Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Midland Valley Railroad
Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 141
Midland Valley Railroad[edit]
Location and General Description of Property[edit]
The railroad of the Midland Valley Railroad Company, herein called the carrier, is a single-track, standard-gauge, steam railroad, located in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The owned mileage consists of a main line extending northwesterly from Rock Island, Okla., to Silverdale, Kans., via Muskogee and Tulsa, Okla., with branches extending from Rock Island, Okla., to Greenwood, Ark., from Excelsior to Hartford, Ark., and from Jenks to Kiefer, Okla., aggregating 290.574 miles of main track. The carrier also owns terminal facilities at Fort Smith, Ark., and Arkansas City, Kans., both of which points are reached by means of trackage rights.
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The carrier wholly owns and uses 370.171 miles of all tracks and wholly uses but does not own 55.594 miles of all tracks. These tracks are classified in the trackage table in Appendix 1. The carrier also jointly owns and uses with another carrier 0.257 undivided mile of yard tracks and sidings, as shown in the trackage table in Appendix 1.
Introductory[edit]
The carrier is a corporation of the State of Arkansas, having its principal office at Muskogee, Okla. It is controlled by Edward T. Stotesburg, Sidney F. Tyler, Lloyd W. Smith, and Francis I. Gowan, trustees, who hold the entire capital stock of the carrier under a voting-trust agreement established February 1, 1913, under the terms of the plan of readjustment, as explained more fully in the chapter on history of corporate financing. On the other hand, the records do not indicate that this carrier controls any common-carrier corporation. The property was operated by the carrier's own organization from the dates it was placed in operation to December 31, 1917. From January 1, 1918, to date of valuation it has been operated by the United States Railroad Administration.
Corporate History[edit]
The carrier was incorporated June 4, 1903, under the general laws of Arkansas for the purpose of constructing and operating a railroad from Fort Smith, Ark., to connections with the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad near Hartford, Ark., and the Fort Smith and Western Railroad at Bokoshe, Okla., and various branch lines within Arkansas, together with power to acquire any railroad already constructed within or without Arkansas, and to extend its lines as the board of directors might determine.
Development of Fixed Physical Property[edit]
The owned mileage of the carrier, 290.574 miles, was acquired by it under a construction contract from the Cherokee Construction Company or through construction by its own forces. The years when the various portions of the road were constructed are indicated in the following table.
| Mileage | |
|---|---|
| Greenwood, Ark., to Excelsior, Ark., June, 1903, to February, 1904. | 6.250 |
| Hartford, Ark., to Bokoshe, Okla., June, 1903, to February, 1904. | 49.170 |
| Bokoshe, Okla., to milepost 59.15, Okla., February, 1904, to August, 1904. | 29.850 |
| Milepost 59.15 to Muskogee, Okla., 1904. | 38.810 |
| Muskogee, Okla., to Tulsa, Okla., April, 1904, to January, 1905. | 57.940 |
| Tulsa, Okla., to Silverdale, Kans., January, 1905, to June, 1906. | 99.700 |
| Connection with Missouri Pacific Railroad to west city limits, Arkansas City, Kans., July, 1905, to March, 1906. | 2.140 |
| Jenks, Okla., to Glenpool, Okla., March, 1907, to August, 1907. | 6.300 |
| Milepost 59.15, Okla., to milepost 64.88, Okla., July, 1908, to April, 1909 (revision of line). | 5.730 |
| Glenpool, Okla., to Kiefer, Okla., July, 1916, to December, 1916. | 2.350 |
| 298.240 | |
| Less— | |
| Mileage abandoned on account of line change between milepost 59.15, Okla., and Muskogee, Okla., July, 1908, to April, 1909. | 7.630 |
| Total recorded mileage. | 290.610 |
| Difference between total recorded mileage and mileage inventoried as of date of valuation. | 0.036 |
| Mileage inventoried as of date of valuation. | 290.574 |
In addition, the carrier owns 1.95 miles of terminal tracks at Fort Smith, Ark. reached by trackage rights over the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. These terminal tracks were constructed during 1904 for the carrier.
The carrier acquired its entire original main line, its branch line to Glenpool, Okla., and its original equipment, under a construction contract with the Cherokee Construction Company, an affiliated company. Of this property, 38.81 miles of road extending from milepost 59.15 to Muskogee, Okla., had been constructed by the Kenefick Construction Company for the Muskogee Southern Railroad, but the Cherokee Construction Company, under an agreement with the Kenefick Construction Company, acquired such mileage for the carrier.
Leased Railway Property[edit]
The carrier used on December 31, 1917, property owned by other companies and other companies used property owned by the carrier to the extent indicated in the statement below. The description of the property, the period and terms of use, and the rentals accrued and charged or credited to income for the year ended December 31, 1917, were as follows:
| Rentals | |
|---|---|
| Solely owned but jointly used, used with— | |
| The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, tracks at Tulsa, Okla.; agreement effective from Mar. 4, 1917; rental $400 a month. | $1,620.98 |
| W. R. Wells, use of tracks for motor car between Nelagoney and Pawhuska, Okla., 6 miles; rental $7 a day with monthly rental of $225 for 4 round trips, $2 per trip in excess of the 4 round trips. | 492.10 |
| St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, use of spur-track connection, Central Milling Company, Muskogee, Okla., 667 feet; rental 3 per cent on valuation of $1,000 and $48 per annum for maintenance. | 2.50 |
| Other minor item, joint use discontinued Aug. 1, 1917. | 8.00 |
| Solely used, but not owned, leased from Wichita and Midland Valley— | |
| Entire property; leased under agreement dated Mar. 14, 1911, for a term expiring July 29, 1960; annual rental equal to 25 per cent of the gross earnings from operating the leased line (with a minimum guarantee of a rental equal to the lessor's taxes and bond interest) to be disbursed in the following order: Payment of lessor's taxes and bond interest, payment of dividends on lessor's preferred stock, payment of any balance to the lessor. However, in the financial reorganization of Feb. 1, 1913, the rental provisions were modified to the extent that the Wichita and Midland Valley's preferred stockholders agreed, in case the carrier's earnings were insufficient to pay interest on its adjustment-mortgage income bonds, to waive their rights to dividends in favor of the holders of such income bonds. | 57,558.10 |
| Jointly used, but not owned, owned by— | |
| St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, tracks, 15.84 miles, from Fort Smith, Ark., to Rock Island, Okla., including passenger station at Fort Smith; rental $600 per mile per annum, 2.5 per cent per annum on additions and betterments and 50 per cent of taxes. | 16,249.73 |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, tracks, 9.03 miles, from Silverdale to Arkansas City, Kans., term 10 years from Nov. 1, 1917; rental $3,750 per annum, also proportion of operating expenses, maintenance, and taxes. | 5,402.43 |
| Other minor items. | 210.52 |