This big-budget film adaptation of the TV series was going to be Disney's follow-up franchise to Pirates of the Caribbean, however when it tanked at the box office all we were left with was this one film. Starring Armie Hammer as John Reid (The Lone Ranger) Johnny Depp as Tonto, the action-packed film directed by Gore Verbinski (who also directed the first Pirates) features some amazing over-the-top (albeit heavily-CGI'ed) action sequences. Filming took place all over the southwestern USA. 

Trains feature heavily in the movie since the main villain Latham Cole (Tom Wilkinson) is a railroad magnate intent on conquering the west. When we're first introduced to John, he is riding on a passenger train pulled by "Transcontinental Railroad #29" - a 4-6-0 ten-wheeler which was built by Mason Machine Works in Taunton, MA specifically for the film. Many (if not all) of the passenger coaches were also replicas built just for the film due to the abuse they were going to take in the stunt sequences. The engine was actually diesel-powered but could generate smoke and steam to appear fully-fuctional. 

We are treated to some spectacular Monument Valley scenery (added digitally) and a classic western train heist as mean baddie Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) breaks free of captivity (with the help of his gang) from John's lawman brother Dan (James Badge Dale). John and Tonto are thrown into the mix as the train reaches the end of the line and blows through the construction crew. The film crew constructed a giant rail loop for train scenes along with the entire western town of "Colby" for the film in the middle of the desert west of Albuquerque, NM. Nothing remains today. 

GPS Coordinates: 35.143112,-106.937887

When we next see a train in the film it is Cole's personal train - led by "Transcontinental RR #148," which is just the same engine we saw before but repainted & renumbered. This time it's been given a name too: "The Constitution."

This one features heavily in the rest of the film, as we see some nice (digital) traveling shots, and the real deal arriving at the site of a tunneling project through the mountains. These scenes were filmed among real mining ruins in Willow Creek Canyon north of Creede, CO where another massive set was built and track was re-laid on an actual former Denver & Rio Grande line. 

The final confrontation of the film takes place at a recreation of the Golden Spike Ceremony, filmed at the Colby townsite built outside Albuquerque. Here we see the "Constitution" once again and a replica of the famous 4-4-0, Central Pacific #60 "Jupiter." This was also a replica locomotive built specifically for the film. 

As Tonto and the Lone Ranger hijack the Constitution, Cole and his baddies give chase in the Jupiter in a cartoonishly over-the-top but unfailingly exciting chase sequence that lasts almost the entire rest of the film. These scenes were shot on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad around South Fork, CO (although HEAVILY supplemented with CGI). 

Although things don't work out too well for Cole and the Jupiter, our heroes and the Constitution are seen once again at the Colby townsite at the end of the film. 

Now...what happened to everything after filming, right?

After making the rounds on the movie's press tour, the two replica locomotives and cars were given to the Fillmore & Western Railway in Fillmore, CA where they sat in the elements for years. They were dressed up and used for commercials and other shows including Westworld. In the above photos, I just happened to catch the Jupiter and one of the film's coaches behind a fenced-off storage yard in Fillmore in 2020 (I didn't know at the time what they were but knew they looked out of place). 

In 2021, the Fillmore & Western ceased operations when their lease ran up and sold off the Jupiter and one of the cars to the Volo Museum in Volo, IL where it is on display today. They also sold or auctioned off many of their movie props and railroad equipment, including items from this movie. The railroad has since been bought out by Sierra Northern, which will hopefully bring back operations soon and put some of the remaining items on public display.