Location: La Calahorra - The Town of Flagstone

 

I know LVC did not appear in Once Upon a Time in the West, however this location is part of the La Calahorra Train Station, and it would be a shame not to document it. 

 

Instead of reusing the Mini Hollywood location built for For a Few Dollars More and used again in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Sergio Leone chose to build a new location for Once Upon a Time in the West outside of the La Calahorra train station near Guadix. 

 

Town as it appeared in the film

 

Like "El Paso", The town of Flagstone was a mammoth location.  unfortunately unlike three other spaghetti western towns built at the time, this location was not preserved by turning it into a tourist location.  As is stands now, only the brick buildings remain.  The main building used in the film, The Flagstone Saloon, has been modified into a barn.

 

 

Then and now - 45 years apart

 

 

Additional pictures of the town's remains below.  Click to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

I also visited the site of the hanging arch in the US, which you can check out here.

 



Location: La Calahorra - Train Station

This was actually my first location stop once arriving in Spain, which despite a 6 hour flight, 4 hour layover, 8 hour flight, and 6 hour drive, I was happy to see!  The La Calahorra train station was of course used by Leone in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West.  It also made appearances in Death Rides a Horse and The Stranger and The Gunfighter with LVC.

 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - station on left

 

Once Upon a Time in the West - opposite view, station to the right

 

 

Below are images of the station and tracks as they appear today.  While the station is no longer in use, the tracks are active.  The location is marked by some attractive Viva Leone! graffiti.  Overall a very interesting location with much spaghetti western history!