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| The new motor car stops at Burnett's station to pick up an elderly lady. |
The Stockton & Copperopolis has been pulled into the gasoline age. Today, their new Hall-Scott motor car made its first run over the line. Able to seat 70 passengers and only 50 feet long, the new car can easily travel 30-40 mph over the railroad. Only needing a crew of two, the motor car, named
Copperopolis, will be useful on runs where little traffic is expected and will be a cost saving to the railroad.
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| A side view of the Copperopolis shows the stained glass upper windows and fancy oval restroom window. As well as pulling itself, the car can also pull another car or two, if needed. |
In actuality, the
Copperopolis is a brass import from the 1960s. Imported by Model Engineering Works, I had the good fortune to pick up this new car from Dick Wheeler, former owner of MEW, about 20 years ago. My original plan was to replace the open-frame motor but it ran so smoothly, I decided to keep it. A Tsunami2 decoder was added and the RGS Galloping Goose sound used. No other mechanical refinements were made to the car. The car was painted and custom decals were designed and printed.
For those of you aware of history, it will be realized that the prototype was built in 1911, some 16 years later than the era of my railroad. It is definitely anachronistic but I have always liked this car since I was able to walk through it in the 1970s. It all goes back to Rule Number 1: It's my railroad and I can do what I want! (That's the model railroader's set of rules, not the Gibbs set).
