# Iron Horse (TV series)

Iron Horse is an American Western television series that appeared on ABC from 1966 to 1968 and starred Dale Robertson as fictional gambler-turned-railroad baron Ben Calhoun. Costars included Gary Collins, Robert Random and Ellen Burstyn (who was billed as Ellen McRae). The series pilot was released as the film Scalplock.

## Synopsis

The plot centered on Calhoun's poker game-win of the incomplete Buffalo Pass, Scalplock, & Defiance Railroad and his attempts to finish the line despite ever-present obstacles.
A running subplot was Calhoun's frequent and (for TV at that time) flagrant sexual dalliances with his many attractive female guest stars, as well as his steadier on and off arrangement with Julie Parsons, played by Ellen Burstyn. Though he was never shown in bed with any of them, there was little doubt about what was happening between scenes; and marriage was never proposed as a possibility. The second season minimized Calhoun's sexual exploits somewhat, perhaps in response to viewer complaints.
Much of the external footage involving trains was shot on the historic Sierra Railroad in and around Jamestown and Sonora, California.
The filming was produced by Screen Gems.

## Cast
### Guest stars

* Walter Maslow, as Dimas Mott in "Right of Way Through Paradise" (1966)
* Hoyt Axton, as Slash Birney in "Right of Way Through Paradise" (1966)
* Karen Black, as Patricia Dunne in "The Prisoners" (1967)
* Ahna Capri, Angie in "Steel Chain to a Music Box" (1967)
* Pat Conway, formerly Sheriff Clay Hollister on the ABC and then syndicated western, Tombstone Territory.
* Dennis Cross as Jim Vail in "Town Full of Fear"
* Sharon Farrell as Carrie in "The Pembrooke Blood" (1967)
* Celia Kaye as Emily in "Decision at Sundown"
* Don Keefer as Blake and Barbara Stuart as Lil Kane in "Sister Death" (1967)
* Douglas Kennedy, as Adam Preston in "The Bridge at Forty-Mile" (1967), with X Brands as Juanito in the same episode
* John M. Pickard, as Sergeant Terry in "War Cloud" and as Bulwer in "Through Ticket to Gunsight" (both 1966)
* Judson Pratt as Brady in "Wild Track" (1967)
* Mike Ragan as Cantley in "The Prisoners' (1967)
* Arthur Space as Andy in "Gallows for Bill Pardew" (1967)
* Lurene Tuttle as Mrs. Emerson in "Sister Death" (1967)
* Michael Witney as Jared Hobson in "The Execution" (1967)
* Tony Young appeared three times, as Shad in "No Wedding Bells for Tony" (1966), Red Shirt (uncredited) in "Hellcat" (also 1966), and as Tower in "Banner with a Strange Device (1967).

## Episode list
### Pilot: 1966

* Scalplock / April 10, 1966 (1966-04-10)

