Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Mobile and Ohio Railroad

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Corporate history.—The carrier was incorporated under a special act of the Legislature of the State of Alabama, approved February 3, 1848. Similar acts were passed by the Legislatures of the States of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, on February 17, 1848, January 28, 1848, and February 26, 1848, respectively. Under the provisions of these special acts, the carrier was authorized to locate and construct a railroad from Mobile, Ala., northwardly to the mouth of the Ohio River, with branch lines not to exceed 30 miles in length on either side of the main line. The organization of the carrier was perfected on June 7, 1848.

The railroad was placed in the hands of a receiver on May 8, 1875, on account of default in the payment of its bond interest, but a reorganization was effected on January 24, 1883, without foreclosure. The principal office of the carrier is at Mobile, Ala. The detailed facts as to the development of fixed physical property are given in Appendix 2.


CORPORATE HISTORY

The following statement shows facts concerning the incorporation and demise of companies which were the immediate predecessors of the carrier:

Company Date of
incorporation
Nature and date of change in corporation
Mississippi, Gainesville and Tuscaloosa Railroad Company. Feb. 10, 1852 Conveyed to James Crawford Oct. 20, 1870; conveyed to the carrier Mar. 24, 1871.
Aberdeen Branch. Unknown. Conveyed to the carrier Mar. 28, 1879.
Mobile and Bay Shore Railroad[sic] Company. Nov. 7, 1898 Conveyed to the carrier Mar. 27, 1903.
Mobile & Western Railroad Company. Sept. 4, 1906 Conveyed to Union Naval Stores Company Apr. 4, 1907; conveyed to the carrier Nov. 18, 1909.
St. Louis & Cairo Railroad Company. May 24, 1881 Conveyed its property to the carrier on July 28, 1913; right to be a corporation not conveyed.
Kentucky and Tennessee Railroad Company. Feb. 28, 1870 Not conveyed to carrier by deed; leased in perpetuity; considered as owned by the carrier.

[Indirect predecessors include Cairo and St. Louis Railroad]

DEVELOPMENT OF FIXED PHYSICAL PROPERTY

Of the road mileage, 923.21 miles, owned by the carrier on date of valuation, 709.80 miles was acquired by construction and 213.41 miles by purchase.

Construction.—The following tabulation shows the points between which lines were constructed, their mileages and dates of beginning operation.

Mobile, Ala., to Columbus, Ky. Apr. 22, 1861 470.40
Artesia to Columbus, Miss. Apr. 22, 1861 14.00
Artesia to Starkville, Miss. 1875 11.23
South Columbus to East Cairo, Ky. May 1, 1882 21.00
Columbus, Miss., to Montgomery, Ala. July 1, 1899 166.22
Eoline to Blocton, Ala. July 1, 1899 13.35
Tuscaloosa to Tidewater, Ala. July 1, 1899 9.27
Louis to Dawes, Ala. 1912 4.33
Total 709.80

The construction of the original lines of the carrier from Mobile, Ala., to Columbus, Ky., and from Artesia to Columbus, Miss., were begun at Mobile in October, 1849, and the first 33 miles were opened for traffic in 1852. No records are obtainable which show when other sections of these two lines were completed nor by whom the lines were constructed, but the whole was in operation on April 22, 1861. Immediately after the completion of this line the armed forces of the Federal and the Confederate Governments took possession of portions of it. As a result of the war, considerable property of the carrier was destroyed, but the obtainable records do not disclose the extent of the damage to the line, nor by whom the destroyed portion was reconstructed.

The line from South Columbus, to East Cairo, Ky., 21 miles, was constructed by the carrier under the charter of Kentucky & Tennessee Railroad Company. It was constructed as a broad-gauge road originally, but was reduced to standard gauge during the year 1886. Under an agreement dated May 3, 1872, this road was to be leased in perpetuity to the carrier and was turned over for operation on May 1, 1882. Since that time it has been considered by the carrier as part of Its own line although no formal deed of conveyance transferring the property has been made. The carrier claims ownership of this line because of the fact that it has a perpetual lease, that all expenses and taxes are paid by it, and that it owns a majority of the outstanding capital stock.

Construction of the lines shown as placed in operation on July 1, 1899, was started on February 1, 1897, under a contract with J. W. Woolfolk. This contract was abrogated on March 22, 1898, and the remainder of the line was completed by the carrier with its own forces. There are no obtainable records showing by whom the lines from Artesia to Starkville, Miss., and from Louis to Dawes, Ala., were constructed.

Purchase.—The carrier purchased the properties of the following companies on the dates shown:

Aberdeen Branch, Muldoon to Aberdeen, Miss., Mar. 28, 1879 9.00
Mobile and Bay Shore Railway Company, Mobile and Bay Shore Junction to Bayou La Batre, Ala., Mar. 27, 1903 38.01
Mobile and Western Railroad Company, Mann to Louis, Ala., Nov. 13, 1909 3.60
St. Louis & Cairo Railroad Company, Cairo, Ill., to East St. Louis, Ill., July 28, 1913 155.19
St. Louis & Cairo Railroad Company, Millstadt Junction, Ill., to Millstadt, Ill., July 28, 1913 7.61
Total 213.41

The carrier did not purchase the right of the St. Louis & Cairo Railroad Company to be a corporation, and it is still in existence. The carrier also acquired by purchase on March 24, 1871, 21.5 miles of railroad, Narkeeta, Miss., to Gainesville, Ala., the property of Mississippi, Gainesville and Tuscaloosa Railroad Company. This entire line was abandoned and dismantled in 1880.

