Hey, Welcome Back, One And All to Legacies…On The Rails and another review! In this installment, instead of discussing a Railroad Documentary, we’ll be looking at a TV series that debuted six years before I was born but was playing in syndication in my youth so I still got to enjoy it.
It is Petticoat Junction. And while it had a small regular cast, the true star of the show was a steam locomotive called the Hooterville Cannonball. It was an 1897 Sierra #3 train that today is still in operation at the Railtown 1897 State Historical Park in California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooterville_Cannonball
Petticoat Junction ran for 7 Seasons from 9/24/63 to 4/4/70. It was a Filmways Production Produced by Paul Henning. Its predecessor was The Beverly Hillbillies (another favorite show from my youth and there are some crossover episodes.) It also produced a Spinoff called Green Acres.
Many individual episodes and full seasons of Petticoat Junction are available on You Tube under the accounts of : Classic American, GBGP Television, Mister Persuasion and Kevin Allen. Many episodes and full seasons of The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres are also available on You Tube.
My plan was to post some of those videos here as I usually do on the blog. But in going back to get a count of how many blogs I’ve done on here (as it’s the 10th Anniversary of the Legacies…On The Rails blog) I’m noticing many accounts on You Tube that I have shared videos from are no longer active so neither are the videos I shared.
You can find Petticoat Junction video sets on either VHS or DVD on sites like Thrift Books, Walmart and Amazon running anywhere from $6.09 up to $82.99.
The Regular Cast of Petticoat Junction were:
Linda Kaye Henning: Betty Jo Bradley
Bea Benaderet: Kate Bradley
Lori Sanders: Bobbie Jo Bradley
Jeannine Riley: Billie Joe Bradley.
Edgar Buchanan: Uncle Joe Larson
Frank Cady: Sam Drucker
Smiley Burnette: Charley Pratt
Rufe Davis: Floyd Smooth
The premise of the show (that you can tell from the era it initially ran in was during a very Family Friendly time, free of all the highly inappropriate and frankly Godless content of today) was the adventures of Kate Bradley and her family who ran the Shady Rest hotel at the end of a rail line running from the nearby town of Hooterville.
Guests would be brought to and from the hotel by the Hooterville Cannonball train that also offered transportation for Kate and her family anytime they needed to go into Hooterville to go shopping. The train crew were paid by the family in food, as was Sam Drucker who gave them free supplies from the Hooterville General Store.
As always my hope and prayer for you is that a daily relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the central focus of your life. If You have never entered into that relationship, I want to invite you to put aside any doubts or hindrances and receive Him by Faith Alone today. If I can help, you can reach me at fulfillyourministry81@yahoo.com .
And when it comes to Trains and everything that is Railroading, Continue Leaving Legacies…On The Rails! This is a Fulfill Your Ministry Production.
Thanks for joining me and I’ll see you next time!
Legacies...On The Rails!!! 