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Milwaukee Road history - Wikipedia version

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[quote user="MichaelSol"][quote user="erikem"][quote user="Murphy Siding"] [quote user="erikem"]One of the big reasons for going through Butte was that a few of the directors of the CM&StP during the time that the PCE was planned and built were also directors of the Anaconda Copper Company - which also had a bearing on why the CM&StP electrified (good market for copper).[/quote]     Did CM&StP get rewarded for this effort, by getting traffic from Anaconda?[/quote]Don't know how much, if any, traffic Anaconda sent to the MILW. Michael Sol would probably be able to give a much more informaed answer than I would. Also keep in mind that at the time the PCE was built, Butte was by far the largest city in Montana. [/quote]During those days, the mighty Anaconda Copper Mining Co. ran the biggest industry facility between the Twin Cities and the Puget Sound, it controlled the majority of the forest products industries between the Dakotas and Washington State, it owned the biggest newspapers in Montana, and it controlled many wholesale and retail operations. Recall, J. Hill's first western terminus was Butte, Montana. The NP built through it, the GN built to it, the UP built to it, and the Milwaukee built through it as Milwaukee's owner, William Rockefeller, wanted his own railroad to serve the Anaconda's interests, as he was one of the primary owners of that company as well, and didn't like the idea of contributing profits to his competitors -- a Rockefeller family trait.From the limited shipment records of the Anaconda company that I have reviewed, Milwaukee received about as much traffic as the Great Northern and Northern Pacific combined. It was the preferred railroad for the mineral divsion, the smelting division, the Big Blackfoot Milling (Forest Products) division, as well as general wholesale and retail of Hennessey & Co. as well as the Missoula Mercantile -- not subsidiaries, but related wholesalers and retailers throughout the territory.[/quote]What I question is not that Butte wasn't worth reaching by Milwaukee rails, but that the profile and alignment of the mainline had to be somewhat skewed in order to go through Butte (and Butte proper still had to be reached by a short branchline!)  It seems that, if indeed the PCE charter called for "the shortest route to the PNW of the northern transcons" (paraphrased), that it would have been a little more judicious to stick to that "shortest line" caveat by routing the mainline through Great Falls and Cadette Pass, and instead reaching Butte by a branchline down from the Blackfoot River valley.Also on that note, why didn't the Milwaukee just purchase the BA&P line to incorporate it into it's system, rather than building parallel to it through Silver Bow canyon?
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