Why would anyone model an obscure shortline with a name that sounds like it’s out of a Carl Fallberg drawing? The Stockton & Copperopolis Railroad was a poor 49-mile long line that probably should never have been built but it lasted for over one hundred years and it inspired me enough to try to reproduce it in my basement.
The Prototype
The Copperopolis Road was started in the early 1860s to provide cheap transportation for the new copper mines in appropriately-named Copperopolis, about forty miles east of the busy inland river port of Stockton, California. The Civil War and a general lack of money stalled the project until 1870 when it finally began building toward the copper city. About thirty miles from Stockton, a geologic upthrust called Gopher Ridge halted the new railroad with expensive grading and the railroad never progressed beyond the small town of Milton.
About the same time, other Stockton visionaries planned to build a railroad to Visalia to compete with the giant Central Pacific Railroad. They named their road the Stockton & Visalia. It began building south from the S&C but by the end of 1871, both railroads were in the hands of the Central Pacific. The CPRR combined the S&V into the Stockton & Copperopolis and allowed it to operate it under its own name until 1889 when it became just the Oakdale and Milton branches of the Southern Pacific.
Planning
I became interested in the railroad after seeing it mentioned a few times in some California history books so I did a little research at the California State Railroad Museum and other places and found a wealth of information. What started as an interesting side hobby finally convinced me to plan my new model railroad around the Stockton & Copperopolis.
My main interest in modeling lies in the nineteenth century, specifically the 1890s. A previous layout was freelanced in this era and a move to a new house with a basement allowed me to plan my “dream” layout. In the area I had, I could model almost the entire railroad. After many discarded track plans, I settled on one which encompassed the major features I wanted to include. These were a long run which would enable me to use timetables and train orders for operation, a branch line, a variety of industries and several passenger runs.
The prototype railroad initially relied on wheat to earn its living. During the mid-1800s, California was the wheat capital of the U.S. with tons of the stuff being made into flour or exported to other countries. By the 1890s, though, over-farming had reduced the yield and the big wheat ranches were being replaced by citrus, produce, cattle ranching and other industries. Mining was still big in the mountains east of Milton and that was the closest railroad point to the Mother Lode. Most of the machinery and trade goods destined for the mining towns went over the railroad through Milton. It was also the closest point to Yosemite Park which encouraged tourist traffic over the railroad.
The Line
Construction began on the railroad in the fall of 2007 and progressed until virtually all of the trackage was down and operable by June, 2009 when my first operating session was held. To give an idea of what the road is about, let’s take a look at what I have chosen to model. We’ll start at Stockton.
Stockton proclaims itself the head of navigation for the San Joaquin River. Steamboats from San Francisco dock at the wharf disgorging passengers and freight. Grain warehouses line the river along with several flour mills. The railroad runs down the middle of Weber Street to serve these industries. At the west end of the railroad is the small engine facilities located across the street from the Crown Mill plus a few storage tracks and a grain warehouse.
The small yard at Stockton is patterned after the prototype as is the A-frame turntable and two-stall enginehouse. The photos help visitors and the owner visualize the scene as it once existed and will again.
Toward the east end of the wharf is the three-track covered depot occupying the middle of the street with hotels, saloons and other commercial enterprises adjacent. As you leave the depot, the train travels down Weber Street until it finally leaves the business district. Passing over an irrigation canal, the Stockton Agricultural works is passed. This large factory provides traffic for the railroad in the form of farm implements. Beyond it lies the Continental Oil distribution depot and then the tracks of the Central Pacific Railroad which must be crossed. Cars are interchanged here for points off the S&C.
As you proceed eastward into the countryside, the farms start to appear, both wheat and produce. A grain warehouse at the spur at Charleston is quickly passed and Orford Junction is reached. This junction did not exist on the prototype. I like mainline passenger and freight equipment as well as the shortline atmosphere but the real S&C was not a mainline railroad. To allow me to have the best of both worlds, I invented the fiction that the S&C had allowed my previous freelanced railroad, the Moraga Springs Northern, trackage rights between Orford Junction and Merced. This would provide more traffic on the railroad and let me use the more modern equipment I liked on the MSN while keeping the short line flavor of the S&c. Orford Junction is an interchange point between the two railroads and there is a short siding here for that purpose.
