Since 1862, local Stockton, California railroad advocates led by Erastus S. Holden, a local druggist, had been trying to build a railroad from Stockton to the copper mines at Copperopolis. At that time, Copperopolis was the largest producer of copper in the United States and Stockton only lacked a railroad to "put it on the map" and declare itself one of the great cities of California. By the end of 1870, the Central Pacific Railroad had completed its end of the transcontinental railroad and was the dominant railroad in California.

Rival forces led by Milton Latham, financier of the California Pacific which ran from Sacramento to Vallejo, wanted to challenge the Central Pacific on its own ground. Latham envisioned a line stretching from Oakland through Stockton and then south along the foothills. This route would be able to interecept all of the freight going into and out of the Southern Mines area of the Mother Lode mining region. The Stockton & Copperopolis, a concern already formed and endowed with federal land grants seemed like the right ticket to do this.

Latham loaned the railroad money and took control of the stock. By July, 1871, the line had reached Milton. Branching off from Peters, Latham used the charter of the Stockton & Visalia Railroad to build to Oakdale and then south. Unfortunately for him, the Central Pacific stepped in and made an offer he couldn't refuse. In August, 1871, the CP's associates bought the California Pacific and, by October, had purchased both the S&C and S&V railroads to boot. The Stockton & Visalia was pushed on to reach Oakdale in November, 1871 but that is as far as it went for now. Although surveys were run, the S&C never went east of Milton although much of the Southern Mines traffic did travel over those lines and was shipped on from Milton and Oakdale.

Both lines were combined in 1877 to form a new Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad. In 1889 was absorbed into the newly-created Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1891, the SP did extend the line from Oakdale to Merced to capture the farming and ranching in that area.

The 1871 map shows both the S&C and S&V Railroads along with a proposed feeder line to Ione City. This was the Stockton & Ione Railroad which was to interchange with the S&C at Holden. Although this line was not built, a new Stockton & Ione was chartered in 1873 to do basically the same thing. Only three miles were built, though, before the contractor foreclosed for nonpayment.

In 1940, the line from Peters to Milton was abandoned and, in 1990, the rest of the line from Stockton to Oakdale was abandoned.

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