Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 27

The Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad

Location and General Description of Property

The railroad of The Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad Co., herein called the Erie and Kalamazoo, is a single-track branch line, extending from Vulcan (near Toledo), Ohio, to Palmyra, Mich., a distance of 21.818 miles.

Introductory

The Erie and Kalamazoo is a corporation of the States of Michigan and Ohio, having its principal office at Adrian, Mich. No accounting records of the Erie and Kalamazoo were obtained. Therefore, no information can be given from its accounts regarding its financial dealings, corporate operations or investments. However, certain data indicated hereinafter were obtained from the report filed by the company with this commission, as of date of valuation, from the accounting records of The Michigan Southern Rail Road Company and from other sources. The records reviewed do not indicate that the Erie and Kalamazoo is controlled by any individual or corporation, nor, on the other hand, that it controls any common-carrier corporation.

The records reviewed do not indicate how the property of this company was operated from the date it was opened for operation, about 1837, to August 1, 1849. From the latter date, to date of valuation, it has been operated under lease, as follows:

Operated by—	From—	To—
The Michigan Southern Rail Road Company.	Aug. 1, 1849	May 19, 1855
The Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Rail Road Company.	May 19, 1855	June 2, 1869
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company.	June 2, 1869	Aug. 16, 1869
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company.	Aug. 16, 1869	Dec. 23, 1914
New York Central.	Dec. 23, 1914	(1)

¹Date of valuation.

Corporate History

The Erie and Kalamazoo was incorporated April 22, 1833, under special act of the Territory of Michigan, now the State of Michigan, for the purpose of constructing and operating a railroad from Toledo, then claimed to be within the Territory of Michigan, to the headwaters of the Kalamazoo River in that Territory. When the boundary dispute was settled, Toledo was declared to be within the limits of the State of Ohio, and the Erie and Kalamazoo was incorporated April 4, 1852, under the general laws of the latter State. Under special act of the State of Michigan, May 18, 1846, the charter of the Erie and Kalamazoo was amended fixing the westerly terminus of its road at Adrian, Mich. The date of organization of the Erie and Kalamazoo was April 22, 1833.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

The owned mileage of the Erie and Kalamazoo, about 22 miles, was all acquired by construction during the period from about 1833 to 1837. It is not known whether the construction work was performed by the company's forces or by contract. The Erie and Kalamazoo also acquired by construction during the same period, about 5 miles of road between Vulcan and Toledo, Ohio, that was abandoned about 1855 or 1857, and about 6 miles of road between Palmyra and Adrian, Mich., that was abandoned in 1887.

Leased Railway Property

The entire property of the Erie and Kalamazoo is leased in perpetuity to the New York Central from August 1, 1849, by virtue of its assumption of a lease entered into with The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company and its predecessors. The terms of the lease and the rental accrued for the year ending on date of valuation are given in the chapter on leased railway property in the report on the New York Central.