Today was a snow day, and I needed some chewing gum for the mind, as a freind calls it - so I watched a tape of four Petticoat Junction episodes. At the end of the credits there is a notice: "Train Furnished by Barbary Coast Hoyt Hotel, Portland Oregon". I know that the scenes with the "Cannonball" and shorty coach are from the Sierra Railroad. So what is the connection with the Hoyt Hotel? I tried Google but didn't get much information about the link between the show and the Hotel.



Wesley

I remember reading something about this in a book about Hollywood and trains I was browsing in a bookstore or someplace like that. I think that after the first few seasons, they used stock footage of the train for the outdoor scenes, instead of going back up to Jamestown, and for the scenes with the cast on or around the train they used a mock-up train provided by said hotel.

I'm fairly certain about this. Petticoat Junction was one of my childhood favorites (because of the train, of course), and Linda Kay Henning (train loving Betty Jo) was my first crush, and probably the reason I have a thing for redheads <g>.

That mockup was made for the movie, "A Ticket to Tomahawk" and existed for quite some time. It was actually a copy of RGS #20, not Sierra # 3. Afterwards, the hotel bought it to display in the building. The production company spotted it before it was moved to Portland and they "rented' it from the hotel for further work. It never actually went to Portland after the show folded up. "The Movie Railroads" by Larry Jensen talks about this in depth. I also found this online: http://petticoat.topcities.com/mocktrain.htm Supposedly, the mockup still exists, scroll down to the info uder #20: http://rgsrr.home.comcast.net/~rgsrr/rgs/remains.html I couldn't find anything showing it as it supposedly exists today, though. I passed right through the area in 2005 going to Jamestown to see the 'real' SRR #3, wish I'd known about it at the time!

I believe this is the engine, in Jackson, Item #1 on this page by John Barnhill.
http://www.trainweb.org/foothill/frother.html

Jackson is somewhere between Fiddletown and Copperopolis, so I imagine this might be sitting on a short stretch of that long lost rail line.

The Ticket to Tomahawk prop "locomotive" is up on the hill in Jackson, CA just below the courthouse, and is visable from State Hwy. 49 in a couple of spots, looking eastward.

Movie info:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043046/

Chris Allan
Rory Calhoun-RIP
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001983/

http://www.trainweb.org/foothill/images/jacksondisplay.jpg Yep, that's the one. I heard about it two days after my Sacramento/Jamestown trip in 2005. It is amazing that it's not only in existence to this day, but in better shape than many functional steam locomotives in "preservation."

D**m you, d**m you, d**m you.................

All d**m day, now, I've had that d**med theme song chugging through my head.........

Go ahead and sing along, folks......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-0YBr-6IxE

Come ride the little train that is rolling down the tracks to the junction....
(chugga chugga chugga)
Forget about your cares, it is time to relax at the junction....
(Whoooo-Whooooooooo!)

Lotsa curves, you bet.... Even more when you get
To the junction-- Petticoat Junction!

There's a little hotel called the Shady Rest at the junction.....
(Petticoat Junction!)
It is run by Kate, come and be her guest at the junction.......
(Petticoat Junction!)
And that's Uncle Joe, he's a movin' kind of slow at the junction..........
Petticooo-at Junction! (Whooo....Whoooooooooo.....)

Petticoat Junction - Cannonball Christmas Part 1 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGKoGeKFmT8&feature=PlayList&p=D56FEDE9E3EEB898&index=0&playnext=1

Enjoy
Len.

No problem, that's easy to fix. We'll insert this one instead:
Anyone who's worked a Thomas event has this brainworm...

He's a Really Useful Engine
(composed by Mike O'Donnell & Junior Cambell)

Britt Allcrot Inc.



He's a really useful engine, you know

All the other engines they'll tell you so

He huffs and puffs and whistles

Rushing to and fro

He's the really useful engine we adore



Chorus:

He's the one, he's the one

He's the really useful engine that we adore

He's the one, he's the number one

Thomas the Tank Engine



He's a really useful engine, you know

'Cause the Fat Controller, he told him so

Now he's got a branch line

To call his very own

He's the really useful engine we adore



(Chorus)



Little blue train, he's always there

Whenever you need a hand

If you need help with a situation

Who comes into mind



(Chorus)



He's a really useful engine, you know

Maybe little, but he's never slow

Stand back in amazement

Just you watch him go

He's the really useful engine we adore



(Chorus)



He's the really useful engine we adore!

Now you have me doing it!!!!! I would love to know what kind of whistle #3 was using.......

Our kids can have NO IDEA how typical the Western, and steam trains, were, on TV in the 60's.

(Someday they'll have to explain "Lost" to their kids and I wish them luck. They verge into hysterics on "Star Trek"...)

Anyway, to carry this even to a HIGHER level of trivia, remember the series "Iron Horse" (Dale Robertson, 1966)? A really "B" grade western if there ever was one, but #3 and the train (relatively unchanged from Petticoat Junction) was the only equipment on the "Buffalo Pass, Scalplock & Defiance". It's no wonder they never could get the railroad finished!

I remember that had a great theme song too..better than the episodes... and winning the railroad in a poker game. Not quite the 'cool' factor of "Wild, Wild, West", but more Sierra 3 shots.

"remember the series "Iron Horse" (Dale Robertson, 1966)"
From Wikipedia:
In the 1880s, Ben Calhoun wins a nearly bankrupt, unfinished railroad in a poker game, then has to contend with outlaws, Indians and corrupt bankers as he struggles to get the line completed. Ellen Burstyn costarred during the second season under the name Ellen McRae.

The Iron Horse is an American Western television series that appeared on ABC from 1966 to 1968. It featured Dale Robertson as fictional gambler-turned-railroad baron Ben Calhoun. Costars included Gary Collins, Robert Random and Ellen Burstyn.

The plot centered around Calhoun's poker game-win of the incomplete Buffalo Pass, Scalplock, & Defiance Railroad and his wide-ranging attempts to finish the line despite obstacles that were ever-present.

Much of the external footage involving trains was shot on the historic Sierra Railroad in and around Jamestown, California and Sonora, California, and the filming was produced by Screen Gems.

In its first season, The Iron Horse outdistanced part of its competition on CBS-TV, Run, Buddy, Run starring Jack Sheldon, which was canceled after sixteen segments.


Len.

Here is a link to a video of the title sequence for "Iron Horse". Always enjoyed the music and shots of Sierra #3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyyaLdKhjRs&feature=related

Also here is a link to my "The Wild Wild West" "Wanderer" page for those who remember both Sierra #3 and Virginia & Truckee's "Inyo" featured in the series:

http://web.me.com/varnishcar

http://petticoat.topcities.com/page1.htm

Quite a bit of info about the show...