The Copper King Express, Hosted By The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway

The Copper King Express operates nearly every weekend during the summer season and has become so popular since its 2006 debut that every train offered in 2008 has been sold out thus far. Not only does this train offer stunning panoramic views of "Big Sky Country" and the historic mining operations of the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific it is also located in an area steeped in railroading history. The historic BA&P, which was the first electrified freight railroad in the country when it was launched in 1913 (on a 2,400-volt DC system), once connected with the venerable Milwaukee Road at Butte, itself electrified until June of 1974.

While the Milwaukee Road was another of several Midwestern granger roads (meaning that it served the heart of America’s breadbasket in the Midwest and plains) it clearly distinguished itself from the many others by having a direct transcontinental line to the Port of Seattle, which competed with the likes of the western railroads, Great Northern (GN) and Northern Pacific (NP).

Like its name implies you can probably guess the Milwaukee Road began in its namesake city Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1850 known as the Milwaukee & Mississippi. After being renamed and then taken over by the Milwaukee & St. Paul the M&StP became known as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul when it reached Chicago. After extending out through much of the Midwest serving the Heartland the railroad added “Pacific” to its name when it decided to build West, all the way to the Pacific coast and Seattle, Washington which it reached in 1909.

The Milwaukee Road, just a few years later in 1915, electrified its Rocky Mountain Division between Harlowton, Montana and Seattle, Washington, including south through Tacoma, a distance totaling over 616 miles (there was a gab in this electrification between Avery, Idaho and Othello, Washington). The electrified lines would make the railroad a celebrity in the railfan community as few other freight railroads boasted such a project, or electrification at all!

· EMD GP7 #102: Originally Butte, Anaconda & Pacific #102 built in 1952.

· EMD GP9 #107: Originally Butte, Anaconda & Pacific #107 built in 1952.

· EMD GP9 #201

· EMD GP9 #202: Ex-Montana Western

· EMD GP9 #302: Originally built as Southern Pacific #5628 in 1956.

· EMD GP38-2 #1011: Ex-Montana Western

If you are perhaps interested in riding aboard the Copper King Express (which is highly recommended!) please click here to visit their website to learn more about the train and purchase tickets.

For more information on tourist trains like the Copper King Express you might want to consider the book Empire State Railway Museum's Tourist Trains 2006 from the Empire State Railway Museum. Given excellent reviews this guidebook covers nearly all of the tourist railroads and museums operating in the country in fine detail. So, if you’re interested in locating a tourist train or railroad near you, or simply want to know more about a particular one, you will certainly not be disappointed in Empire State Railway Museum’s guidebook to tourist railroads and museums. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".