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Butte’s junction of Interstate 15 and Interstate 90, combined with Union Pacific and BNSF rail access at the Port of Montana, gives Empire Building Materials a multimodal base for serving wholesale customers across the northern Rocky Mountain region. The company completed an $18 million investment in a rail-served distribution and warehouse facility, according to the City and County of Butte-Silver Bow’s 2025 report.
Why Butte functions as a transportation hub
Butte is positioned where north–south I-15 meets east–west I-90. For a building-materials distributor, that intersection provides direct truck routes across Montana and onward toward Idaho, Utah and other northern Rocky Mountain markets. Loads can leave a Butte warehouse by highway without first moving through another major city or transfer point.
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The highway network is only one part of the advantage. The Port of Montana, located near both interstates, provides rail-served industrial property and freight-handling services. Its rail connections include Union Pacific and BNSF, giving shippers access to two major North American rail systems rather than a single carrier.
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The Port’s published capabilities are designed to connect long-haul rail movements with local and regional trucking. They include:
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- Rail-to-truck and truck-to-rail transfers
- Transloading and cross-docking
- Rail-car storage
- Warehouse services and inventory control
- Order fulfillment and shipment coordination
That combination allows Empire to receive products by rail when a rail move is practical, hold inventory in a warehouse, and dispatch smaller or time-sensitive orders by truck. It also preserves the option of sending outbound freight by rail instead of relying exclusively on highway capacity.
Access to two rail carriers
Montana Connections describes Empire’s new facility as having rail access through the Port of Montana to either Union Pacific or Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). Carrier choice can be useful when origin points, destination points, schedules or equipment requirements differ, although public sources do not establish Empire’s shipment volumes, routing split or freight-cost savings.
A distribution base for building products
A rail-served warehouse is particularly relevant to bulky, heavy or space-intensive products. Empire’s 2021 supplier profile documents a wholesale catalog that includes lumber, decking, doors, fencing, insulation, metal products, millwork, plywood, roofing, sheet goods, siding and windows. The same profile identifies customers in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington. Those product and territory details are documented in that 2021 record and should not be treated as a guarantee that the catalog or service area remains unchanged.
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- 3X Stronger: 3 times as strong as ordinary construction adhesives and stronger than many substrates it joins together
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The $18 million facility investment
The City and County of Butte-Silver Bow’s FY2025 report records Empire Building Materials’ completed $18 million investment in a rail-served distribution and warehouse facility. The figure describes the reported investment, not a published annual operating budget, shipment total or quantified customer saving.
The project gives Empire a physical base where inbound materials can be received, stored and prepared for delivery. In practical terms, the facility can support full truckload distribution to lumberyards and home centers while retaining access to rail for suitable inbound or outbound movements.
A Montana Department of Environmental Quality record dated November 5, 2025, lists Empire Building Materials Inc.’s Rick Jones Way Warehouse in a stormwater-termination record. That administrative entry confirms a named facility record but does not, by itself, describe current throughput or operating capacity. Anyone planning a shipment or evaluating the site should verify current status with the latest city, DEQ or company documentation.
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Butte’s freight role predates the modern warehouse
Empire’s facility builds on a transportation pattern established during Butte’s mining era. A historical account by Dale Martin in The Railways of Butte says four transcontinental railways served the city by 1911. Railroads carried mining freight while bringing basic materials and finished goods to consumers and businesses. Martin writes that the concentration of rail lines made Butte “a regional center for wholesale businesses distributing, for example, food and medicine.”
The Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway illustrates how closely rail was tied to regional industry. Created to move copper ore from Butte to Anaconda, it converted to electric operation in 1913. That industrial corridor connected extraction, processing and markets long before contemporary transload parks and logistics warehouses.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the Butte model offers a regional distributor
| Logistics need | Butte and Port of Montana capability | What is publicly established |
|---|---|---|
| Truck distribution | I-15 and I-90 intersection near the Port | Direct highway access across Montana and toward Idaho, Utah and the northern Rockies |
| Rail sourcing | Union Pacific and BNSF service | Access to two named rail carriers through the Port |
| Mode transfer | Rail-to-truck and truck-to-rail transload | Published Port services include both transfer directions |
| Storage and order preparation | Warehousing, inventory control, cross-docking and fulfillment | Published Port service descriptions; Empire’s facility investment reported at $18 million |
| Regional customer reach | Truck access to Empire’s documented territory | 2021 profile lists Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington |
This arrangement does not mean every product or order should move by rail. Trucking generally remains the final-mile method for lumberyards and home centers, while rail is most useful when shipment size, distance and scheduling justify a transfer. The benefit is the ability to choose between modes within one distribution operation.
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What is not yet quantified
Public records identify the facility investment, carrier access and available services, but they do not state annual railcar counts, truck volumes, throughput, customer-level savings, delivery-time reductions or the percentage of Empire freight handled by either carrier. Those metrics should not be inferred from the $18 million figure or from the Port’s service list.
For a current logistics decision, confirm the facility’s operating status, available warehouse or rail-car capacity, transfer procedures, insurance and scheduling requirements directly with the relevant facility and public agencies. Conditions can change after the 2025 city report and the November 2025 DEQ record.
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