The Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has quite an IMDB page. As one of Hollywood’s most notable “mechanical stars,” the train and its accompanying infrastructure have appeared in nearly 30 films since 1925. The DSNGRR’s connection to America’s frontier past and its rugged area of operation make it an invaluable asset for capturing the spirit of the Wild West.
Most locals know of the train’s (and the surrounding region’s) appearance in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid filmed in 1968 and released in 1969. Rio Grande Western Engine No. 473 was utilized for the train robbery scenes, while Baker’s Bridge was the site for the pair’s famous cliff jumping escape. But most of the DSNGRR’s Hollywood fame came well before that.
Our region first gained “Silver Screen” notoriety in 1950 with the help of the incomparable Marilyn Monroe (uncredited), Dan Dailey, and Anne Baxter in the film A Ticket to Tomahawk.
This film is credited with having put our region “on the map” for tourism and as a filming location for the extremely popular Western genre. This time, the specific “Metal Star” was the Rio Grande Southern No. 20, decorated as the “Emma Sweeny.”
In 1956, Tinsel Town came calling again to film the star-studded and Oscar-winning movie, Around the World in 80 Days. Locomotive No. 315 was the “Iron Talent” this go around. No. 315 was inoperable at the time and had to be pushed along by a diesel engine disguised as a common, period-correct train car.
Night Passage (1957) was the next movie to ride into town, carrying Western stars like Jimmy Stewart and Audie Murphy. It was filmed entirely on location in Silverton.
No film shot in the region had more stars or earned more subsequent acclaim than 1963’s How the West Was Won. The cast was a “Who’s Who” of Hollywood’s biggest names, including John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, and Lee J. Cobb. The team of directors included John Ford. The film garnered eight Academy Award nominations and won the Oscars for Best Story and Screenplay, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing. The movie, which centered on a family and their descendants over decades as they explored and settled the American Frontier, is considered by some as the precursor to shows like Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone and 1883.
By Justin Travis
