The Sierra Railway served the
West Side Lumber Company mill at
Tuolumne, as well as the Standard (later Pickering) Lumber Company in
Standard, California. The West Side operated an extensive
narrow gauge logging railroad in the
Sierra Nevada range. It operated into the 1960s, and was the last of the narrow-gauge logging railways operating in the American West. The Pickering Lumber Company operated an extensive logging railroad that extended northeast of Standard all the way north to what is now the South Grove of Big Trees State Park. Since 1929, when
The Virginian was filmed with the
Sierra No 3, the Sierra Railway properties have been a major resource to the motion picture industry. Over 200 movies, TV shows, and commercials have featured Railtown and its trains. 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,
3:10 To Yuma (1957) featured #3 in the end of the movie, as well as
Back to the Future Part III. Television programs that regularly used the Sierra property include
Wild, Wild West,
Iron Horse,
Tales of Wells Fargo, and
Petticoat Junction. The
Sierra No. 3 locomotive and Sierra's coach number 5 were the
Hooterville Cannonball. Locomotive No. 3 was also used in numerous episodes of
Little House on the Prairie. The Railtown 1897 State Historic Park was 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, though it did not close. In May 2011, California State Parks announced the closure of Railtown 1897 along with 69 other parks. The closing was anticipated in July 2012, but due to the efforts of locals and enthusiasts, Railtown 1897 remained open and has received funding to make major repairs to the Sierra No. 28, a steam locomotive original to the Sierra Railway and a mainstay of passenger operations for the park. The
California State Railroad Museum (CSRM), headquartered in
Old Sacramento, assumed responsibility for Railtown 1897 State Historic Park on July 1, 1992. ==Operations==