 direct access to the mills and smelters in the vicinity of Anaconda. After the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific began operations in 1894, very little traffic to the smelter went by way of NP's Stuart line. Anaconda Copper built the Anaconda Street Railway for the benefit of its employees living in the town of Opportunity, seven miles to the east of Anaconda on NP's Stuart line. On May 1, 1898, Anaconda Copper's railroad subsidiary, Butte, Anaconda & Pacific, leased the entire Stuart line from Northern Pacific. Later, NP sold the line to BA&P.
The Anaconda smelter was shut down in 1981 and by 1983 only the smelter stack remained as the site's only structure. In 1983 the smelter site was placed on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List (also known as Superfund). Soil reclamation and cleanup of the smelter site was begun in 1992 and was completed by 1997. Surface runoff and ground water studies and mitigation have continued since 1997. The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific still serves loading sites in the reclamation area.
Montana Union Railway Operations
The Montana Union Railway was organized on June 28, 1886 as a joint company of Northern Pacific and Union Pacific. The company leased from Utah & Northern Railway 44.64 miles between Silver Bow and Garrison, and the 13.09 miles between Silver Bow and Butte, along with 9.8 miles between Stuart and Anaconda from Montana Railway. (Union Pacific Railway and Auxiliary Companies, 1886, page 86; Google Books)
August 1, 1886
Montana Union Railway operations started between Butte and Garrison, Montana on August 1, 1886, when the Montana Union lease of the U&N between Butte and Garrison went into effect. The joint line consisted of the 51 miles of standard gauge trackage (newly converted from three-foot narrow gauge) between Butte and Silver Bow on the south end and between Silver Bow and Garrison on the north end. Silver Bow was where MURy connected with the still-narrow-gauge Utah & Northern, and Garrison was where a connection was made with Northern Pacific's transcontinental line. Utah & Northern converted its line between Silver Bow and Pocatello, Idaho from three-foot narrow gauge to standard gauge on July 24, 1887.
Montana Union Railway was jointly owned and operated by Union Pacific and Northern Pacific Railway, with each road taking its turn at operations in alternating years. Montana Union continued as a joint company for another 12 years until March 1898 when the assets of Montana Union were divided between UP and NP as part of Union Pacific's reorganization. Union Pacific took ownership of the tracks, but gave Northern Pacific a 999-year lease, with the lease fee being based on traffic being carried. As part of the settlement, in October 1898 three Montana Union 2-8-0s were transferred to Union Pacific ownership. A year earlier, OSL had purchased two Montana Union 0-6-0 switchers and moved them to Pocatello and Salt Lake City for service.
The following comes from the "Report on the Internal Commerce of the United States By United States Dept. of the Treasury, Bureau of Statistics, 1889":
On March 9, 1880 the Utah & Northern crossed the Idaho line into Montana and the first rail was laid on Montana soil. The Utah & Northern was completed to Garrison in Deer Lodge County and there connected with the Northern Pacific Railroad and over its main line ran its trains to Helena. From Ogden to Garrison is 453 miles and from Garrison to Helena 51 miles. Utah & Northern had two short branches in Montana, one from Silver Bow to Butte City a distance of seven miles and another branch from Stuart to the Anaconda Copper Smelting Works a distance of nine miles. The 44 miles of the road between Silver Bow and Garrison is called the Montana Union Railway and is operated jointly by the Union Pacific and the Northern Pacific companies for the convenience of local traffic for both roads between Helena, Garrison, Anaconda and Butte.
The Utah and Northern has been the most profitable branch of the Union Pacific system. Its freights have been enormous and very profitable. It 