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Sierra Railway No. 3 is a 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" mixed traffic steam locomotive. No. 3 was built in 1891 by the Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey, for the Prescott & Arizona Central Railway as their No. 3, named "W. N. Kelley" after the company treasurer. In 1893, the P&AC went bankrupt, and No. 3 was out of work. In 1897, the locomotive was moved from Arizona to Oakdale, California, where it resumed service as Sierra Railway No. 3.
Sierra No. 3 operated in freight, passenger, and helper service until 1932, when she was retired and stored near the Jamestown Roundhouse. The locomotive was overhauled and restored to operating condition in 1948 for movie and excursion service. Sierra No. 3 was removed from service in 1996, pending major repairs. Federal regulations regarding the operation of steam locomotives in the United States were updated in the late 1990's, which led to the decision to replace the original Rogers-built boiler on the engine.
Following a large fundraising effort by Railtown 1897 State Historic Park and the California State Railroad Museum Foundation, Sierra No. 3 returned to operation on July 3, 2010.
Sierra No. 3 has been featured in more Movies and T.V. Shows than any other locomotive in motion picture history. The locomotive has been recognized nationally as "The Most Photographed Locomotive in the World", due to its numerous movie appearances.
As of 2023, it is still in operating condition.
Film Appearances[]
Since 1920, it has been used in over 170 films and television series. Below is a short list of movies and television shows featuring the locomotive.
- The Terror, 1920 starring Tom Mix - First confirmed appearance of the locomotive in a motion picture.
- The Virginian, 1929 starring Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. No. 3 was portrayed as Union Pacific Railroad No. 3.
- The Texan, 1930 starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray.
- Sierra Passage, 1950, starring Wayne Morris and Lola Albright
- Wyoming Mail, 1950, starring Stephen McNally, Howard Da Silva and Ed Begley, No. 3 stars as Union Pacific Railroad No. 3 again. Sierra Railway No. 18 also starred in the film.
- High Noon, 1952, starring Gary Cooper, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role. The film won three additional Academy Awards.
- The Cimarron Kid, 1952, starring Audie Murphy and James Best
- Kansas Pacific, 1953, starring Sterling Hayden and Eve Miller, it was portrayed as Kansas Pacific Railroad No. 3.
- The Moonlighter, 1953, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Ward Bond
- Apache, 1954, starring Burt Lancaster, Jean Peters and Charles Bronson
- Rage at Dawn, 1955, starring Randolph Scott and Forrest Tucker. it was portrayed as Ohio & Mississippi Railroad No. 3.
- The Return of Jack Slade, 1955, starring John Ericson, Neville Brand and Angie Dickinson
- Texas Lady, 1955, starring Claudette Colbert and Barry Sullivan
- The Big Land, 1957, starring Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo and Edmund O'Brien
- Terror in Texas , 1958, written under another name by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, and starring Sterling Hayden and Sebastian Cabot
- The Man of the West, 1958, starring Gary Cooper, Julie London and Lee J. Cobb. it was portrayed as Fort Worth & Chihuahua Railroad No. 3.
- The Face of a Fugitive, 1959, starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Green and James Coburn
- The Outrage, 1964, a remake of Rashomon as a western, starring Edward G. Robinson, Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom and William Shatner.
- The Great Chase , 1965, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood
- The Rare Breed, 1966, starring James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith
- The Perils of Pauline, 1967, starring Pat Boone and Terry-Thomas
- Finian's Rainbow, 1968, starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark
- A Man Called Gannon, 1968, starring Tony Franciosa and Michael Sarrazin
- The Great Bank Robbery, 1969, starring Zero Mostel and Kim Novak, portrayed as South-Western Texas Railroad No. 98.
- Joe Hill, 1971, a biopic about the IWW activist Joe Hill, starring Thommy Berggren. The film won the Jury Prize at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.
- The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, 1972, starring Cliff Robertson and Robert Duvall
- Oklahoma Crude, 1973, starring George C. Scott and Faye Dunaway
- Nickelodeon, 1976, starring Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds and Tatum O'Neal
- Bound for Glory, 1976, a biopic of Woody Guthrie, starring David Carradine and Randy Quaid. This was the first major film to use the Steadicam, and Haskell Wexler won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for the film, and the film also won another Academy Award. The locomotive was painted up as AT&SF No. 349. Sierra Railroad No. 34 and No. 28 also starred in the film as Texas & Pacific No. 1496 and No. 3582 respectively.
- The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, 1979, starring Tim Conway and Don Knotts. it was portrayed as Sierra Railroad No. 8. Interesting fact was there was no locomotive on the Sierra's roster that had that number.
- The Long Riders, 1980, starring teams of brothers including James Keach and Stacy Keach, David Carradine and Keith Carradine, and Dennis Quaid and Randy Quaid. Portrayed as Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific No. 3.
- Blood Red, 1986, starring Eric Roberts, Giancarlo Giannini, Dennis Hopper and Julia Roberts in her acting debut.
- Back to the Future Part III, 1990, starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Mary Steenburgen. No. 3, in its most synonymous role, was portrayed as Central Pacific Railroad No. 131.
