Tag Archives: McCloud River Railroad #25

Stand by Me 1986

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Columbia Pictures

Update 1/11/2024: Many thanks to OregonRailfan who corrected me (see his comments below) on a couple of items.

Yeah, yeah. Four boys coming of age and learning about friendship and all that. The REAL star of this production is McCloud River Railroad #25, a 2-6-2 steam locomotive built by Alco Locomotive Works in 1925, new for the railroad. MCRRR #25 is still with us and currently operates on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.

I was fortunate enough to ride behind her during the SP&S convention at Astoria, Oregon in 2019. I have posted some pictures I took of the 2-6-2 at the end of this review.

What? The film’s main protagonists? Oh, all right. Here’s the boys in no particular order:

#1 Wil Wheaton as Gordie Lachance.

#2 River Phoenix as Chris Chambers.

#3 Corey Feldman as Teddy Duchamp.

#4 Jerry O’Connell as Vern Tessio.

The main menu (seen above) from my DVD, features a locomotive that looks nothing like #25. Any guesses on which engine it might be? Big boiler. A 4-8-4 perhaps?

Singing, “The Ballad of Paladin”, the four Musketeers march down the tracks. This is the ending theme song to the TV series “Have Gun – Will Travel” (1957) starring Richard Boone as Paladin. Songwriter Johnny Western successfully sued Stand by Me’s producers for not securing his permission beforehand.

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Bound For Glory 1976

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United Artists

Four! Count ’em, FOUR steam locomotives star in today’s movie review. Just to whet your appetite, the four steamers are:

  1. Sierra Railroad #3, an 1891 Rogers-built 4-6-0.
  2. Sierra Railroad #28, a 1922 Baldwin-built 2-8-0.
  3. Sierra Railroad #34, a 1925 Baldwin-built 2-8-2.
  4. McCloud River Railroad #25, a 1925 Alco-built 2-6-2.

Today’s feature is a 1930’s biography of folk singer Woody Guthrie (played by David Carradine). Filmmakers really went all-out, pulling 34 obsolete freight cars out of a scrap line and painting over most railroad identification marks.

Train scenes were filmed along the Western Pacific, Tidewater Southern and Sierra Railroads. Let’s jump right in and enjoy THIS TRAIN-laden bio pic.

Electric traction also made a brief appearance in this flick. Woody/David is about to step off Pacific Electric #1058 in Los Angeles on his way to the studio. With a trolley pole reaching for wires that aren’t there, this Red Car had to rely on an internal-combustion engine of some sort.

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