Paramount Pictures

I first saw High Noon in my “Film as Literature” class at Mercer Island H.S. senior year (Hello, Blaine Dollard!). Loaded with symbolism, this flick has been analyzed to death, but fortunately I’m just interested in the railroad bits — which makes for a more enjoyable review.

Huh? You say it won 10 Academy Awards and is not obscure? Bah! The REAL star of this high-falutin’ oater is Sierra Railroad #3 pulling its coaches past the Hadleyville depot. The rest of that final showdown jazz is mere window dressing.

Well then, let’s enjoy a railfan’s delight as the little 1891 Rogers-built, 4-6-0 trundles into town. Do not forsake me, oh my darling!

Belching an ominous plume of black smoke, Sierra #3 slowly approaches the water tower. This scene, and the one above of the depot, was filmed at Warnerville, California.

The studio constructed the two-story Hadleyville station just for this movie (Hat tip to Larry Jensen’s The Movie Railroads book).

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