NBC Television

Dum-de-la-dum de-la-dum de-la-dum de-la-DAH-DAAAAHH! Ahh…that catchy theme song…which is about all I remember of this long-running TV show. Westerns just weren’t my thing, back then.

BUT – present day, there it is on YouTube (link below), albeit a rather fuzzy episode capture. But what do ya expect for free, huh? ;p Sierra Railroad #3, an 1891 Rogers 4-6-0 stars as “Virginia & Truckee #3″ pulling Sierra’s “shorty” coach #6, and a wooden boxcar with “MW24” reporting marks.

There is only one, seven minute train scene in this Season 14 Episode 9 feature, but it’s a doozy, with Little Joe (played by Michael Landon) racing his gift horse from Ben (played by Lorne Greene) alongside a speeding train. And, no, he didn’t look his gift horse in the mouth (groan).

Giddy-up!

The only down side to the train scene is almost the entire thing was filmed back-lit. SO. We’ll start things off with a couple artsy-fartsy close ups of our favorite ten-wheeler.

The cameraman zooms in on Sierra #3’s steel cowcatcher and profile up to the middle of the boiler. Nice, underside view of the flames from her firebox, though.

See the guy in the orange shirt? He’s gonna take us on a tour of today’s train from back to front.

Bringing up the markers is a freshly-painted, wood boxcar MW24. Note the ramp leading to its center door. This particular car would appear later on several “Little House On The Prairie” episodes.

Next is Sierra “shorty” coach #6. Hey, that looks like the water tower used for Petticoat Junction! Finally, a going-away shot of the “movie star locomotive” as Little Joe and Ben canter alongside.

Ben and Little Joe come past the “Virginia & Truckee” coach #6 and up to the boxcar ramp. Surprise! It’s a beautiful black stallion delivered by rail and gifted to Joe. Finally, how about those SIDEBURNS on Greene and Landon? So very 1972.

Joe just HAS to take it for a spin right away. Ben follows, towing Joe’s now-forsaken Pinto. No. Not THAT Pinto….

The conductor lifts the step box as a local asks about jobs on the railroad. As the train boss waves a highball, he suggests any of the nearby ranches (like the Bonanza) for employment.

Flying white extra flags, V&T #3 rounds a curve sporting a fake balloon stack. Note the fireman standing on the tender.

Little Joe exchanges pleasantries with the engineer and the race is on!

Coming up on the outside, it’s Little Joe at the clubhouse turn… The engineer blasts a crossing signal on the locomotives’ one-note “hooter”. (these things usually travel in pairs)

All that wood is just for show. Sierra #3 is an oil-burner. If you watch the video carefully, the fireman never actually puts the wood in the firebox.

The onboard passengers are getting into the spirit of the race; Nice head-on shot of #3; Over-exposed backlit shot of the train; From the cab, Michael Landon’s stunt double has the stallion at full gallop.

A couple very nice pacing shots of horseflesh and iron horse.

The big train finale is man and horse leaping across the tracks just ahead of the speeding train. Damn, hot-roddin’ kids! This ends our train scenes (and review) at the 10 minute mark.

If you’d like to watch it yourself, the link is here:

That is, if it’s still on YouTube…

Here’s what IMDb has to say about Bonanza – Stallion:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0529662/

If you have ANY information about this movie you’d like to share, please contact me at: Lindsay.Korst@gmail.com, or leave a comment.  Thanks and enjoy the blog!

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