New Beginnings:
Southern Pacific's Montpellier Branch began as the Stockton & Copperopolis Railroad which was organized in 1862. In December of 1870, the S&C built its line from the Stockton waterfront to Milton while the Stockton & Visalia Railroad (operating as a branch of the S&C) built its line from Peters to Oakdale in September of 1871. That same year, both railroads came under the control of the California Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific Railroad took over the railroads in May of 1888. The Oakdale-Merced line was opened for traffic in February 1891.
Early Operations:
In the early 1900's, a typical train on the branch consisted of a 4-4-0 steam locomotive, six to eight freight cars and a combine tacked on the end for passengers, crew and less than car load (LCL) freight service. Though the volume of freight trafic increased over time, pasenger revenue ramined relatively light for this rural line. The last passenger train scheduled on the line was #448 and made its last run on December 26, 1938. It should be noted that the Siera Railroad's connecting train at Oakdale made its last run four months prior.
Passenger equipment would still be visable on the line frequently up through the 1960's as the Sierra Railroad would run weekend excursion trains. The SP would spot the passenger cars on a siding near the SP Oakdale station. A few days later, A Sierra Railroad steam locomotive would back down the SP tracks and couple onto the passenger cars. The locomotive would wait as the passengers boarded the train for their trip into the Sierra foothills.
The Route:
At the north end, the line wyed off SP's Lathrop Subdivision mainline just south of the passenger depot in Stockton. The line continued eastward as trains did some "street runing" as far as Wilson Way where it entered a private right of way. When the Western Pacific Railroad completed its mainline through Stockton in 1909, their tracks crossed the SP's in the middle of the Oakdale wye. Beyond th WP's track, and still in he city limits of Stockton, the line crossed the Central California Traction Company's track near milepost 92.0.
On the eastside of Stockton, the Montpellier line crossed busy Highway 99 at grade. When Highway 99 was upgraded to a four-lane 55 mph roadway, the grade crossing was protected by crossbuck-mounted flashing red lights and bells. This installation was unusual for the SP as most protected crossings in that part of California were protected by wig wags.
As time went on, the speed limit increased to 65 mph and Highway 99 was upgraded to feeway status. The SP then installed crossing gates as required by the Public Uilities Commission. This was the only at grade crossing of a railroad and a freeway in California and would often create a taffic nightmare for California Highway Patrol Officers.
