Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Kansas City, Shreveport and Gulf Railway

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 75

The Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway

The railroad of The Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway Company, hereinafter referred to as the Shreveport, is located entirely within the state of Louisiana. Its railroad consists of a main line extending from the Arkansas-Louisiana state line on the north to the Louisiana-Texas state line on the south, with a branch line from De Quincy, La., to Lake Charles and Lockport, La., a total distance of 251.774 miles. It also owns 86.474 miles of other tracks, making a total of all tracks owned of 338.248 miles. In Appendix 1 will be found a general description of the characteristics of the property of the Shreveport.

Corporate History

The Shreveport was incorporated under the laws of the state of Louisiana on September 27, 1894, at the instance of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company for the reason that a foreign corporation could not at that time exercise the right of eminent domain under the laws of Louisiana. Nearly all of the property of the Shreveport was constructed by the Arkansas Construction Company and the Kansas City Terminal Construction Company.

A portion of the branch line extending from De Quincy, La., to Lake Charles, La., was acquired from the Calcasieu, Vernon & Shreveport Railway Company. The road of the latter company was narrow gauge and extended from Lockport, La., to Edgewood, La. This strip of track was widened by the construction company and additional mileage constructed.

In 1895, the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company entered into a contract with the Shreveport to operate and maintain its property. That company surrendered possession on April 1, 1900, and from that date to the present time The Kansas City Southern Railway Company has operated the property as its own, making no distinction between this line and other portions of its line to which it, in fact, holds the legal title.

In Appendix 2 will be found a statement of the manner in which the railroad property of the Shreveport was constructed.

Introductory

The above-named company, hereinafter styled the Shreveport, maintained no books or records save its minute book. The information here submitted concerning the company was taken partly from the records of the construction companies which built the property and partly from the controlling carrier, the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company.

The Shreveport was incorporated under the laws of the state of Louisiana on September 27, 1894. Its charter gave it the right to build or acquire a railroad to extend from the northern boundary line of the State of Louisiana, in Caddo Parish, south via Shreveport to a point at or near Sabine Pass, with a branch from Shreveport to New Orleans, La.; also to build, acquire, and operate telegraph and telephone lines in connection therewith. The principal office of the company was established in Shreveport, La. The term of the corporation is given as 99 years. The authorized capital stock is fixed at $1,000,000.

The incorporators were A. E. Stilwell, William S. Taylor, E. L. Martin, and sundry others, the persons named being at the time officers and directors of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Trust Company of Kansas City, Mo., and also of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company, as well as of other corporations then engaged in the establishment of a through line of railway to extend from Kansas City, Mo., to Port Arthur, Tex. The Shreveport was incorporated at the instance of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company in order to comply with the laws of the state of Louisiana, which at the time denied the right of eminent domain to foreign corporations.

On June 30, 1914, the property consisted of a single-track railway extending from the northern boundary of the state of Louisiana through the parishes of Caddo, De Soto, Sabine, Vernon, Beauregard, and Calcasieu to a point on the boundary line between the States of Louisiana and Texas. It connects at both termini with the line of the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railway Company. A branch line extends from De Quincy to Lake Charles and Lockport, La., all in Calcasieu parish.

The approximate track mileage owned consists of—

	Miles.
Main line.	225.17
Branch line.	26.60
Yard tracks and sidings.	86.47
Approximate total mileage owned.	338.24

Development of Fixed Physical Property

That portion of the line between the northern boundary of the state and the city of Shreveport was built by the Arkansas Construction Company. That portion of the line south of Shreveport, La., was built by the Kansas City Terminal Construction Company in three sections. The following table shows the approximate mileage constructed by each construction company and the date of opening of each section for commercial business:

From—	To—	Opened for business.	Miles.
CONSTRUCTED BY ARKANSAS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY.
Arkansas-Louisiana State line.	Shreveport, La.	Apr. 15, 1896	41.10
CONSTRUCTED BY KANSAS CITY TERMINAL CONSTRUCTION COMPANY.
Shreveport, La.	Many, La.	Oct. 26, 1896	76.40
Many, La.	De Quincy, La.	June 30, 1897	85.80
De Quincy, La.	Louisiana-Texas State line.	Sept. 11, 1897	19.16
Total main-line mileage.			222.46

The branch line, approximately 26.60 miles long, between De Quincy, La., and West Lake, Lake Charles, and Lockport, La., was acquired in part through the Arkansas Construction Company and the remainder was built for the Shreveport by the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company. A portion of the mileage of this branch had formerly been the property of the Calcasieu, Vernon & Shreveport Railway Company, extending from Lockport to Edgewood, La. This stretch of track was narrow gauge when acquired; the gauge was widened by the construction company and additional mileage added and the whole turned over to the Shreveport as mileage constructed for it by the construction company. The mileage east of Lockport to Lake Charles was constructed for the Shreveport through the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company.

The additions, betterments, and improvements to the property since the original installation have been made by and at the expense of the operating carrier, the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company and its successor, The Kansas City Southern Railway Company.

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An agreement dated December 2, 1895, provides that the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company will operate and maintain the railroad of the Shreveport from the northern line of Caddo Parish, La., to the Gulf of Mexico as a part of a continuous line of railroad to extend from Kansas City, Mo., to a point on the Gulf of Mexico at or near Sabine Pass. It is apparently under the foregoing agreement that the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company and its receivers retained possession of and operated the property of the Shreveport until April 1, 1900, on which date possession was surrendered to The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, which for its own use has continued to operate the property down to the date of valuation.

Predecessor Company

Calcasieu, Vernon & Shreveport Railway

No records of this company, save the minute book, were available.

The company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Louisiana on June 5, 1890. Its principal office was in Lockport, La. The life of the corporation was stated as 99 years, and its purposes were declared to be the construction and operation of a line or lines of railroad extending from points on the Calcasieu River in Calcasieu Parish, La., in a northwesterly direction; to construct wharves, docks, etc., and to establish steamboat lines to be used in connection with said railroad. The capital stock was fixed at $80,000.

The company constructed a narrow-gauge railroad about 16.5 miles in length, extending from Lockport, La., to a point known as Edgewood, about 6 miles east of De Quincy, La. It operated this property from the time of its completion to about January 1, 1897.

The Arkansas Construction Company came into possession of the property about January 1, 1897, which was widened to standard gauge and delivered by the construction company to the Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway Company as mileage constructed by the construction company under its contract. The deed conveying the property to the Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Railway Company is dated March 29, 1897, and the consideration named was $50,000. No mention is made of conveying any rights or franchises. Owing to the absence of records further information concerning the company and its property could not be obtained.