Each week, a star such as Ernest Borgnine (who appeared in the first episode, "The Willie Moran Story"), Shelly Winters, Lou Costello, or Jane Wyman would appear along with series regulars Ward  Bond  and Robert Horton. The show, filmed on location in Cali­ fornia's San Fernando Valley, had an impressive  budget of $100,000 per episode, at a time when competing hour-long westerns, such as ABC's Sugarfoot, cost approximately $70,000 per episode.

     Star presence enticed viewers; powerful writing and directing made the show a success. With experience in other westerns, such as Gunsmoke and Tales of Wells Fargo, writers including  western  novelist  Borden Chase and future director Sam Peckinpah developed scripts that eventually became episodes. Directors familiar with the western telefilm contributed experience, as did personnel who had been involved with GE Theatre, a program influential in the conception of Wagon Train's use of stars. Promotional materials suggested that motion picture directors John Ford, Leo McCarey, and Frank Capra had expressed interest in directing future episodes; whether wishful thinking or real possibility, Wagon Train's producers envisioned  their  western as television on a par with motion pictures.

     Each episode revolved around characters and personalities who were traveling by wagon train caravan from St. Joseph, Missouri, to California. Series regulars conducted the train through perils and adventures associated with the landscapes and inhabitants of the American West. The star vehicle format worked in tandem with the episodic nature of series television, giving audiences a glimpse into the concerns of different pioneers and adventurers from week to week. Returning cast members gave the show stability: audiences expected complaints and comedy from Charlie Wooster, the train's cook, and clashes of experience with exuberance in the relationship between the wagonmaster and his dashing frontier scouts. The recurring cast's interrelationships, problems, and camaraderie contributed greatly to the sense of "family" that bound disparate elements of the series together.

     Wagon Train lasted eight seasons, moving from NBC to ABC in September 1962. Its format expanded to 90 minutes in 1963 but returned to hour length for its final run from 1964 to 1965. It survived several cast changes: Ward Bond (Major Adams), the original wag­onmaster, died during filming in 1960 and was replaced by John McIntyre (Chris Hale); Robert Horton (Flint McCullogh) left the series in 1962 and was replaced as frontier scout by Robert Fuller (Cooper Smith). Only two characters survived the eight-year run in their original positions: Frank McGrath, as comical cook Charlie Wooster, and Terry Wilson's assistant wagonmaster Bill Hawks.

     The show's ability to survive a network switch and periodic cast changes during its eight-year run attests to its popularity. In the fall of 1959, two years after its inception, the show was number one in Great Britain; of seven westerns in the Nielsen top ten in the United States, Wagon Train competed constantly with Gun­ smoke for supremacy. By 1959 the show was firmly ensconced in the top 25 programs in the United States; it bounced as high as number one in the spring of 1960 and maintained its number one position over Gun­ smoke throughout the 1961-62 season. In a field awash with westerns, Wagon Train established a unique style reminiscent of the anthology drama but indelibly entrenched in western traditions.