Butte Anaconda & Pacific

Company History: The BA&P opened in 1893 to haul copper ore from the mines and smelter to Butte, Montana. The railroad was built and owned by what would become the Anaconda Copper Company. In 1913, much of the line was electrified with a 2400 volt DC catenary system. 28 box cab electrics did the heavy work while half a dozen steamers handled the portions not under wire. As time passed, the steamers were replaced with GP7s and GP9s, and 2 more electrics were acquired. With 37 locomotives for just 43 route miles, you can imagine how busy this line was.

In 1967, the installation of a new ore concentrator in Butte changed the traffic patterns significantly. Electric operations were ended and the 7 geeps were able to handle all of the traffic themselves. In 1983, the mines closed and nearly all the traffic dried up. In 1985, Anaconda Copper donated the railroad to the State of Montana who appointed the Rarus Railway (a new shortline) to operate it.

Successor/Parent History: RARW was launched in 1985 after Anaconda Copper Company donated their Butte Anaconda & Pacific Railroad properties to the state of Montana when they closed the smelter. The state appointed the Rarus Railway to operate the line. Rarus inherited BA&P’s diesel fleet and continued to use their black and yellow paint scheme, just changing the name on the sides.

A good portion of Rarus’ traffic is copper slag. The slag produced by the mill for many decades contains enough residual copper to make refining it using recent processes profitable. In 2004, Rarus purchased passenger cars and began operating excursion trains under the name “Copper King Express.” In 2007, the Patriot Rail shortline group bought the Rarus and promptly changed the name back to Butte Anaconda & Pacific.

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