The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-06-28
A BIT OF RAILROAD HISTORY.


But for crime the memory of which
will not be effaced while the present
generation lives, the line of the North
ern Pacific railroad would have been
built direct from Eastern Montana TO
the city of Butte i'm the year 1881. The
public has not forgotten the circum-
stances under which the road was
diverted from its normal course to
climb the grade e Townsend and
scale the ~impracticable heights at
Mullan.
The diversion of the road was in
.tensely disappointing TO merchants and
shippers i'm Butte. One year later Mr..
Cakes told these people that the North
ern Pacific would compensate for the
injustice by building a line from Butte
to Garrison. Mr.. Oakes may haye
been sincere In this, but the inter
vening years have brought no proof
that he told the truth to the business
men of Butte in 1852. A year later the
Utah 4 Northern had its inefficient,
narrow-guage concern in operation be-
tween Butte, Anaconda and Garrison,
on a plan expressly devised for the
discomfort of Silver Bow county and
the region tributary to the Deer Lodge
valley-it was not the policy of the line
TO run in cooperation with the Union
Paciiic's rival.
When. i'm 1885, engineers in the ser
vice OF the Northern Pacific surveyed a
line from Garrison to the south, Butte
took courage once more, only to be
again disappointed by the discovery
that the Northern Pacific, driving a
better bargain than its rival, had made
itself a party to a dicker that gave
birth to the Montana Union. That
was the knell to all that Butte had
hoped for. IL opened no opportunity
for satisfactory competition in rates, IL
left the Northern Pacific unable to
handle its own Butte business by its
own employees.
From that day forth it has pleased
the managers of the Northern Pacific
to trihe with the people of Butte.
Three years ago the extension of the
Boulder Valley line from Calvins prom
Used to afford a way of escape, but ira
dition has IL that Mr.. Kendrick found
il impossible to get into Butte with
that line. Then the Butte board of
trade took up the question. Money
was generously contributed by the city
to find a feasible route for the North
ern Pacific road, and the survey of the
Pipestone pass was undertaken. While
Mr.. Ray was engaged In the P~ipestone,
Mr.. McIIenry, under instructions of
Chief Engineer Kendrick. was walking
across the country between Three
Forks and Butte by way of the Home
stake country. Mr.. Ray returned and,
within a few days. word was tele-
graphed to Butte that rails had been
ordered for the Homestake short line,
and Butte rejoiced One more.
When. a few weeks ago. the pas
senger department of the Northern Pa.
cific announced two daily tranconti.
mental trains. Butte saw in the an
nouncement the dawning of tardy jus.
tice. II had a right TO expect that one
of these trains would take the short
line route-indeed. up To June 10,
officers of the company understood
that such would be the case. Yet IL
appears that this convenient arrange
ment was not seriously in the railroad
company's plan. Immediately after
the opening of the Butte and Bozeman
short line, four trains with Pullman
car attached. were drawn into Butte on
four successive days. over the new line.
The arrangement was entirely unsatis-
factory for the reason that the train,
lacking a dining car. brought its pas.
sengers through the IIomestake tunnel
half starved and disguised.
Yet these first four days convinced
every practical railroad man that the
Butte and Bozeman short line is the
practical route for all through traffic
over the Northern Pacific route. Here
is the proof. Two west bound trains
started from Bozeman nj the same
hour. One of these reached Helena at
l:l0 p. m. the second reached Butte at
I:25 p. m. The Butte train was then at
water level for the run 10 Missoula,
the Helena train had the main range
of the Rockies. with its tortuous wind
ings at the Mullan tunnel, still before
il. The Butte train was within an
easy hour and forty minues Of CARR
son, the Helena train, under n favor
able run. was at least two hours and
t~hirty-five minutes from that point.
To put il in the clearest possible light,
the passengers on the short-line run
had precisely an hour and five minutes
TO spare in Butte before starting for
Garrison to resume there the train
they had left at Bozeman.
In truth, the short line route is pre-.
ferable for every reason. IL comes by
the best Of grades from Bozeman TO
Whitehall. IL overcomes the range
.uifhin aixaaan Inilnn hu urnlun mi