Durango Colorado USA - Locomotive "Emma Sweeney", star from the 1950 movie "A Ticket to Tomahawk," is preparing to return to Durango after a 62 year absence.
 
The Emma Sweeney was the first full-size wooden locomotive ever made for a movie, and "A Ticket to Tomahawk" was the third movie filmed in the San Juan Mountains that featured the Durango to Silverton railroad, George Neiderhauer, president of the Durango Railroad Historical Society, said.
 
The movie, set in the late 1800s, includes Marilyn Monroe as a showgirl.
 
"This movie kicked off a surge of ridership that has made the Durango to Silverton railroad to be what we know today," Neiderhauer said.
 
The film was shot during the summer of 1949 with scenes filmed in and around Silverton and Durango.
 
Neiderhauer is in California preparing the train for the journey to Durango from Jackson, California, where the Sweeney has been since 1980.
 
Re-attaining the Sweeney model has been a process, Neiderhauer said, but the Amador County Historical Society agreed in December 2010 that the train belonged in Durango, where it has more historical significance.
 
The train is scheduled to arrive in Durango by Monday.
 
Upon its return, the Sweeney will be displayed at Santa Rita Park in the locomotive pavilion.
 
A full restoration of the Sweeney will begin in the summer, the wood of the locomotive needs to acclimate to the local climate before work on the model will begin, Neiderhauer said.
 
The Sweeney will be restored to its original form, that of the Rio Grande Southern No. 20 it appeared as in the 1950 film.
 
"It was a nearly exact replica of the RGS 20, so good it could fool experts," Neiderhauer said.
 
Much needs to be done to accomplish the restoration.
 
The wood on the model will need to be restored entirely, and more than 80 parts need to be reproduced, he said.
 
The Durango Railroad Historical Society will depend on volunteer labour for much of the work, and volunteers on the restoration are still needed.
 
"Almost everything is done with volunteer work. We look to Bayfield, Durango High School, and 4H members for volunteer woodwork, but the need for community volunteers is always there," Neiderhauer said.
 
Paige Blankenbuehler.