|
A Photo Tour of the Set
past and present
The shots from the show are complimented by photos taken in 2000 on a standard studio tour and on a VIP tour in 2001. Thanks to Carolyn Cassady and Sandy Sagala for many of these. |
Click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version |
Porterville. Where it all began.
Many of the episodes, including the pilot, centre on a small cluster of buildings set round a square at the end of Station Road. Since it is called Porterville in the pilot, I'm sticking with that.
The saloon occupying the corner of Station Road. Conveniently opposite the bank for tunnelling purposes. In the background is the station
from The Pilot
|
Adjoining the saloon is the hotel, seen in so many towns that it must have been the Holiday Inn of the Wild West.
from Fistful of Diamonds
|
The Holiday Inn with neighbouring house
from How to Rob a Bank
|
Looking along the hotel towards the bank
from Everything Else You Can Steal
|
The Bank, with sheriff's office adjoining. Although sometimes the office is the bank.
From The Pilot
|
Looking from the bank, past the hotel and saloon, out of the square towards the station
from Wrong Train to Brimstone
|
And Porterville in 2000
|
Not much has changed in the square, apart from the loss of some pretty trim. The bank is looking good, considering the number of times it was blown up. |
The Holiday Inn today, backed by the Earthquake building, which replaced the earlier castle.
|
Porterville Square
|
The bank today. The new(er) brick building to the left leaves it a little cramped.
|
Looking past the hotel and sadly topless saloon towards the station
|
back to top
Station Road
Guess why I thought of that name. Visit it today and it looks like a
ghost town, abandoned and derelict. Back in 1971, or 1882, whichever
way you want to look at it, it was more lively. It had the only
station ever used in the Wild West
At the Porterville end of the road stands a... well it might be a church but there are plenty of those so I'm calling it the school
from Wrong Train to Brimstone
|
This is a longer shot towards the school, with the Porterville saloon on the left and shops on the right
stock shot
|
From the shops looking down past the saloon
from The Man who broke the Bank at Red Gap
|
A montage shot of the street with the saloon on the right
from The Man who Murdered Himself
|
Behind Station Road stood a castle, presumably not often used for filming Westerns. There's just a glimpse of its crenelations here.
From Something to Get Hung About
|
A glimpse along the road and on the right, in front of Heyes, a cameraman. Oops.
from Something to Get Hung About
|
| |
Various buldings at the other end of the street.
from Everything Else You Can Steal
|
A frequently seen barn, Next to it is the yard from which they rode in Root of It All.
from Wrong Train to Brimstone
|
The station. Two platforms, potentially viewed from two directions, and you have nearly all the stations you could possibly want.
from The Root of It All
|
A view from the station platform, towards one end of the biggest livery stable in the west.
from The Man Who Murdered Himself
|
|
Station Road in 2000
|
Station Road is still there, but sadly neglected and drab, stripped of all its trim and colour. |
Looking down the Road from Porterville
|
Some of the buildings look not just deserted but charred.
|
The station is still there, though rather bleached.
|
A very rusty train can't have been used much since Heyes and Curry last boarded it.
|
back to top
Depot Lane
Turn right at the livery stable at the end of Station Road, and Depot Lane leads down to Montana Square. I call it Depot Lane because it includes the stage depot in Stage Coach 7.
Looking up the road. The hotel at the bottom crops up so often it must be part of the Best Western chain.
a cunning montage
|
Another shot up the lane .
from Smiler with a Gun
|
At the top can be seen this cottage, which was actually next to the station.
from Everything Else You can Steal
|
Opposite the Best Western, with one side facing into Montana Square, stands a frequently used sheriff's office.
from Jailbreak at Junction City
|
Next to the sheriff's office is the stage depot. Just beyond it are the struts and rafters of a building never quite finished.
