advertisement

---

Setting: A 49-mile short line operating between California’s Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada foothills. Scene: A filmmaker gets ready to shoot all or parts of a movie or TV show. Enter stage left: Various actors, extras and a locomotive. Lights! Camera! Cue train!

Since 1919, Oakdale, Calif.-based Sierra Railroad Co. has acted as a setting for more than 300 films, including “High Noon,” “Bound for Glory,” “48 Hours” and “Unforgiven.” Since 1956, the short line also has provided a backdrop for dozens of TV shows, including “The Lone Ranger,” “Lassie,” “Bonanza,” “The Little House on the Prairie” and “The A Team.” The attraction? Location, location, location.

“We’re relatively close to Hollywood and have a wide variety of scenery, from the mountains and foothills, to the wide open plains,” says Chris Hart, president of Sierra Entertainment, a division created six months ago to attract and accommodate film productions, and manage and promote tourist trains.

Forward to the past. Tuolumne County (which includes Oakdale) has the state’s second-most registered actors — trailing only Los Angeles County — because past productions have attracted many local thespians and extras. But it’s been 13 years since Sierra Railroad landed its last major film, “Back to the Future, Part III,” and TV productions have slowed. The reason? Location, location, location.

“It isn’t so much us as Hollywood picking different locations for productions — they’re doing more work in Canada,” says Hart. “We’re trying to re-establish the business because we enjoy it, it’s a part of our history and we want to see it continue.”

Sierra Railroad is generating some revenue from the small- and silver-screen crowd, but Hart isn’t budgeting an annual amount. If anything, the productions — lasting two days to film a few scenes or about 30 days to shoot an entire film — can hamper the short line’s freight operations by delaying trains and tying up rolling stock.

“If it’s a long production, the big issue is where to put equipment because we can’t have a locomotive taken more than two hours away from our base,” says Hart. “We try to pre-plan trains and use sidings to bypass productions.”

But the Tinseltown heritage helps Sierra market its “Movie Railroad” dinner trains, on which actors impersonate some of the movie stars who’ve graced the short line, such as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Groucho Marx and Clint Eastwood. Sierra Railroad also plans to have the Movie Railroad stop at an old theater in Riverbank so passengers can view a movie filmed on the short line.

Plus, the Hollywood connection helps Sierra Railroad focus attention on its tourist trains.

“The best way to draw a crowd is to get a camera out,” says Hart. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in the middle of nowhere, you’ll draw a crowd.”

However, crowds + actors + extras + production crews = safety challenges.

“That’s the reason other railroads aren’t in this business,” says Hart.

To prevent someone from walking in front of a train during filming, Sierra Railroad conducts a safety briefing with all those involved in a production before cameras roll, and assigns an employee who stands next to the director and decides if and when a train can start moving. There haven’t been any recent incidents involving production companies, which provide their own insurance, says Hart.

Sister act. Setting: A 28-mile short line operating between Woodland, Calif., and the Sacramento River Delta. Scene: A filmmaker considers shooting a movie/TV show on Sierra Railroad’s new sister short line.

Enter stage right: An additional opportunity for Sierra Railroad to entice Hollywood.

In June 2003, Sierra Railroad acquired and merged with Yolo Shortline Railroad — whose track extends over different topography and business included an excursion train — prompting the short line to create the entertainment division.

“Now, we also can offer producers such scenery as a wooden trestle, a Sacramento River crossing and farm country,” says Hart.

Cut! Print it!