Iron Horse
Cast from left: Bob Ransom, Gary Collins and Dale Robertson, 1966.
GenreWestern
Created by
Written by
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composerDominic Frontiere
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes47
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Running time60 mins.
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 12, 1966 (1966-09-12) 
January 6, 1968 (1968-01-06)

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.[1]

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

Season 1: 1966–67

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"A Joy Unconfined"James GoldstoneStephen KandelSeptember 12, 1966 (1966-09-12)
22"A Dynamite Drive"Claudio GuzmánStephen KandelSeptember 19, 1966 (1966-09-19)
33"High Devil"Samuel FullerSamuel FullerSeptember 26, 1966 (1966-09-26)
44"Right of Way Through Paradise"Richard BenedictMort LewisOctober 3, 1966 (1966-10-03)
55"The Pride at the Bottom of the Barrel"Jesse HibbsJohn O'Dea & Arthur RoweOctober 10, 1966 (1966-10-10)
66"Broken Gun"Jesse HibbsJohn O'Dea & Arthur RoweOctober 17, 1966 (1966-10-17)
77"Cougar Man"Robert TottenRobert SabaroffOctober 24, 1966 (1966-10-24)
88"War Cloud"Joseph KaneT: Richard & Esther Shapiro;
S/T: Richard C. Meyer & Norman T. Herman
October 31, 1966 (1966-10-31)
99"No Wedding Bells for Tony"Harmon JonesPeter GermanoNovember 7, 1966 (1966-11-07)
1010"The Man from New Chicago"Samuel FullerMort LewisNovember 14, 1966 (1966-11-14)
1111"Explosion at Waycrossing"Murray GoldenRobert DennisNovember 21, 1966 (1966-11-21)
1212"Through Ticket to Gunsight"Herb WallersteinPreston WoodNovember 28, 1966 (1966-11-28)
1313"Town Full of Fear"László BenedekT: John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe;
S/T: Robert Hamner
December 5, 1966 (1966-12-05)
1414"Big Deal"Earl BellamyBernard Rothman & Norman KlenmanDecember 12, 1966 (1966-12-12)
1515"A Dozen Ways to Kill a Man"Herb WallersteinT: Peter Germano;
S/T: Louis Vittes
December 19, 1966 (1966-12-19)
1616"Hellcat"Samuel FullerStory by: Oliver Crawford
Teleplay by: Samuel Fuller & Oliver Crawford
December 26, 1966 (1966-12-26)
1717"Welcome for the General"Alan Crosland Jr.Sherman YellenJanuary 2, 1967 (1967-01-02)
1818"The Pembrooke Blood"Herb WallersteinRichard & Esther ShapiroJanuary 9, 1967 (1967-01-09)
1919"Volcano Wagon"Samuel FullerKen TreveyJanuary 16, 1967 (1967-01-16)
2020"The Bridge at Forty-Mile"Herb WallersteinThomas W. BlackburnJanuary 23, 1967 (1967-01-23)
2121"Shadow Run"Paul HenreidPeter GermanoJanuary 30, 1967 (1967-01-30)
2222"Banner with a Strange Device"Samuel FullerJohn O'Dea & Arthur RoweFebruary 6, 1967 (1967-02-06)
2323"Appointment with an Epitaph"Herbert HirschmanHarold LivingstonFebruary 13, 1967 (1967-02-13)
2424"The Red Tornado"Samuel FullerWarren DouglasFebruary 20, 1967 (1967-02-20)
2525"Decision at Sundown"Herb WallersteinStephen KandelFebruary 27, 1967 (1967-02-27)
2626"The Passenger"William J. Hole Jr.Irving Cummings & Charles MarionMarch 6, 1967 (1967-03-06)
2727"The Execution"Herbert HirschmanKen KolbMarch 13, 1967 (1967-03-13)
2828"Death by Triangulation"Otto LangLouis VittesMarch 20, 1967 (1967-03-20)
2929"The Golden Web"Herb WallersteinStephen KandelMarch 27, 1967 (1967-03-27)
3030"Sister Death"Herbert HirschmanMann RubinApril 3, 1967 (1967-04-03)

Season 2: 1967–68

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
311"Diablo"Herb WallersteinJeri Emmett & Terence MaplesSeptember 16, 1967 (1967-09-16)
322"Consignment: Betsy the Boiler"Richard C. SarafianBob Duncan & Wanda DuncanSeptember 23, 1967 (1967-09-23)
333"Gallows for Billy Pardew"Gene NelsonBob Duncan & Wanda DuncanSeptember 30, 1967 (1967-09-30)
344"Five Days to Washtiba"Lazlo BenedekMilton S. GelmanOctober 7, 1967 (1967-10-07)
355"The Silver Bullet"Anton LeaderOliver CrawfordOctober 14, 1967 (1967-10-14)
366"Grapes of Grass Valley"Paul HenreidStanley Adams & George F. SlavinOctober 21, 1967 (1967-10-21)
377"Leopards Try, But Leopards Can't"Leo PennJeri Emmett & Norman KatkovOctober 28, 1967 (1967-10-28)
388"The Return of Hode Avery"Gene NelsonHarry KronmanNovember 4, 1967 (1967-11-04)
399"Four Guns to Scalplock"Murray GoldenRobert Leslie BellemNovember 11, 1967 (1967-11-11)
4010"Steel Chain to a Music Box"Charles R. RondeauHerman GrovesNovember 18, 1967 (1967-11-18)
4111"Six Hours to Sky High"Paul HenreidJack HawnNovember 25, 1967 (1967-11-25)
4212"T is for Traitor"Tony LeaderMilton S. GelmanDecember 2, 1967 (1967-12-02)
4313"Dealer's Choice"Herb WallersteinStanley Adams & George F. SlavinDecember 9, 1967 (1967-12-09)
4414"Wild Track"Gene NelsonGilbert RalstonDecember 16, 1967 (1967-12-16)
4515"Death Has Two Faces"Paul HenreidGilbert RalstonDecember 23, 1967 (1967-12-23)
4616"The Prisoners"Leo PennJohn KneubuhlDecember 30, 1967 (1967-12-30)
4717"Dry Run to Glory"Herb WallersteinDonald S. TaitJanuary 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.[2]

References

  1. Jensen, Larry (2018). Hollywood's Railroads: Sierra Railroad. Vol. Two. Sequim, Washington: Cochetopa Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780692064726.
  2. Lambert, David (July 27, 2012). "The Iron Horse - Release Date Revealed by Sony for 'The Complete 1st Season'". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  • The Movie Railroads. Jensen, Larry (1981 - Darwin Publications)


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