Black Creek & Angels Camp Railway Part 1

Soon after gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, the great Gold Rush of California began in 1849. Mines were seen sprouting up all over the Sierra Nevada Foothills and men came from all over the world to make their fortunes. Most of the raw materials used to build these mines as well as transporting the material to smelters were done with horse and buggy.

In the 1860’s William Reed and Thomas McCarty built the Union Copper Mine, later named Keystone & Empire Mines, in the small town of Copperopolis, California. This mine was a major supplier of copper for ammunition during the Civil War. This was no small affair. By the end of its life in 1946, the mine produced more than 72 million pounds of copper.

The Railway

The 30-inch gauge Black Creek & Angels Camp Railway was built by Wayne Branstetter, an immigrant from Germany, to facilitate the need for transportation. It served the mines as well as delivered goods and materials to them and the people of these communities. The twelve and a half mile long railway began operations from Copperopolis to Angels Camp, California in the spring of 1905.

Copperopolis was the railroad’s headquarters as well as its connection with the Sierra Railway and the outside world. The facilities and the railway’s roster were small consisting of an engine house, fueling facilities, office, a Shay locomotive, a small diesel engine and some rolling stock.

The Layout

Although the Black Creek & Angels Camp Railway is a fictitious railroad and the Sierra Railway never had a connection into Copperopolis, the history of Copperopolis is very real. I spent most of the 1980’s living in Copperopolis and enjoyed many days as a youngster exploring some of those mines, even the Keystone & Empire Mine, which is why I am looking forward to the project.

My layout will try to capture this railroad in the spring of 1932 and its connection with the Sierra Railway all within a 2-foot by 8-foot area. As you can see in the photo above, the track plan is simple and will have connections on either end to allow for future expansion. Though its size is small, this provides great opportunity to really detail the track and surrounding structures. My track will be hand-laid code 70 rail spiked directly to the ties with rail joiners every 39 feet as the prototype would have had. Additionally, the standard gauge connection with the Sierra Railway will be built to Proto48 standards.

The Black Creek & Angels Camp Railway will be built over a series of several installments taking you on a detailed look at construction of the layout as well as scenery and its structures. I hope you will follow along with this project and it inspires you to build a small layout of your own.