Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday directed staff to prepare to donate the replica train engine to a Colorado historical train group in exchange for a $5,000 donation to fill the hole it will leave on the ground of the Amador County Museum grounds.

The train would be donated to the Durango Railroad Historical Society of Durango, Colorado, whose president, George Niederauer told of the historical significance of the old movie prop. He said the wooden replica was modeled after the Rio Grand Southern Number 20, and the two trains “starred in the 1950 movie, ‘A Ticket to Tomahawk,’” a train film shot in Durango. The San Juan Mountains had films made form 1948-1957 and in 1952, Durango was called the “Hollywood of the Rockies.”

Niederauer said the wooden model, Emma Sweeney, was built for about $30,000. It was sold from a movie studio lot for $1,000 in 1960. County GSA Director John Hopkins said Emma Sweeney was donated to Amador County in 1979.

The train will join the club’s real train a Durango & Rio Grande Number 315 which is restored and fully operational. The Emma Sweeney was modeled for the RGS 20, which is in Pennsylvania and is being restored for the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado.

Amador County Museum Curator Georgia Fox said she read Niederauer’s proposal “and reluctantly agree with it.” But she thought the Durango group should be asked to make a $10,000 donation. She emphasized safety if the Emma Sweeney was removed, and it would leave “an empty nest on the historical ground.”

The $5,000 donation was noted by Niederauer to be made “to the Amador County Historical Society to support placing a more historically relevant object in the pavilion.”

Supervisors directed Hopkins to draft terms and conditions of the donation, including that the Durango organization would pay for removal, and restoration of the grounds and property for any impacts. They also requested a “good faith effort” by the Durango organization to look for a trade item that could be of more significant historical importance to Amador County, especially to Sutter Creek and the Knight Foundry, or possibly related to mining.

Niederauer said he would have to ask his board about a larger donation, and he said he really did not know about foundry or mining history. Supervisor Louis Boitano, a Knight Foundry board member, invited Niederauer to tour the foundry Tuesday afternoon. Boitano said purchase and inventory records at Knight Foundry could show some potential places to look for items. He also had a vintage product catalogue to show examples of the product line.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.