Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 143

Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad

Location and General Description of Property

Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad Company, herein called the Atlantic and St. Lawrence, extending from Island Pond, Vt., southeasterly across the States of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to its tidewater terminus at Portland, Me., 149.784 miles.

Introductory

The above-named company is a corporation of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, having its principal office at Portland, Me. While the accounting records of the company were not obtained, accounting statements in the files, taken from the records, were found to contain certain information respecting outlays. Therefore, full information can not be given regarding its financial dealings, corporate operations, or investments. The capital stock of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence is practically all owned by interests in England. The other outstanding securities are all owned by the carrier and that company exercises control at stockholders' meetings through proxies given its representatives by the principal stockholders. On the other hand, the records reviewed do not indicate that the company controls any common-carrier corporation. The property was operated by the company's own organization from the respective dates that sections of its road were acquired, until June 30, 1853. Since July 1, 1853, it has been operated under lease by the carrier.

Corporate History

The Atlantic and St. Lawrence was incorporated in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont by acts of the legislatures of those States, approved February 10, 1845, June 30, 1847, and October 27, 1848, respectively. The purpose of the corporation was to construct and operate a railroad from Portland, Me., to a connection on the Canadian boundary with a railroad to be constructed by the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Rail Road Company, a Canadian corporation.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

Available records indicate that this railroad was constructed by independent contractors and that the owned mileage, 149.784 miles, was all acquired by construction. The years when the various portions of the line were constructed are indicated in the following statement.

	Mileage
Portland to Bethel, Me., 1848-1851.	70.50
Bethel, Me., to Island Pond, Vt., 1851-1853.	79.25
Total recorded mileage.	149.75
Difference between total recorded mileage and mileage inventoried as of date of valuation.	0.034
Mileage inventoried as of date of valuation.	149.784

The Atlantic and St. Lawrence had constructed its line as far as Island Pond, Vt., and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Rail Road Company proposed to build a line from the boundary to Island Pond, but, on account of the latter being Canadian corporation, its plans were modified. It, thereupon, on April 15, 1852, appointed three of its directors as trustees, and secured from the Atlantic and St. Lawrence the assignment in their names, the right to construct and operate in perpetuity that portion of the line between Island Pond, Vt., and the boundary. The trustees constructed the line but the expenditures could not be segregated in the accounts of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Rail Road Company from its other construction. This mileage has been inventoried to the carrier. [...]

Leased Railway Property

The entire property is operated by the carrier under lease dated August 5, 1853, which has been supplemented to provide for additional rental to be paid as dividends on additional stock issued and reimbursement to the lessee for expenditures for additions and betterments. Under the terms of the lease, the lessee maintains and operates the property and retains all revenues. As rental it pays 6 per cent per annum dividend on the capital stock of the lessor and guarantees all outstanding funded debt of the lessor as to principal and interest. The period of the lease is 999 years from July 1, 1853.

Under several agreements, some dated in 1853, between the carrier and the Great Northwestern Telegraph Company, all of the telegraph property on this line is jointly used. The ownership of the telegraph pole line, consisting of 149.62 miles, is vested in the telegraph company. The terms of use and termination of the agreements were not obtained.