<P> The show centers on the goings - on at the rural Shady Rest Hotel . Widowed Kate Bradley ( Bea Benaderet ) is the proprietor . Her lazy - but - lovable Uncle Joe Carson ( Edgar Buchanan ) supposedly helps her in the day - to - day running of the hotel , while she serves as a mediator in the various minor crises that befall her three beautiful daughters : redhead Betty Jo ( Linda Kaye Henning ) ; brunette Bobbie Jo ( first Pat Woodell , later Lori Saunders ) ; and blonde Billie Jo ( first Jeannine Riley , then Gunilla Hutton , and finally Meredith MacRae ) . 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 . 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 engineer Charley Pratt ( Smiley Burnette ) and fireman / railway 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 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 . Charlie and Floyd are alternately depicted as retired employees of the railroad receiving pensions and salaried railroad workers . Many plots involve railroad executive Homer Bedloe 's futile attempts to shut down and scrap the Hooterville Cannonball . Occasionally , youngest daughter Betty Jo can be found with her hand on the Cannonball 's throttle , as running the train is one of her favorite pastimes . Trips on the Cannonball usually include a stop in Hooterville at Drucker 's Store , run by Sam Drucker ( Frank Cady ) . Drucker 's is the local hub , where menfolk come to play checkers and chat . Sam Drucker is the postmaster , and his telephone is a lifeline for the Bradleys , Uncle Joe , and others . </P>
who played the bradley sisters on petticoat junction
Linda Kaye Henning Pat Woodell Lori Saunders Jeannine Riley Gunilla Hutton Meredith MacRae