the railroad.

The Sierra Railway also provided much needed passenger service. The Sierra operated to Oakdale, where the cars were attached to a Southern Pacific train bound for Stockton. At Stockton, passengers changed trains for the trip to San Francisco. A passenger could leave Sonora in the morning and be in San Francisco in the afternoon. Locally, special commuter trains were made up for workmen and high school students who commuted daily to Sonora.

By 1900, the line had been completed to Tuolumne City, the same as present with the exception of the abandonment of the Standard to Tuolumne Right-Of-Way. It allowed lumber from that locality to be shipped to points west.

Its historic western terminus has always been in Oakdale where a junction was once formed with both the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and the Southern Pacific. The Santa Fe's (now BNSF Railway) Oakdale Branch provided one freight outlet to the AT&SF mainline at Riverbank, California. The Southern Pacific Oakdale Branch from Stockton was abandoned in 1986 and torn out by 1990.

Like many other businesses, the Sierra Railway was hit hard by the Great Depression. In 1937, the Sierra Railway was sold at a public auction to the new Sierra Railroad Company, and the debts of the original company were settled.

The portion of the former Sierra Railway conveyed by the railroad's historic owners, the Crocker Family, to the California State Park System are with "Sierra Railway", which preserves the original operating name of the entire line and is headquartered at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. 

Because in 1886, the Sierra Railway was three years away from arriving in Sonora, the characters in my latest release, A Watchman for Willow, still arrived by stagecoach. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

Sources:

Perry, Patricia. Sonora Remembered: A Nostalgic Tribute to a Gold Rush Town. Sonora, California: Tuolumne County Historical Society, 2003. Page 29.

Gahagan, Michael. Images of America: Sonora. Charleston, South Carolina; Arcadia Publishing, 2007. Pages 73- 74.

Wikipedia

Railtown 1897 State Historic Park