From The Legacy of Charlie O'Rourke
|
Never finished, maybe because Heyes and Curry were working on it.
from Exit From Wickenburg
|
And in 2000
|
Still there, but the standard tour just gives a glimps down it. On the VIP tour you can wander round it. |
Looking down Depot Lane today, from the end of Station Road
|
Looking up the lane past the sheriff's office and depot.
|
Houses at the top that effectively block a view of the station
|
The side of the livery stable, set back from the depot.
|
back to top
Montana Square
Known by the guides as Six Points Texas, I call it Montana Square because it it the setting for Red Rock Montana in The Day They Hanged Kid Curry. It is, or rather was, a large open space where six roads met, but Universal Studios abhor a vacuum...
The Best Western in all its glory
from The Posse that Wouldn't Quit
|
Between Down Town and Church Road stands the saloon with a useful balcony from which to watch hangings
from Exit from Wickenburg
|
Facing across the square from the top of Church Road was the grand court house of Red Rock Montana
from Miracle at Santa Marta
|
Looking across the square, courthouse in the background. this shot keeps cropping up.
stock shot
|
To the side of the courthouse is a small square.
From Smiler With a Gun
|
Nothing ever happens in the yellow building on the corner of End Row, but it is instantly recognisable in many episodes
from Smiler With a Gun
|
| |
|
Between End Row and Livery Row stood a saloon of many angles - very useful
from McCreedy Bust, Going, Going, Gone.
|
The saloon, and scaffold, separating End Row on the right and Livery Row on the left
from The Day They Hanged Kid Curry
|
|
|
And Six Points Texas in 2000
What have they done with it? No room any more to swing a cat, let alone hang a Kid Curry.
|
The Best Western is still there
|
So is the courthouse, though no longer blue. On the standard tour, you can only see it now from outside the set, looking up past the church
|
The VIP tour allows closer access. This is the yellow house from the series
|
The square beside the courthouse is still there
|
This is a shot across the square from a tour taken by Carolyn in 1986. You won't see it today
|
| |
|
The reason why you can no longer look across Montana Square. Someone has plonked this monstrosity in the middle of it. Why?
|
Tucked behind the monstrosity, the balconied saloon still stands between Down Town and Church Road.
|
|
|
back to top
Downtown
This is the road with substantial brick buildings, leading down towards the lake.
The Best Western on the corner of Down Town
from The Posse That Wouldn't Quit
|
A clearer shot looking down the road
from The Legacy of Charlie O'Rourke
|
|
Halfway down is another hotel, very occasionally used.
from Never Trust an Honest Man
|
You wouldn't realise from watching the show that there was a lake at the end of Down Town. But there was, complete with a river boat that Heyes offered to buy
From Dreadful Sorry, Clemantine
|
And in 2000
Still intact. The tour bus drives up it.
|
Down Town is still there, but the telephone has arrived since Heyes and Curry's day.
|
Looking up towards Montana Square (and the monstrosity)
|
The hotel is on the right.
|
The river boat has gone, possibly sunk by the submarine that has replaced it.
|
back to top
Church Road.
A short road leading to an alarmingly 2 dimensional church
The saloon in Montana Square on the right, and a view of the church
from Something to Get Hung About
|
Looking down to the church from End Row
from Return to Devil's Hole
|
Allegedly, the church can be seen from a pine tree near Hadleyburg.
from The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg
|
|
Only seen from outside on the standard tour, this is from the VIP tour.
|
From outside, there is no escaping it. The church lacks backing.
|
back to top
End Row.
Well it's at the end. It's a street leading out of the set from Montana Square.
| |
From Montana Square, looking down End Row.
from The Day They Hanged Kid Curry
|
Between End Row and Livery Row is an alley, with, apparently, the back wall of a jail
from The Great Shell Game
|
At the far end of End Row is a little low building.
from Stage Coach Seven
|
Or is it a rather grander building? Church? School. Were the two interchangeable, on rollers?
From The Great Shell Game
|
And in 2000
The standard tour doesn't go near it, but the VIP tour does.
|
End Row as seen on the VIP tour.
|
And again, with the little low building...
|
And, next to it, the other one. I remain intrigued.
|
|
back to top
Livery Row
Another road leading from Montana Square, connecting it to the Mexican set, and dominated by the friendliest livery stable in the West (the other end of which faces down Station Road).
