Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Wadley Southern Railway

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 103

Wadley Southern Railway

Location and General Description of Property

The railroad of Wadley Southern Railway Company, hereinafter called the carrier, is a single-track standard-gauge road, located in the eastern part of Georgia. Its main line extends from Wadley, Ga., to Rockledge, Ga., a distance of 36.877 miles, and from Creek Junction, Ga., near Wadley, to Collins, Ga., a distance of 51.873 miles. The total length of main line is 88.750 miles; the total length of yard tracks and sidings is 7.110 miles; an aggregate of 95.860 miles.

Introductory

The carrier, whose principal office is located at Savannah, Ga., is the successor by change of name to The Wadley & Mt. Vernon Railroad Company. It is controlled by the Central of Georgia Railway Company through ownership of $598,900 par value of its capital stock and $800,000 par value of its first-mortgage bonds.

Corporate History

The Wadley & Mt. Vernon Railroad Company was incorporated under the general railroad law of the State of Georgia, June 25, 1889, with its principal office in Wadley, Ga. To confer upon it the privileges, rights, powers, and immunities embraced in the general railroad law, approved December 17, 1892, its charter was amended March 20, 1897; and by a subsequent amendment which wrought no other changes in its corporate status, its name was changed July 3, 1906, to that of the carrier, and its principal office was changed to Savannah, Ga.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

At June 30, 1915, the carrier owned 90 miles of single-track standard-gauge railway, extending in a southwesterly direction from Wadley to Rockledge, Ga., about 37 miles, and southeast from Wadley to Collins, Ga., about 53 miles. Shortly after the incorporation of The Wadley & Mt. Vernon Railroad Company, the latter purchased from Donovan, Perkins & Company (the members of which firm were also the incorporators of the company) a logging road extending from Wadley to Rixville, Ga., about 30 miles. This property was acquired May 31, 1890. In 1903, 12 miles of railway between Rixville and Oconee River, Ga., were constructed for the company by the James Lumber Company, a concern owned by Thomas J. James, who was at the time a member of the firm of Donovan, Perkins & Company, one of the incorporators of the company, its president, and sole owner of its capital stock. Some time between July 1, 1903, and June 30, 1906, a portion of this line, about 5 miles between Rockledge and Oconee River, was abandoned. On July 1, 1906, the company purchased the property of the Stillmore Air Line Railway [chartered November 17, 1892], thus acquiring about 53 miles of additional road between Wadley and Collins, Ga.

Leased and Jointly Used Property

The carrier leases no property of other carriers for sole operation. One parcel of land owned by the carrier, with an area of about 0.5 acre, is used solely by the Central of Georgia Railway Company. Neither of the interested companies report that fact and the returns are amended upon the findings of the land section. No other property of the carrier is leased to others for sole operation.