For the original 1960s television series "The Wild Wild West", CBS Studios used the Virginia and Truckee locomotive No. 22 "Inyo" (a 4-4-0) and V&T cars owned at the time by Paramount Studios. Express Car No. 21 served as Lab Car and Coach No. 3 or 4 portrayed the Palace Car. They are now on display at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, Nevada. Stars Robert Conrad and Ross Martin appeared with the train on location in the episode "Night of the Double-Edged Knife", shot on Sante Fe's San Jacinto branch near Romoland, California. Various scenes were filmed with the crew off-loading West's and Gordon's horses from the stable car- and it is the only episode that featured Orrin Cobb, the engineer of "Wanderer".The engine was numbered "8" to make it easier to use reverse shots as stock footage in future episodes of the series- a trick that has been used more than once as "movie magic". The train was also shot with special filters on the camera lenses to simulate night for various scenes to be used in later episodes.
The pilot episode featured shots of Sierra Railroad No. 3 (a 4-6-0) and was filmed in Jamestown, California with Combine Car No.5 and Coach No. 2. This train also bore the name "Wanderer" for the filming. Interestingly, there are more than a few episodes where stock footage of BOTH trains was edited in, sometimes in consecutive shots!
No. 3 was also an old veteran of many films and TV shows. In the 1960s, it was also being featured on the TV shows "Petticoat Junction", "Iron Horse", "Cimmaron Strip", "The Big Valley" and "Gunsmoke" at the same time it appeared on "The Wild Wild West"!
The interiors of the cars were created at CBS Studio City on a soundstage, and were designed by Art Director Albert Heschong, with Set Decoration by Raymond Molyneaux. The studio interior set, which included a parlor, galley, gun room/laboratory and bedroom reportedly cost $35,000.00 to build (in 1965). Secret gadgets included a swiveling billiard table that featured billiard balls that emitted gas and exploded, decorative mounted pistols that could aim and fire via hidden foot pedals, a gun rack that slid down from the ceiling behind the carrier pigeon coops (the eggs were really bombs), and a 75-mm. cannon that was hidden aboard the train (never seen in the show). For the opening of the show's second season in 1966, the interior was redesigned to include a larger parlor area with double velvet settees, a desk with a set of trick books that concealed the telegraph set, and a large fireplace that provided a quick escape hatch for West and Gordon. The interior finishes were changed from a deep mahogany wood color with gold-tone inlays and trims to a lighter blonde-toned woodwork with embossed leather wall panels, accented with gilt trims. A new set to represent the Lab/Stable Car was also created. The bedroom was never shown on the series, although corridor shots of the interior set show a series of doors, one which probably led into the stateroom.
For the TV Movies "Wild Wild West Revisited" and "More Wild Wild West". Exterior filming of the train was shot at Old Tucson, Arizona using ex-Virginia and Truckee locomotive No. 11 "Reno" with V&T Baggage Car No. 1 and an ex-Central Pacific Coach.
To portray James West's and Artemus Gordon's private train in the 1999 film production "Wild Wild West", Warner Brothers arranged with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum to rent the locomotive "William Mason" No. 25 from their historic collection. The engine (a 4-4-0 American) was built by Mason Locomotive Works in 1856 and is currently the oldest operating steam locomotive in the United States. Previous film appearances include its portrayal of the historic Civil War engine "General" in "The Great Locomotive Chase". It was restored to operating condition in the shops of the Strasburg Railroad in the spring of 1998 and shipped to Sante Fe, New Mexico for filming on location. It was returned to the museum in the fall of 1998 and was under steam in Baltimore, Maryland in April and September of 1999 still wearing its movie livery name "Wanderer".
The two cars of West and Gordon's Train were constructed especially for the movie. Total cost was reportedly 1.5 million dollars. Production Designer was Bo Welch, with Art Direction by Tom Duffield and Set Decoration by Cheryl Carasik. For the interior shots the cars were assembled on gimbals on a Warner Brothers soundstage with a blue screen backing up the windows for visual effects to be added in later. The sets were then disassembled and remounted on real railroad flat cars for use with the "Wanderer" on location in New Mexico. Extensive filming was done there with stars Will Smith and Kevin Kline. Later the train was shipped to Idaho for exterior filming with the second unit on the Grangeville Line of the Camas Prairie Railroad.
The "Wanderer" is loaded with secret weapons and devices as well as a laboratory for Artemus Gordon's experiments, inventions and wardrobe of disguises. Spinning pool tables and armchairs that disappear into the car's floor, hidden weapons racks and lamps concealing Gatling Guns are only some of the gadgets reported to be in "Wanderer"'s arsenal; all designed by Artemus Gordon.
The interiors were carefully crafted to recreate the splendor of the Palace Cars of the era. Designer Welch, Art Director Duffield and Decorator Carasik used the interior of George Pullman's own private car "Monitor" as a reference. Rich mahogany and other rare woods, beveled mirrors and custom woven carpets. fringes and fabrics all created an opulent atmosphere fit for a 19th century millionaire.
The Palace Car features a parlor with banquette dining area and piano-bar, a galley for cooking, stateroom for sleeping quarters and a water closet with sink and commode.The Gramophone conceals the Telegraph Apparatus, and pulling one of the pool cues in the rack provides access to the Winch for the Trans-Carriage Egressor. The Laboratory Car contains an extensive workshop-lab, a wardrobe room as well as a stable compartment equipped with horse stalls and storage for Gordon's "Nitro-Cycle".
Two other trains were also used on location on the film. The ex-Virginia and Truckee locomotives No. 11 "Reno" (a 4-4-0 from Old Tucson), portraying Union Pacific No. 119, and No. 21 "J.W. Bowker" (a 2-4-0 from the California State Railroad Museum), as Central Pacific "Jupiter", were paired with cars from the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania. Jim Clark served as Train Coordinator for the production, arranging for rail equipment and its transportation to various film locations.
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