A montage shot showing the saloon with interesting angles and the diddy sheriff's office tucked under its arm
from 21 Days to Tenstrike
|
Looking along the row
from The Legacy of Charlie O'Rourke
|
The livery stable on the left. The big blank wall at the end serves a purpose: it blocks out the view of the Mexican Town
from Smiler with a Gun
|
Almost blocks it. You can just see the bell tower of the Mexican church.
from The Legacy of Charlie O'Rourke
|
The railway ran between the livery stable and the shed next door. You can see Kid Curry standing on the tracks
From Something to Get Hung About
|
Looking across the road, next to the Livery stable, you can see a railway carriage just behind the Kid.
from Exit from Wickenburg
|
And in 2000
|
They couldn't possibly get rid of the livery stables. Surprisingly the road is more or less intact. |
Hard to miss the livery stable today.
|
The saloon of many angles and the diddy sheriff's office
|
Looking down Livery Row, you would see across Montana Square, were it not for that monstrosity now blocking the view
|
|
back to top
Hidalgo
The Mexican Set. It's called Hidalgo in the Great Shell Game, though it is also Red Rock Texas, and just about any set that calls for a slightly Latin feel.
Kid Curry enters the square over a low bridge
from The Great Shell Game
|
Looking towards the bridge from the bank
from The McCreedy Bust
|
At least it is a bank in the McCreedy Bust
from The McCreedy Bust
|
A telegraph office and assorted clutter round the square...
from The Great Shell Game
|
Leading to the church.
from The McCready Bust
|
Behind these shacks is the large block shielding the entrance to Livery Row
from The Great Shell Game
|
| |
A jail and a building with a balcony.
from Jailbreak at Junction City
|
A hotel. More of a Travelodge this time
from The McCready Bust
|
Looking out of Hidalgo. The road between the hotel and bank leads eventually to the end of Station Road.
from Miracle at Santo Marta
|
|
From a certain angle you can see out of Hidalgo, straight down Livery Row to Church Road.
from The Reformation of Harry Brisco
|
And in 2000
The skeleton of the old place is still there, though most of the little buildings have been replaced by more substantial versions.
|
The tour enters the Mexican set with a slight pause for a flash flood.
|
Here is the bridge, which crosses the escape route for the flood water.
|
The pillars of the bank
|
Looking towards the church, it seems that the shacks and wine shops have had a bit of a make-over.
|
Leaving the town, the white building in the middle is the back of the bank
|
back to top
Hadleyburg
or it could be Apache Springs. This was a separate rather dilapidated Western set, known as Laramie, destroyed by fire and since replaced with other things, so the tour doesn't go there..
As Heyes and Curry enter the set, you can just glimpse a long line of cncrete and plate glass on the horizon
from Six Strangers at Apache Springs
|
Looking up the street
from Night of the Red Dog
|
And down it.
from Night of the Red Dog
|
More ramshackle buildings
from Six Strangers at Apache Springs
|
This is the hotel in Apache Springs
from Six Strangers at Apache Springs
|
And it is also the courthouse in Hadleyburg
from The Men that Corrupted Hadleyburg
|
back to top
Extras
Some parts of other sets that make occasional appearances in Alias Smith & Jones.
As in the show
|
You have to have a mansion for some scenes
from Never Trust an Honest Man
|
Here it is again, home of a southern gentleman
from Dreadful Sorry, Clemantine
|
The home of Armendariz
from The McCreedy Bust
|
Occasionally they needed another station, Here it's Brimstone, but it was Denver Station in Dreadful Sorry Clemantine
From Wrong Train to Brimstone
|
Shouldn't Miss McNiece be more careful about entering this house.
from Never Trust an Honest Man
|
And in 2000
|
None of them very far from the Western set, but scattered around so you need to keep your eyes peeled if you are on the tour. |
The guides call the mansion Uncle Tom's cabin, strangely
|
Here's the Hacienda as the tour sails by.
|
You might miss the station on the tour, because the guide will be asking you to look the other way at the set of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
|
-
Rumour has it that AS&J was the only show ever filmed
here apart from Psycho.
-
WRONG!
-
It was used in "The Captains and The Kings"
and in"Murder She Wrote"
-
hanks to Steve for this information
|
back to the top