### Season 1: 1966–67

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "A Joy Unconfined" | James Goldstone | Stephen Kandel | September 12, 1966 (1966-09-12) |
| 2 | 2 | "A Dynamite Drive" | Claudio Guzmán | Stephen Kandel | September 19, 1966 (1966-09-19) |
| 3 | 3 | "High Devil" | Samuel Fuller | Samuel Fuller | September 26, 1966 (1966-09-26) |
| 4 | 4 | "Right of Way Through Paradise" | Richard Benedict | Mort Lewis | October 3, 1966 (1966-10-03) |
| 5 | 5 | "The Pride at the Bottom of the Barrel" | Jesse Hibbs | John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe | October 10, 1966 (1966-10-10) |
| 6 | 6 | "Broken Gun" | Jesse Hibbs | John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe | October 17, 1966 (1966-10-17) |
| 7 | 7 | "Cougar Man" | Robert Totten | Robert Sabaroff | October 24, 1966 (1966-10-24) |
| 8 | 8 | "War Cloud" | Joseph Kane | T : Richard & Esther Shapiro; S/T : Richard C. Meyer & Norman T. Herman | October 31, 1966 (1966-10-31) |
| 9 | 9 | "No Wedding Bells for Tony" | Harmon Jones | Peter Germano | November 7, 1966 (1966-11-07) |
| 10 | 10 | "The Man from New Chicago" | Samuel Fuller | Mort Lewis | November 14, 1966 (1966-11-14) |
| 11 | 11 | "Explosion at Waycrossing" | Murray Golden | Robert Dennis | November 21, 1966 (1966-11-21) |
| 12 | 12 | "Through Ticket to Gunsight" | Herb Wallerstein | Preston Wood | November 28, 1966 (1966-11-28) |
| 13 | 13 | "Town Full of Fear" | László Benedek | T : John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe; S/T : Robert Hamner | December 5, 1966 (1966-12-05) |
| 14 | 14 | "Big Deal" | Earl Bellamy | Bernard Rothman & Norman Klenman | December 12, 1966 (1966-12-12) |
| 15 | 15 | "A Dozen Ways to Kill a Man" | Herb Wallerstein | T : Peter Germano; S/T : Louis Vittes | December 19, 1966 (1966-12-19) |
| 16 | 16 | "Hellcat" | Samuel Fuller | Story by : Oliver Crawford Teleplay by : Samuel Fuller & Oliver Crawford | December 26, 1966 (1966-12-26) |
| 17 | 17 | "Welcome for the General" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Sherman Yellen | January 2, 1967 (1967-01-02) |
| 18 | 18 | "The Pembrooke Blood" | Herb Wallerstein | Richard & Esther Shapiro | January 9, 1967 (1967-01-09) |
| 19 | 19 | "Volcano Wagon" | Samuel Fuller | Ken Trevey | January 16, 1967 (1967-01-16) |
| 20 | 20 | "The Bridge at Forty-Mile" | Herb Wallerstein | Thomas W. Blackburn | January 23, 1967 (1967-01-23) |
| 21 | 21 | "Shadow Run" | Paul Henreid | Peter Germano | January 30, 1967 (1967-01-30) |
| 22 | 22 | "Banner with a Strange Device" | Samuel Fuller | John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe | February 6, 1967 (1967-02-06) |
| 23 | 23 | "Appointment with an Epitaph" | Herbert Hirschman | Harold Livingston | February 13, 1967 (1967-02-13) |
| 24 | 24 | "The Red Tornado" | Samuel Fuller | Warren Douglas | February 20, 1967 (1967-02-20) |
| 25 | 25 | "Decision at Sundown" | Herb Wallerstein | Stephen Kandel | February 27, 1967 (1967-02-27) |
| 26 | 26 | "The Passenger" | William J. Hole Jr. | Irving Cummings & Charles Marion | March 6, 1967 (1967-03-06) |
| 27 | 27 | "The Execution" | Herbert Hirschman | Ken Kolb | March 13, 1967 (1967-03-13) |
| 28 | 28 | "Death by Triangulation" | Otto Lang | Louis Vittes | March 20, 1967 (1967-03-20) |
| 29 | 29 | "The Golden Web" | Herb Wallerstein | Stephen Kandel | March 27, 1967 (1967-03-27) |
| 30 | 30 | "Sister Death" | Herbert Hirschman | Mann Rubin | April 3, 1967 (1967-04-03) |

### Season 2: 1967–68

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 31 | 1 | "Diablo" | Herb Wallerstein | Jeri Emmett & Terence Maples | September 16, 1967 (1967-09-16) |
| 32 | 2 | "Consignment: Betsy the Boiler" | Richard C. Sarafian | Bob Duncan & Wanda Duncan | September 23, 1967 (1967-09-23) |
| 33 | 3 | "Gallows for Billy Pardew" | Gene Nelson | Bob Duncan & Wanda Duncan | September 30, 1967 (1967-09-30) |
| 34 | 4 | "Five Days to Washtiba" | Lazlo Benedek | Milton S. Gelman | October 7, 1967 (1967-10-07) |
| 35 | 5 | "The Silver Bullet" | Anton Leader | Oliver Crawford | October 14, 1967 (1967-10-14) |
| 36 | 6 | "Grapes of Grass Valley" | Paul Henreid | Stanley Adams & George F. Slavin | October 21, 1967 (1967-10-21) |
| 37 | 7 | "Leopards Try, But Leopards Can't" | Leo Penn | Jeri Emmett & Norman Katkov | October 28, 1967 (1967-10-28) |
| 38 | 8 | "The Return of Hode Avery" | Gene Nelson | Harry Kronman | November 4, 1967 (1967-11-04) |
| 39 | 9 | "Four Guns to Scalplock" | Murray Golden | Robert Leslie Bellem | November 11, 1967 (1967-11-11) |
| 40 | 10 | "Steel Chain to a Music Box" | Charles R. Rondeau | Herman Groves | November 18, 1967 (1967-11-18) |
| 41 | 11 | "Six Hours to Sky High" | Paul Henreid | Jack Hawn | November 25, 1967 (1967-11-25) |
| 42 | 12 | "T is for Traitor" | Tony Leader | Milton S. Gelman | December 2, 1967 (1967-12-02) |
| 43 | 13 | "Dealer's Choice" | Herb Wallerstein | Stanley Adams & George F. Slavin | December 9, 1967 (1967-12-09) |
| 44 | 14 | "Wild Track" | Gene Nelson | Gilbert Ralston | December 16, 1967 (1967-12-16) |
| 45 | 15 | "Death Has Two Faces" | Paul Henreid | Gilbert Ralston | December 23, 1967 (1967-12-23) |
| 46 | 16 | "The Prisoners" | Leo Penn | John Kneubuhl | December 30, 1967 (1967-12-30) |
| 47 | 17 | "Dry Run to Glory" | Herb Wallerstein | Donald S. Tait | January 6, 1968 (1968-01-06) |

## Home media

On October 2, 2012 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was due to release the first season of the series on DVD through an online manufacture-on-demand program via Amazon.com and Warner Bros, Archives, but this release has been delayed.