HISTORY OF CORPORATE FINANCING


Owned by others and jointly used

Passenger terminals at Mobile, Ala., including 0.39 mile of track owned by Gulf Terminal Company, but used jointly by Southern Railway Company and the carrier; rental paid by the carrier, its proportion, based on cars handled, of interest on bonds and dividends on capital stock of Gulf Terminal Company $21,283.17
The carrier also uses upper floors of station and paid Gulf Terminal Company rental for space occupied at a rate of $8,000 per annum 8,000.00
Passenger terminal at Montgomery, Ala., including 0.55 mile of track; owned by Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company; rental, carrier's proportion, based on cars handled, of 5 per cent per annum on value of real estate and 7 per cent per annum on value of station and facilities 1,415.98
Trackage at Montgomery, Ala., 2.36 miles, owned by Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company; rental, 3 per cent per annum of value of tracks 6,850.83
Freight terminal at Birmingham, Ala.; owned by Southern Railway Company 2,220.00
Passenger terminal at Meridian, Miss., including 0.57 mile of track; owned by Meridian Terminal Company; rental, proportion, based on cars handled, of interest on bonds and dividends on capital stock of terminal company [?].70
Terminal facilities at Blocton, Ala., including 1.78 miles of track; owned by Woodstock and Blocton Railway Company 3,427.20
Pier and 0.9 mile of track at Mobile, Ala.; owned by Southern Railway Company; rental, carrier's proportion, based on tonnage handled, of 5 per cent per annum on valuation of $137,675.77 3,526.69
Trackage between East Cairo, Ky., and Cairo, Ill., 9.33 miles, and bridge over Ohio River at Cairo, Ill.; owned by Illinois Central Railroad Company; rental, one-half per cent per hundredweight on freight handled over bridge and 25 cents per passenger carried 314,805.07
Trackage between Winford and Wickliffe, Ky., 11.79 miles, including station at Wyckliffe[sic], Ky.; owned by Illinois Central Railroad Company; rental, 2.5 per cent of total valuation of $701,656.14 $17,538,[?]
Trackage between Ruslor, Miss., and Haleyvllle, Ala., 80.15 miles; rental, 2 per cent of total valuation of $4,320,279 86,405.58
Passenger terminal at Cairo, Ill.; owned by Illinois Central Railroad Company; rental, carrier's proportion, based on cars handled, of 5 per cent per annum on valuation of $7,896.77 103.02
Trackage between Wickliffe and East Cairo, Ky., owned by Illinois Central Railroad Company; used jointly with the carrier in exchange for joint use by Illinois Central Railroad Company of tracks of the carrier between the same points
Trackage between Parrish and Birmingham, Ala., 49.31 miles; owned by Southern Railway Company; payment for use, 50 cents per train-mile for all trains operated, of which 65 per cent was classed by the carrier as rent 9,378.40
Trackage between Haleyville and Parrish, Ala., 49.69 miles; owned by Northern Alabama Railway Company; rental for portion of line between Haleyvllle and Jasper, Ala., 1.5 per cent per annum on valuation of $1,018,250, amounting to $15,273.72; for balance of line between Jasper and Parrish, Ala., rental is about 2 per cent per annum on a valuation of of[sic] $226,500, amounting to $4,350 19,623.72
Bridge and 3.84 miles of track between East St. Louis, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo.; owned by Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis; rental, 75 per cent of amount paid for movement of passenger cars at rates varying from 50 cents to $3 per car handled, amounting to $21,383.50; charged to operation, $5,345.89; balance 16,037.61
Passenger terminal and freight warehouse at St. Louis, Mo.; owned by Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis; contract of Sept. 1, 1894, covering the use of passenger terminal at St. Louis provided that tenant companies would pay rent on basis of cars handled at 5 per cent per annum on a total valuation of [?] no rent charged the carrier for use of freight warehouse at St. Louis 8,504.71

Solely owned and jointly used

Trackage between Perry, Tenn., and Ruslor, Miss., 61.38 miles, used jointly with Illinois Central Railroad Company; rental 2 per cent per annum of valuation of property 28,654.[?]

[...] Leased from others and solely used

Entire railroad between Tidewater and Kellerman, Ala., 13.661 miles, including equipment, owned by the Warrior Southern; no contract covering the operation of this property of record and no rental accrued

[?]

Yard tracks at Mobile, Ala., owned by Southern Railway Company; rental, 5 per cent of total valuation of $13,556 667.80
Yard tracks at Montgomery, Ala., owned by Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company; rental, 6 per cent of total valuation of $7,697.33 461.84
Yard tracks at East St. Louis, Ill., owned by East St. Louis Connecting Railway Company; no record of any payment of rent for use of these tracks for year 1915.