Just beyond is the town of Holden. Holden represents the newer farming interests of citrus and produce with packing houses for both. It also is the terminus of the Stockton & Ione Railroad, a three-foot gauge feeder road which provides coal and timber from Amador County. There was a real Stockton and Ione which was to have interchanged at Holden and would carry coal and timber. Some equipment was ordered but the road never got off the ground. In my world, however, Holden is a busy transfer point with dual-gauge trackage.
Extra 25 West leaving Holden. The structures are ones left from my previous railroad and will eventually be used on the Stockton & Copperopolis. Note the small paper “train order boards” at the left. Until the electrically operated boards are in place, these are used to indicate if a train order is waiting.
A section of three-rail track carries both railroads over Mormon Creek after which the S&I splits off and heads toward Ione. The S&C continues on into Peters which is the junction point for the Milton branch. Peters is a small farming community with only a freight house and team track. We’ll continue on down the main line.
Crossing Duck Creek, the railroad enters Farmington through a three-way stub switch. This community is typical of the transition going on in the area. Along with grain warehouses, the railroad serves a variety of industries including a packing plant, winery and agricultural tool distributor.
Things are quiet at the farming community of Farmington. Several industries are located here as evidenced by the small signs. The town of Farmington will be located in the empty area on the left side of the tracks.
Proceeding east, the short siding at Cometa is passed, then Burnett’s which is only a spur with a grain warehouse, corral and box factory. The long bridge over the Stanislaus River is crossed and the final town on the layout, Oakdale, is reached.
Passenger train No. 6 preparing to leave Oakdale. The small signs indicate the locations of various industries so that the operating crews know where to spot cars during an operating session. Turnouts are operated by the knobs located on the fascia front.
Home to grain and hay warehouses, Oakdale also has a couple of lumber yards, a carriage maker, oil depot and a gas works. This is the end of the line for some S&C trains while other eastbound trains continue into a hidden staging yard representing Merced and the rest of the world.
Going back to Peters and moving up the Milton branch, we pass the site of the Pacific Coast Oil refinery to be built just outside of town. Waverly siding with another grain warehouse is next and then Milton is reached. Milton is still a freight-forwarding town with several of these merchants located on the long house track. A corral and oil unloading spur is also found here. Milton will eventually be a helper station for trains going on to Copperopolis.
Looking down the aisle from Peters, the track winds through the hilly countryside-to-be toward Milton.
Although the prototype never got beyond Milton, the copper mines did revive in the 1890s and the railroad looked into extending the tracks to Copperopolis. Unfortunately, the extension never occurred. On my version of the S&C, however, that oversight has been corrected and the line ascends Gopher Ridge, passes through a tunnel and reaches the upper plain at the town of Felix which is just a short spur serving the Tower Ranch and a mine. A short run over a wood truss bridge and Copperopolis is reached.
This is the end of the line. A busy copper mine is found here along with a few businesses requiring rail service. The railroad has built a two-stall enginehouse for the power serving the branch.
Copperopolis, the end of the Milton branch. Here, copper mines serviced by the railroad are located. The enginehouse was built from a series of articles by John Allen in 1948 Model Craftsmans.
Layout Construction
The railroad’s benchwork consists of joists cantilevered from a central short stud wall anchored to the floor. Plywood of ¾” thickness makes up the sub-roadbed while the roadbed itself is foam “topper tape.” Micro Engineering code 55 flexible track along with turnouts made from Fast Tracks jigs is laid on top of the foam roadbed using DAP caulk to secure it. The caulk makes a very good joint but still makes the track easy to remove if changes are needed. The majority of the turnouts are point switches but there are a few stub switches left over from earlier days.
The Digitrax DCC system provides power to the railroad and all but the smallest locomotives are equipped with sound decoders. All of the turnout controls are manual using the Blue Point controllers connect to a knob on the fascia. These controllers are great especially as the built-in electrical contacts automatically switch power to the turnout frogs.
