Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Mason City and Fort Dodge Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 35

Mason City & Fort Dodge Railroad

Location and General Description of Property

The railroad of Mason City & Fort Dodge Railroad Company, hereinafter called the Mason City & Fort Dodge, which is leased to and operated by the carrier, is a single-track, standard-gage line extending from a connection with the main line of the carrier at Hayfield, Minn., southwesterly to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and from Clarion, Iowa, easterly to a connection with the carrier at Oelwein, Iowa. A branch extends from Fort Dodge to Lehigh, Iowa. The Mason City & Fort Dodge owns 373.878 miles of road, and also yard and sidetracks as shown in the trackage table in Appendix 1.

Until October 31, 1901, the Mason City & Fort Dodge operated its own property. Since November 1, 1901, it has been operated under lease by the carrier and its immediate predecessor, the Chicago Great Western Railway Company.

Corporate History

The Mason City & Fort Dodge was incorporated on June 10, 1881, under the general laws of the State of Iowa, for a period of 50 years, as The Mason City and Fort Dodge Railroad Company. By amendment dated May 19, 1903, filed in Iowa on May 2, 1904, and in Minnesota on April 18, 1905, the corporate name was changed to Mason City & Fort Dodge Railroad Company.

The purpose of incorporation was to construct, acquire, and operate a railroad from a connection with the Chicago Great Western Railway Company's tracks at Hayfield, Minn., southwesterly through the cities of Mason City and Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Omaha, Nebr., and Sioux City, Iowa, with a line extending westerly from Oelwein, Iowa, to Clarion, Iowa, and branches from Fort Dodge to Lehigh, Iowa, and elsewhere as determined.

Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway Company was incorporated on June 13, 1902, under the general laws of the State of Iowa, for a period of 50 years, for the purpose of holding certain property, described hereinafter in the report on that company. On April 13, 1905, all of its property was conveyed to the Mason City & Fort Dodge.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

The railroad owned by the Mason City & Fort Dodge on date of valuation was acquired in part by purchase and in part by construction. In the following table are shown the years in which and the companies by which the several parts of this property were constructed and the manner in which they were acquired by the Mason City & Fort Dodge.

	[Mileage subtotal]	Recorded mileage
Acquired by purchase:
From various corporations and individuals, Aug. 3, 1881, a part of the property of Iowa Pacific Railroad Company, 38 miles of right of way and graded roadbed only, constructed 1870-1875.		---
From Fort Dodge Coal Company, June 28, 1886:
Carbon Junction to Coalville, Iowa.		3.50
From Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway Company, Apr. 13, 1905—
Acquired by latter from Chicago Great Western Railway Company, Sept. 24, 1902, and rehabilitated—
Hayfield, Minn., to Manley Junction, Iowa.	47.12
Hampton to Waverly, Iowa.	42.26
Total.	89.38
Constructed by Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway Company, Oelwein to Waverly, Iowa, 1904.	29.25
		118.63
Total mileage acquired by purchase.		122.13
Acquired by construction:
Mason City to Fort Dodge, Iowa, 1886.		72.60
Fort Dodge to Lehigh, Iowa, 1886.		15.80
Manley Junction to Mason City, Iowa, 1901.		9.20
Clarion to Hampton, Iowa, 1902.		26.83
Fort Dodge to Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1903.		132.87
Total acquired by construction.		257.30
Total mileage acquired.		379.43
Less abandonments, Carbon Junction to Coalville, Iowa, 1914.		3.50
Total recorded mileage owned on date of valuation.		375.93
Difference between recorded mileage and mileage inventoried as of date of valuation.		2.052
Mileage inventoried as of date of valuation.		373.878

Leased Railway Property

From November 1, 1901, to September 1, 1909, the property of the Mason City & Fort Dodge was operated by the Chicago Great Western Railway Company under a 100-year lease dated April 30, 1901. Since September 1, 1909, it has been operated by the carrier. The lease provides that out of the net earnings from the operation of the leased property the carrier will, on the first day of June and December in each year, pay the coupons on the Mason City & Fort Dodge's outstanding bonds, and that any surplus of net earnings in any six months shall be regarded as a trust fund in the hands of the carrier and carried forward in its accounts and held available for the payment of future bond interest. Such trust fund is to be construed only as an agreement of the carrier to pay the bond interest as it matures to the extent of the net earnings in any six months plus the aggregate amount of surplus in the trust fund. During the year ended on date of valuation the carrier paid bond interest in the amount of $480,000.

Predecessor Company

Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway

Introductory

The Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway Company, an Iowa company, was controlled during its entire life by the Chicago Great Western Railway Company. It was incorporated under an agreement of June 9, 1902, between itself, the Chicago Great Western Railway Company, and the Hayfield-Oelwein Extension Syndicate, for the purpose of holding certain property, described presently, until that property could be rehabilitated and until the construction of a 29-mile extension from Oelwein to Waverly, Iowa, after which all of its property was to be delivered to the Mason City & Fort Dodge. The property of the Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway Company was operated by the Chicago Great Western Railway company until April 13, 1905, the date of its transfer to the Mason City & Fort Dodge. No accounting records of the Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway Company or of its financial syndicate are obtainable.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

Under the terms of the agreement of June 9, 1902, the Hayfield-Oelwein Extension Syndicate purchased from the Chicago Great Western Railway Company on September 24, 1902, 89.38 miles of railroad, extending from Hayfield, Minn., to Manley Junction, Iowa, and from Hampton, Iowa, to Waverly, Iowa. Chicago Great Western Railway Company rehabilitated this property and constructed for the Hayfield-Oelwein Extension Syndicate for account of the Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway Company 29.25 miles of new line, extending from Waverly, Iowa, to Oelwein, Iowa. The construction of this property was completed on February 1, 1904.