Sierra Railway 3

The **Sierra Railway 3** (Also known as **Central Pacific 131** or **Pro-Tom III**), often called the "**Movie Star locomotive**", is a 19th-century steam locomotive owned by the State of California and preserved at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. Former Transportation History curator at the Smithsonian Institution William L. Withhuhn described the locomotive's historical and cultural significance:

Built in 1891, the locomotive returned to operation in July 2010 after a fourteen-year absence from service and a three-year-long overhaul, requiring the replacement of its original boiler.

## History

No. 3 is a 4-6-0 ten-wheeler built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey. Construction of the locomotive was completed on March 26, 1891, and was given Rogers construction number 4493. It has 17 in × 24 in (43 cm × 61 cm) cylinders, 56-inch (140 cm) driving wheels and weighs 50 short tons (45 t) in working order. It was built for the Prescott & Arizona Central Railway (P&AC) as their locomotive #3 and named *W.N. Kelley* after the company's treasurer.

The P&AC went bankrupt in 1893 and its owner, Thomas S. Bullock, relocated to California bringing much of his railroad equipment, including the No. 3. He then entered into a partnership with Prince André Poniatowski and William H. Crocker, and together in 1897 they incorporated the Sierra Railway Company of California to connect Oakdale, California with the timber producing regions of Tuolumne County and Calaveras County.

The locomotive became Sierra No. 3 (dropping the *W. N. Kelley* name) and played a key role in the construction of the railroad to Jamestown, California in 1897, Sonora, California in 1899 and Tuolumne, California in 1900. It was the primary locomotive pulling freight trains on the railroad until 1906, when the Sierra Railway purchased a new Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-8-0 locomotive. It played a significant role in logging, mining and dam building operations in the Sierra foothills.

Originally built to burn coal, the locomotive was converted to burn oil sometime between 1900 and 1902.

Sierra No. 3 was involved in several wrecks. In February 1898, a switch mishap killed conductor William G. Bailey. In September 1899, its tender derailed while backing up on a trestle, causing it to collapse.

The locomotive turned on its side in 1918 just above Sonora, destroying its original wooden cab, which was replaced with a new Southern Pacific style cab made out of steel in February 1919. Two years later, Sierra No. 3 made her first known Hollywood film appearance, in a silent film *The Terror* starring Tom Mix.

During the Great Depression, the Sierra Railway went into bankruptcy, and was reorganized as the Sierra Railroad Company in 1937. Sierra No. 3 was taken out of service in 1932, and sat on a siding in the Jamestown yard for 15 years. It managed to avoid being scrapped during World War II, and again received attention from Hollywood in 1946, when David O. Selznick, the producer of *Duel in the Sun* being filmed on the Sierra Railroad, proposed to destroy her in a train wreck scene for the movie. The Sierra Railroad's Master Mechanic Bill Tremewan persuaded the railroad ownership not to consider a notion so "ridiculous", and instead shop crews restored the locomotive to operation for potential charter and movie service.

Inspection of the boiler proved it was in serviceable condition, however the resulting work required a reduction of the Maximum Allowable Working Pressure from 160 to 150 psi (1.10 to 1.03 MPa). The rebuild was completed in 1948, and the locomotive officially returned to service heading a Railway and Locomotive Historical Society sponsored excursion train on May 30. Over the next half-century, Sierra No. 3 pulled tourist excursion trains and appeared in dozens of films, TV shows, and commercials. Among them were *High Noon* in 1952, for which Gary Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and *Unforgiven*, starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1992.

The locomotive was often redecorated for various movie and television appearances, one of its most famous roles being the *Hooterville Cannonball* from the mid-1960s series *Petticoat Junction*. False smokestacks were also often installed to alter the appearance of the locomotive.

In 1979, Crocker and Associates announced their intention to sell their interest in the railroad to Silverfoot, Inc. based in Chicago, but the deal did not include the locomotive facilities in Jamestown. The complex, including Sierra No. 3, was acquired by the State of California as a result of legislation passed in April 1981, and signed by Governor Jerry Brown. The acquisition was completed on September 15, 1982, and since then, the locomotive has been the property of the State of California. In May 1991, No. 3 paid a visit to Sacramento to take part in *Railfair '91*, an event which celebrated the tenth anniversary of the grand opening of the California State Railroad Museum.

In 1995, the Federal Railroad Administration issued new safety standards for steam locomotive boilers. In order to comply with these revised regulations, Sierra No. 3 was removed from service until a complete evaluation of the locomotive's condition could be made.

## Clone High Franchise

In the Clone High franchise, No. 3 is now called **Pro-Tom III**, it only appears in the series and online videos, like Loco Motive, Railroaders at War and Clone High Train Loop.

## Appearances

### Online Video

1. Clone High Train Loop
2. Railroaders at War
3. Clone High Train Museum

## Livery

Pro-Tom III is painted black with grayish-brown, gray, gold details and white outlines, numbers and texts on the cab and the tender.

## Trivia

* The locomotive only makes a cameo in the series
* The locomotive shares the same whistle as Puffa from the 1989 television show, TUGS.