- Unforgiven, 1992, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Eastwood and Gene Hackman and winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Director and two other Academy Awards
- Bad Girls, 1994, starring Drew Barrymore, Andie MacDowell, Madeleine Stowe and Mary Stuart Masterson.
- The Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day, 1996, starring Peter Alexander. No. 3 was portrayed as Yosemite Valley Railroad No. 27.
#3 also starred in several TV Shows. The list follows:
- "The Lone Ranger, 1956, starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels.
- Tales of Wells Fargo, 1957, starring Dale Robertson and William Demarest
- Casey Jones, 1958, starring Alan Hale, Jr., it was portrayed as Midwest & Central Railroad No. 1.
- Rawhide, 1959-1966, starring Clint Eastwood and Eric Fleming. Shown in the episode "Incident on the Road Back", 1961, painted up as C. M. & W. R. R. No. 3.
- Overland Trail, 1960, starring William Bendix and Doug McClure.
- Lassie, 1961–1962, starring Jon Provost, June Lockhart and Hugh Reilly.
- Death Valley Days, 1962–1965, starring Ronald Reagan.
- The Raiders, 1963 TV movie, starring Brian Keith and Robert Culp.
- The Rifleman, 1963 starring Chuck Connors. Shown in the episode "The Sixteenth Cousin", 1963.
- Petticoat Junction, 1963–1970, starring Bea Benaderet, Edgar Buchanan and Linda Kaye Henning. it was portrayed as C&FW Railroad No. 3 (later renumbered to 8), the Hooterville Cannonball.
- The Wild Wild West, 1964, starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin. Pilot episode only. No. 3 was renumbered to 5. But there had been some re-used scenes of the locomotive itself in the show.
- The Big Valley, 1964–1966, starring Barbara Stanwyck.
- The Legend of Jesse James, 1965–1966, starring Christopher Jones and Allen Case.
- Scalplock, 1966 TV movie, starring Dale Robertson and Diana Hyland.
- The Iron Horse, 1966-1968, starring Dale Robertson & Gary Owens. it was portrayed as Buffalo Pass, Scalplock, & Defiance Railroad No. 3.
- Cimarron Strip, 1967, starring Stuart Whitman and Jill Townsend.
- Dundee and the Culhane, 1967, starring John Mills.
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E., 1967, starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum.
- Ballad of the Iron Horse, 1967 documentary by John H. Secondari.
- Gunsmoke, 1971, starring James Arness, Amanda Blake and Milburn Stone. In the episode Gold Train: The Bullet parts 1 - 3, it is portrayed as Burlington Northern Railroad No. 8.
- Bonanza, 1972, starring Lorne Greene and Michael Landon.
- The Great Man's Whiskers, 1972 TV movie, starring Dean Jones, Ann Sothern and Dennis Weaver, telling the story of why Abraham Lincoln grew his beard.
- Inventing of America, 1975 documentary by James Burke and Raymond Burr.
- Little House on the Prairie, 1975–1983, starring Michael Landon, Karen Grassle and Melissa Gilbert.
- Law of the Land, 1976 TV movie starring James Davis and Don Johnson.
- A Woman Called Tom , a 1978 biopic miniseries about Harriet Tubman, starring Cicely Tyson.
- Lacy the Mississippi Queen, 1978 TV movie, starring Kathleen Lloyd and Debra Feuer.
- Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid, 1978 TV movie, starring Suzanne Pleshette.
- The Night Rider, 1979 TV movie, starring David Selby, Pernell Roberts and Kim Cattrall.
- The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang, 1979 TV movie, starring Randy Quaid, Cliff Potts and Larry Wilcox
- Belle Starr, 1980 TV movie, starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Cliff Potts.
- Father Murphy, 1981, starring Merlin Olsen, Katherine Cannon and Moses Gunn.
- The A-Team, 1984, starring George Peppard and Mr. T., No. 3 was in the episode "When are you comin' back Range Rider?"
- Bonanza: The Next Generation, 1988 TV movie, starring Michael Landon, Jr. and John Ireland.
- The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., 1993, starring Bruce Campbell.
Trivia[]
- The audio of the engine’s third whistle was used for the whistle of the locomotive, which is done by Skywalker Sound sound designer of the movie, Randy Thom. (modeled on Pere Marquette No. 1225) in the 2004 Christmas Holiday film The Polar Express, starring Tom Hanks. And it’s also used on Disney’s The BFG and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans.
- In addition the third whistle was also heard in the film "Stand By Me".
- The second whistle was used for the Wild West train in "The Lego Movie", and the Super Mario 3D World (and its port on the Nintendo Switch) and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker video games and the first whistle was used for the train in the episode "Babysitting Blues" from Disney’s "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" animated series & in the episode "Back To The Klondyke" From Disney's classic 1987 "Ducktales" animated series.
- In May 1991, No. 3 paid a visit to Sacramento to take part in Railfair '91, an event which celebrated the tenth anniversary of the grand opening of the California State Railroad Museum.
- In 2019, the locomotive is back to wearing a balloon stack for the first time in 30 years. It usually wears a straight stack.
- The locomotive returned to operation in July 2010 after a fourteen-year absence from service and a three-year-long overhaul, requiring the replacement of its original boiler.