As we approach the 100th anniversary of the wreck at Vaughan, Mississippi I picked up a copy of TRAINS Magazine today with the cover story on the life and legend of Casey (John Luther) Jones. The article reminded me of a bit of trivia from my youth. Way back in the late 50s, there was a syndicated TV show "Casey Jones" aimed at kids (I believe it was an afternoon show). It starred Alan Hale, Jr. (who later was the Skipper on "Gilligan"s Island") and also featured veteran character actor Dub Taylor as his fireman. I remember some of the location shots were on the Sierra R.R. with trusty Movie Queen No.3 on the head-end. Larry Jensen stated in his book that other shots were filmed in Los Angeles at Traveltown in Griffith Park with an ex-Oahu Railroad loco. Does anybody remember any more? I wonder if any episodes survived on film or were transferred to tape? Screen Gems was the producer. My Dad, who worked at the time on a newspaper, managed to scrounge me an 8x10 glossy pic of Alan Hale and his TV family in the cab of Sierra No. 3-which I still have around, as well as a coloring book of the show. Anybody else have any memories or info? <br>Sierra No. 3 was also performing for the cameras at the time on the TV show "Tales of Wells Fargo", starring Dale Robertson- featured in the opening titles.<br>



JMFouchard@aol.com

If I recall, these episodes came out about 1958, and were only on for a year or so. Can't remember if they were a network program or syndicated. Like most such programs of the time, they were not high drama, but still fun to watch. A couple even had scenes of the Jamestown roundhouse and turntable. Here in NY State, we get the "TV Land" cable channel, which has mostly the same type of Petticoat Junction reruns and others like it, though Casey hasn't appeared yet. I believe all such series were shot on film at the time, videotape was yet to come. Thus, there most be copies of Casey Jones somewhere, it's just a matter of finding them. Also, there was a very short lived series at about the same time called Union Pacific, which occasionally featured one of the V&T 4-4-0s. I'm quite sure the latter was syndicated. I used to watch it on Channel 9, Denver.<br>



ryarger1@nycap.rr.com

Thanks, Bob. I remember "Union Pacific" also. They occasionally used V&T #18 the "Dayton" which they rented from Paramount Studios, who owned it at the time. I just got an e-mail suggesting I try and on-line store Movies Unlimited- they have an episode of "Casey Jones" on tape.<br>



JMFouchard@aol.com