Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Massillon and Cleveland Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Volume 23, Valuation Reports

Massillon and Cleveland Railroad

Massillon and Cleveland Railroad Company, herein called the Massillon and Cleveland, a single-track railroad extending from Clinton, Ohio, southeasterly to Massillon, Ohio, 12.140 miles.

Introductory

The Massillon and Cleveland is a corporation of the State of Ohio, having its principal office at Massillon, Ohio. It is controlled by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago through ownership of a majority of the outstanding capital stock. The records do not indicate that this company controls any carrier corporation. The property has been operated under lease by other carriers since the date it was opened for operation, as explained under leased railway property hereinafter.

Corporate History

The Massillon and Cleveland was incorporated on October 3, 1868, under the general laws of the State of Ohio, through filing a certificate of incorporation dated October 2, 1868, for the purpose of constructing a railroad from a point on the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad in Summit County, Ohio, to a point on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago's railroad in Starke County, Ohio.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

Construction of the railroad was commenced in January, 1869, and was completed during the same year. Most of the grading was done by contractors who, from the records that are obtainable, appear not to have been affiliated with the Massillon and Cleveland or its officers. The grading was completed and the track laid by forces of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago and the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon and Delaware Railroad Company.

Leased Railway Property

The Massillon and Cleveland's entire property was leased to the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago for a period of 99 years under an agreement dated May 22, 1869. This agreement provided for the completion of the property by the lessee. The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago accepted the partly completed road on June 22, 1869. It also was provided that 40 per cent of the gross revenues from operation of the property should be paid as rental and that the lessee should pay the taxes, maintain the property, and make necessary renewals thereof at its own expense. The agreement also provided that 40 per cent of the gross revenues shall not be less than $20,000 per annum.

The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, under the terms of an agreement dated June 7, 1869, effective July 1, 1869, assigned its interest in the lease to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The latter assigned it on January 2, 1870, effective as of May 1, 1870, to the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon and Delaware Railroad Company. The latter surrendered it on September 28, 1880, without formal agreement, to the Pennsylvania Company, by whom all of the leasehold interests in the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, previously held by the Pennsylvania Railroad, had been acquired.

The property was exclusively operated by the lessees named until January 2, 1904, when the Pennsylvania Company entered into an agreement with the Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling Railway Company, predecessor of The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, under the terms of which the railroad of the Massillon and Cleveland between Clinton and Massillon Junction, Ohio, and the railroad of the Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling Railway Company between Warwick and Massillon Junction, Ohio, are used jointly as double tracks by the Pennsylvania Company and The Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company.