The basement and a smaller portion of the main floor are now the site of Anaconda's Copper Village Museum, which houses a multitude of artefacts from Anaconda's heyday, when the smelter belched smoke 24/7 and the town was a boisterous frontier village of miners and smelter workers. The museum also hosts various travelling exhibits and annual quilting exhibits and student art displays.
One of the more informative displays is this large sign, complete with period photos, which contains a reasonably complete history of the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway.
The B. A. & P.
Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Rwy
Incorporated Sept 30, 1892 the railroad between Butte and Anaconda once had thirty three steam locomotives ...18 Baldwins, 9 Schenectadys, 4 Baldwins/Cooke and a Rogers ... in service. The fastest, a No.20 Baldwin (4-6-0) was capable of speed in excess of 100 m.p.h. It was the first locomotive west of the Mississippi River to sport an electric headlight. Passenger service between Anaconda and Butte, and eventually west to Silver & Georgetown Lakes and on to Southern Cross, was as close as the railroad ever got to the Pacific Ocean. In 1900-'01, the construction of the Washoe Smelter, located across the valley from the first two smelters, began. On Jan. 22, 1902 the first train of ore from the Mt. Con. Mine in Butte was dumped into the concentrator's ore bins. The locomotive was no.3 Brooks (4-6-0). During 1912-14 the major part of the railroad was electrified. The B.A.& P. was the first railroad in the United States to use 2,400 volt direct current electricity.
In 1913 twenty-eight 80-ton, 1000 h.p. locomotives were placed in service. Nos. 65 & 66, geared to 45 m.p.h., were reserved for passenger service which was continued until April 15, 1955. Initially, seventeen box-type electric locomotives, built by Gen. Electric Co., were purchased. Electrification reduced maintenance costs, increased maximum train size & nearly doubled main line speeds. By 1917 an additional eleven electrics & three tractor trucks, which generated 50% of the power of the large units. Coupled, they were called the "cow and calf." Some steam engines continued in use after 1913 in areas where electrification was impractical, because tracks had to be moved frequently. Almost all were sold by 1918. The last six, such as No. 25, were scrapped in 1953. Her crew was(L.Tor) Percy Moyle, conductor, Ray Lappin, fireman, "Knucky" McDonald, engineer, Rudy Percin and George Eamon.
Electrification represented progress, and the costly steamers were sold for profitable scrap...with little thought of saving only one for history. In fact, the B.A.& P. electrification paid for itself in only five years. It required only two electrics to pull 75 full ore cars to the Anaconda smelter. By the 1960s haulage of copper ore was obsolete, as modern hydrometallurgy eliminated the need. Instead, the B.A.& P. began hauling large tank cars of copper concentrates from the new Butte concentrator. Newer diesel locomotives, such as 103, were used. However, economically they couldn't compete with the electrics. Electricity cost less than fuel oil for the power output, diesels burn fuel when standing still and diesel engines wear out in 12 to 15 years, whereas electrics saw over 50 years of service without any major overhauls or replacements. In 1977, the Atlantic Richfield Co. acquired the Anaconda Co., and in 1980 closed the smelter and refinery. On May 21, 1982, the last trainload of concentrates left Anaconda...which closed the chapter on the B.A.& P.
Text and Photos by Bob Vine ...1991