The Railroad: Gunsmoke (September 26, 1952)

“The Railroad” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 26, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A railroad representative and Marshal Matt Dillon arrive at the homestead of Libby Sager to deliver a federal order for her to vacate her land, which lies directly in the right-of-way for a new transcontinental railroad. Libby, a widow who has lived on her property for nearly twenty-five years, refuses to leave despite generous payment offers, and confronts the railroad man with a rifle. Matt dismisses the railroad representative and his deputy Chester to speak with Libby alone about the difficult situation.

Libby Sager's homestead on land needed for a transcontinental railroad right-of-way in the American West

Characters: Marshal Matt Dillon, Libby Sager, Mr. Williams, Chester

Listen for: The tension between progress and individual rights, as the railroad pushes westward and federal authority attempts to remove a stubborn widow from land her late husband staked decades earlier

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.