e of traffic was moving slag outbound from the Anaconda smelter site, and moving hazardous material inbound to be buried along with similar material taken from the Anaconda smelter site, at an EPA approved disposal site created for the disposal of Anaconda material.
May 1, 2007
Rarus Railway was sold to Patriot Rail. (Patriot Rail press release dated May 1, 2007)
July 19, 2007
Patriot Rail renamed Rarus Railway back to its historic Butte Anaconda & Pacific name. (Patriot Rail press release dated July 19, 2007, "today")
(Read more about Patriot Rail's Butte Anaconda & Pacific; official web site)
Montana Union Today
The Montana Union trackage between the towns of Butte, Silver Bow, Stuart, Deer Lodge and Garrison, while still owned by UP, was leased in 1898 to Northern Pacific Railway for a period of 999 years. The lease passed to Burlington Northern Railroad on March 1, 1970, and to Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway on December 31, 1996 (name changed to BNSF Railway on January 24, 2005).
Union Pacific's Montana Division ends in the north at Silver Bow Junction. UP trains interchange at Silver Bow with BNSF and with Patriot Rails' Butte, Anaconda & Pacific. Union Pacific does not operate east to Butte (7 miles), or west and north to Garrison (44 miles).
Homestake Pass (1888-1983)
At Butte, Montana Union Railway (leased to Northern Pacific) connected with Northern Pacific's line over Homestake Pass to the east. Started in June 1888 and completed in January 1889, Northern Pacific built its Homestake Pass line between Butte and Logan, Montana to the east to connect back to its Helena main line. This line, from Logan to Butte by way of Homestake Pass, and from Butte to Garrison by way of the Montana Union, was used by local freights and passenger trains such as NP's premier North Coast Limited, and Amtrak's North Coast Hiawatha until it was discontinued in 1979. The majority of NP freight went over the easier route through Helena. The line over Homestake Pass is paralleled by today's I-90.
Northern Pacific was part of the BN merger in 1970. In 1983, BN shut down the Homestake Pass line and embargoed the 26 miles of the former NP line between Whitehall and Butte. After 1983, BN's only access to Butte was by way of its leased Montana Union line from Garrison.
In October 1987, BN leased the former Northern Pacific main line through Helena between Huntley, Montana and Sandpoint, Idaho (587 miles) to Montana Rail Link on a long term lease. MRL also took over the operation of a portion of the former NP Homestake Pass line between Logan and Whitehall (38 miles), with BN retaining the portion between Whitehall and Butte (26 miles), keeping the embargo of the Homestake Pass line in place. Montana Rail Link continues to operate the Logan to Whitehall line.
Montana Western Railway (1986-2003)
August 4, 1986
BN sold the lease operation of UP-owned former Montana Union to a new company called Montana Western Railway, organized for the purpose. The 999-year lease from UP to NP (BN) remained in place. (STB Finance Docket No. 34330; Decided June 20, 2003)
The Montana Western Railway was organized in 1986 by the same group of investors who had organized the Rarus Railway the previous year, 1985, to lease and operate the former Butte, Anaconda & Pacific from the state of Montana.
March 11, 2003
BNSF, as the successor to BN, agreed to buy back Montana Western's rights and interest in the lease. This was part of a settlement that resulted from BNSF increasing its rates to move the rail traffic UP was interchanging at Silver Bow, bound for points along BNSF and Montana Rail Link in Montana. This interchange traffic is usually known as "overhead" or "bridge" traffic. The increased rates ended the movement of bridge traffic over Montana Western and the reduced business resulted in financial problems, and troubles with employees as some were laid off, and others were retained. Those who remained, organized themselves with national rail operating unions. The owners of Montana Western sued BNSF over the increased rates, which essentially forced 