George Asque, and former Dakotas deputy Jack Elam as Jason Fitch making up the retired rangers. John Henry Lee's aged gang consisted of former Gunsmoke deputy Festus Hagen (Ken Curtis) as Kelly Sutton and Western character actors Royal Dano as Nitro Jones, Gene Evans as Fargo Parker, and Dub Taylor as John Henry's brother Charlie Lee. Angie Dickinson had also appeared in several Western films and shows. Another veteran actor, Kevin McCarthy, made an appearance as the Governor. The Texas Rangers characters originally appeared almost 20 years before in the unsold television pilot and TV-movie broadcast in 1969 on ABC, The Over-the-Hill Gang, which was followed by The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again (the sequel did not feature the Captain Oren Hayes character) starring Walter Brennan as Nash Crawford, Pat O'Brien as Captain Oren Hayes, Chill Wills as Gentleman George Asque, and Edgar Buchanan as Jason Fitch. Elam had the distinction of appearing as the crooked sheriff in the first Over-The-Hill film and then assuming the role once played by Buchanan two decades later in Texas Train. One difference between this film and The Over-the-Hill Gang is that first movie portrayed the Rangers as too old to hold their own, while Texas Train showed they could still hold their own against younger competition. Release Once Upon a Texas Train premiered as a CBS Sunday Movie on CBS on January 3, 1988. The film was the sixth most-watched television program for the week ending January 3, and was also the third-most watched television film of the 1987-88 television season, with 21.2 million viewers. Reception Terry Atkinson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Kennedy "didn't seem to have quite thought out his promising, then faltering, tale. […] But until things go really awry toward the end, Kennedy provides 'Train' with plenty of the same gently satirical humor and authentic big-sky feeling he gave his fine 1969 feature Support Your Local Sheriff! His smoothly professional direction is full of fine touches, enhanced by Ken Lamkin's photography and Warner Leighton's editing." References External links 1988 television films 1988 Western (genre) films 1980s English-language films American Western (genre) television films Films directed by Burt Kennedy Films scored by Arthur B. Rubinstein Films set in Texas Films shot in Arizona Films shot in Nevada