The Stockton & Copperopolis was discovered quite by chance. I had seen several references from the 1800s to the town of Milton, a place which no longer exists, at least as a town. Curiosity got the best of me so, when business took me to Copperopolis (yes, the town does exist), I tracked down Milton. Besides a few houses, there was nothing else there except an empty railroad roadbed. The California State Railroad Museum was able to provide some more information. One thing led to another and this gave me a pleasant few years of researching this interesting little railroad and finding that there was still a lot of information out there..

I liked the concept of the S&C, supplying the mining and mercantile industry of the Mother Lode's Southern Mines as well as being the closest rail point to Yosemite. The track arrangements were simple enough to reproduce in their entirety and building the various railroad and non-railroad structures would be enough to engage my interest for several years. It would be a different sort of challenge to reproduce this part of California than I had previously had with my freelanced Moraga Springs Northern Railway. The problem, though, was that things were a bit too simple. The prototype railroad never had more than three locomotives at any one time in its history with a very limited number of cars, both freight and passenger. There were no through sleepers to Oakdale or fast freights to anywhere thus limiting the type of operation that would result from a model. To add to this, I also had quite a few locos and cars from the MSN to which I had grown attached.

After quite a bit of contemplation and bouncing ideas off my friends, I came up with my current concept which is a compromise that allows me to use my old Moraga Springs cars and engines as well as the S&C's. Instead of being merely a branch of the Central Pacific, the Moraga Springs Northern would have trackage rights over the S&C and, thus, use it as a link in the MSN Valley Division. These trackage rights would prohibit the MSN from generating local business but would require the S&C to make all local deliveries. By doing this, I could run through trains over the layout, retain my MSN equipment and be able to use the larger passenger cars and locomotives I also like. Of course, the MSN could lease equipment to the S&C from time to time.

By setting the era a bit later into the 1890s, I could introduce more varied traffic than just the wheat harvest. In was in this period that the huge wheat farms were being broken up and produce crops and citrus trees were being promoted. This would introduce a bit more varied traffic for the railroad. A decision was finally made.

The year, then, would be 1895 since it predates the Sierra RR but trains could run south of Oakdale giving the MSN somewhere to go. The copper mines in Copperopolis were undergoing a revival at this time which can be supposed to be large enough that the railroad finally decided to build the Copperopolis extension. I had the layoutroom and, since it gives the Milton branch more traffic, it was added. HOn3 is also an interest of mine and Mason bogie lcoomotives in particular. When I saw the photos of the Stockton & Ione Masons, I felt that these should also be included somewhere. A short feeder route was established to bring coal and timber from Ione to a transfer point at Holden, thus giving that little town something more to do. This was also in keeping with the prototype S&I as it was originally chartered to be a feeder for the S&C.

My basement is large enough to accomodate all these features but not so large that the railroad could not be reasonably completed. Now, the challenge is to turn my plans and imaginings into 1890s California railroading.