How the historic Reno became the "Sweetheart of Old Tucson"

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Steam locomotives played a major role in westward expansion. One of those locomotives, the Reno, found a second life after the west was won.

The Reno starred in over 100 films and TV shows, many of them at Old Tucson Studios during the 1980s and 1990s — the height of filmmaking in Tucson.

Old Tucson Studios

"She was definitely the sweetheart of Old Tucson," said Old Tucson Historian P.J. Lawton.

Lawton remembers well the first time he saw the Reno at Old Tucson in the early 1970s, when he was working set security.

"They had her steamed up and I was just fascinated by it," recalled Lawton.

The Reno was a fixture in major motion pictures as well as a major attraction at Old Tucson western theme park.

"It's just a part of Tucson and Old Tucson," said Carolyn Shelton.

Carolyn is the widow of Bob Shelton, the man responsible for developing Old Tucson and for bringing the Reno to Tucson.

To truly appreciate the Reno, you have to go back to the beginning.

In May of 1872, the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia built the No. 11 Reno for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. The cost $12,500.

The steam engine operated in Virginia City, Nevada for the next 66 years, before Paramount Pictures began using the Reno in movies.

She was sold to MGM for $5,000 in 1945. The Reno starred in dozens of movies and TV shows until MGM studios ran into financial troubles in 1970.

That's when Bob Shelton stepped in.

"'You will never believe I bought the whole train'," Carolyn Shelton remembered her late husband telling her.

Without telling his bank, Bob Shelton purchased the Reno and several train cars for $50,000. He wisely sold off the train cars to cover the cost of the Reno.

PJ Lawton

"That was Bob," said Carolyn. "He had a vision, he had a plan and he was going to do it anyways. So let's do it. And it worked out well."

By fall of 1970, the Reno became a focal point of Old Tucson Studios both on screen and as a tourist attraction within the theme park.

"She'd done over a hundred movies and TV programs," Lawton said. "She's just an iconic thing for Old Tucson."

In 1983, Old Tucson celebrated the No. 11 Reno's 111th birthday with a party and a trip around the Wild West Park. But that was nothing compared to the trip the Reno took in the fall of 1988.

Old Tucson Studios

"How many trains get sent to Switzerland, after all," Carolyn Shelton said.

The Reno went by ship to Europe.

The Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne paid Bob Shelton $10,000 to put the historic locomotive on display for a train show. Visitors came to see the major motion picture star.

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By the end of 1988, the Reno was back home at Old Tucson.

Seven years later, on April 24, 1995, fire broke out at Old Tucson destroying the soundstage, and the Reno.

Bob Shelton could only watch from a distance.

"He could see the fire from his house and he said you know I thought of all the buildings but I thought of the Reno," remembered Carolyn Shelton. "That's all I could think of. I mean those were his words. Just devastating."

"When I saw her, my heart dropped," recalled Lawton.

The image of the Reno is one Carolyn says she'll never forget.

"She's still there. She's on fire but she's still there."

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The Reno was cosmetically restored, but never moved under her own power again.

She starred in several more movies until Old Tucson closed during the pandemic.

As Pima County searched for a new operator, the Reno was purchased by Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company and made the trip back to her original home in Virginia City, Nevada.

They have plans to fully restore the Reno.

"It's where she belongs," said Carolyn. "We're very much a peace with that."

"On one hand it's a shame," Lawton said. "On the other hand I'm happy about it because they're going to rebuild her from the tracks up and get her back under steam."

Gone from Old Tucson, but not forgotten.

"She's going to go on forever," Carolyn said.

The Reno remains Absolutely Arizona.