Scenery is yet to be installed but will be started this summer. I plan to use a standard grid of cardboard strips covered with Hydrocal. Most of this part of California is either wheat fields or tall grass so a lot of static grass will ultimately be used. During the summer, the grass has all changed to the “golden” color for which California is famous. The only greenery is in low bushes and the perennial California oak trees.
Most of the structures will have to be scratchbuilt or kitbashed to achieve the look for which I am striving. Being retired gives me a lot more time to do these things so I don’t think that this task will be too daunting. Some of the structures from my old layout can be reused as well.
Rolling Stock
Modeling the 1890s can be a bit problematic since there is little in the way of equipment being produced today. My engines are mostly older brass imports which have been remotored and regeared using Northwest Short Line parts.
Engine No. 32 with Train No. 6 pauses at the Oakdale depot before continuing on to Stockton. The depot itself is a stand-in for one to be built. Note the Boca beer car which was scratchbuilt from a photo of the prototype. Engine 32 is a Model Engineering Works import rebuilt with new motor and gearing.
With some care and extra electrical contacts, these engines can be made to run very smoothly. The 4-4-0s I use all have the motors mounted in the tender with a U-joint drive to the engine. This frees up the boiler and cab space to be used for extra weight, something these locos need to get pulling power. The Americans can pull about ten cars over all the layout except for the grades east of Milton. The larger 2-6-0s, 4-6-0s and 2-8-0s can pull a bit more.
The prototype Stockton & Copperopolis only had six engines between 1870 and 1889 and I am trying to build models of all of them. So far, I have two of them done and parts for a third ready to be assembled.
One of the first engines on the road, the Andrew Jackson, now is relegated to heading up the passenger trains on the Milton branch. The Andrew Jackson was scratchbuilt in brass and styrene.
Car lengths in this era are a mixture of 28- and 34-foot lengths with a few 36-foot refrigerator cars thrown in. My cars are a mixture of kits and scratchbuilding done over the past forty years that I have been modeling. I have about 80 or so freight cars and only a few passenger cars so more will have to be built. There are some limited-run resin kits now being built for this era and some of these will undoubtedly end up on the railroad. There are several more signature cars which will have to be scratchbuilt including the fruit cars which were used for shipping perishables across the country. My work is definitely cut out for me.
Operation
A prototypically operated layout has always been a primary goal of mine. The railroad was designed so that the timetable and train order style of operation could be used. Fast clocks and telephones are located around the railroad so that train crews can keep track of time and make reports. The dispatcher sits in the adjacent family room/crew lounge and is connected to the railroad only by the telephone. An operator functioning as the operator for all stations is located in the layout area. He writes the orders dictated by the dispatcher and sees that they are delivered to the train crews. The McFall or four-position waybill system is used for freight car forwarding.
The operator’s desk where the operator writes train orders upon dictation from the dispatcher. At the left are the levers for the train order signals which will be installed at each open station. The fast clock here and at each station lets the crews know the current time.
On the S&C, as on all railroads of this period, the passenger train is king and must remain on schedule. This provides a challenge to freight crews who still have to get their switching done while keeping the main line clear.
The Future
Right now, the railroad needs more rolling stock and a lot of scenery. The town of Peters is my first target for scenicking and its structures are already being built. From there I will move on to building more cars and getting a rough scenic shell constructed. This will make the railroad look a little more finished and, more importantly, keep the locomotives and cars from falling to the floor if there is a derailment.
Once the basics are done, I will tackle the narrow-gauge Stockton & Ione to provide more operational possibilities.
Regular monthly operating sessions are now being held which allows me to discover any flaws in the trackwork or the layout design. I can then get the problems fixed before the scenery goes down. It also keeps me motivated to keep improving the railroad to keep my operating crews interested.
My question at the start of this piece was why anyone would model such an obscure railroad. The answer is that it is darned interesting and should provide me with many years of modeling and operating pleasure. I’m pleased with the layout plan so far and look forward to developing the rest of the railroad over the next few years. More information can be found on my website at www.SandCRR.com.
Don, the layout looks great!