Uncle Joe, when he is not idling in his favorite porch chair, frequently comes up with half-baked get-rich-quick schemes and ill-conceived hotel promotions which end up with him making a fool of himself.

Early on, much of the show also focuses on the Hooterville Cannonball, an 1890s vintage steam-driven train run more like a taxi service by railroad engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis).

It was not uncommon for the Cannonball to make an unscheduled stop for the crew to go fishing, or to pick fruit for Kate's apple butter and pies.

The single-tracked Hooterville to Pixley spur line was cut off from the rest of the railroad 20 years before the start of the show by the demolition of a trestle.

Many plots involve railroad executive Homer Bedloe's futile attempts to cease operation and scrap the Hooterville Cannonball.

Occasionally, youngest daughter Betty Jo can be found with her hand on the Cannonball's throttle; running the train is one of her favorite pastimes, as she is something of a tomboy with an interest in mechanics.

Sam Drucker is the postmaster, editor of the newspaper, Justice of the Peace, county clerk, water commissioner, deputy sheriff and occasionally the mayor.

Pixley was apparently the county seat although a nearby community was "Bugtussle," the original home of Jed Clampett and his family from The Beverly Hillbillies.

Due to a trestle demolition many years ago, the line now is entirely unconnected to any other railroad; it runs between the rural farm community of Hooterville and the small town of Pixley.

[2] The Shady Rest is an old-fashioned, Victorian-style hotel, accessible primarily by train (and a poorly-maintained fire road), where guests share bathing facilities and eat together with the family at a large dining-room table.

Ruth Henning's mother, Alice (Burris) Barth, also told her many stories about the hotel and about growing up in the small town of Eldon.

Since the 1930s, Benaderet had played second-banana roles on radio and television to such personalities as Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, and George Burns and Gracie Allen.

[citation needed] The additions of Mike Minor as Steve Elliott and Meredith MacRae as the third Billie Jo influenced this change, as they were both accomplished singers.

[15] Following the conclusion of her treatment, she had revealed to the Press-Republican that despite her lengthy absence, series producer Charles Stewart would continue to write her as the lead for the upcoming sixth season.

Lockhart's character was essentially brought on as a surrogate mother figure to fill the void left by the death of Bea Benaderet, and takes up a medical practice at the hotel and also serves as a counsel of sorts for the girls.

The second change is the addition of bumbling, but well-meaning, game warden Orrin Pike (played by actor Jonathan Daly), who becomes Bobbie Jo's boyfriend, much to the annoyance of Uncle Joe.

Its final first-run episode was broadcast on April 4, 1970, and the series officially ended its primetime run on Saturday, September 12, 1970, at 9:30 pm.

"[22] The New York Times reported that Lane's persona was so familiar to the public, "that people would come up to him in the street and greet him, because they thought they knew him from their hometowns.

In that installment, coming home on the first day of school, Betty Jo meets a little male dog who immediately attaches himself to her and the Bradley family.

Virginia Sale briefly reprised her role in the first season of Green Acres (her character is not mentioned by name, but is listed in the end credits).

Mike Minor first appeared on the series as Selma Plout's son Dan in the second-season episode "Mother Of The Bride" that aired December 15, 1964.

In the third season (1965–66), Riley was replaced by Gunilla Hutton (not present for 11 episodes), and for the rest of the show's run, Billie Jo was played by Meredith MacRae.

Woodell and Saunders resembled each other physically, but the character of Bobbie Jo was gradually revamped after the cast change, going from a shy bookworm to a humorous scatterbrain.

The show writers picked up on this and gradually changed the character of Bobbie Jo from Paul Henning's original conception of a brainy introvert into "a high-spirited, delightfully ditzy extrovert.

"[33] In 1967, the show suffered its first loss when Smiley Burnette (engineer Charley Pratt) died of leukemia right after filming wrapped for the fourth season.

A number of core Green Acres characters, such as Fred and Doris Ziffel (originally named "Ruthie" after Paul Henning's wife, Ruth), Arnold the Pig, Newt Kiley, and Ben Miller, first appeared on season two of Petticoat Junction, which saw a number of scripts written by Green Acres creator Jay Sommers.

Finally, two consecutive 1970 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies ("Buzz Bodine, Boy General" and "The Clampett-Hewes Empire") with a visiting Miss Jane and Mr. Drysdale, who mistakenly believes billionaire Howard Hughes lives in Hooterville.

The DVD release of the series by TGG Direct, Inc. replaces Massey's music with Frank Hutchison's "Train That Carried the Girl From Town".

[47] The replica still exists, although it has been restored to its pre-Petticoat Junction appearance as a locomotive called the Emma Sweeny, and is on public display under shelter in Santa Rita Park in Durango, Colorado.

Claudia's daughter Ann recalled: "Mother got people from the television show to send her photos of the Petticoat Junction set, the actors, just all kinds of things."