Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Ashland Coal and Iron Railway

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 97

Ashland Coal and Iron Railway
The Ashland Coal and Iron Railway, hereinafter called the carrier, is a Kentucky corporation, controlled by the Ashland Coal and Mining Company. It owns and operates a single-track standard-gauge steam railroad extending from Ashland to Seaton, Ky., a distance of 24.742 miles. It also owns 17.458 miles of yard tracks and sidings.

Location and General Description of Property
The railroad of the Ashland Coal and Iron Railway, hereinafter referred to as the carrier, is a single-track standard-gauge steam railroad, situated in the northeastern part of the State of Kentucky, extending from Ashland to Seaton, a distance of 24.742 miles. The carrier also owns and uses 17.458 miles of yard tracks and sidings, or a total of 42.200 miles of all tracks. In addition to the foregoing, the carrier owns 0.270 mile of main track at Ashland, which it leases for exclusive use to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. Its owned mileage consists, therefore, of 25.012 miles of main track and 42.470 miles of all tracks. The carrier uses under trackage agreements the tracks of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company from Seaton to Hitchins, a distance of about 4 miles, and those of the Eastern Kentucky Railway Company from Hitchins to Grayson, a distance of about 4.5 miles.

Physical Conditions Affecting Construction
The country traversed by the carrier's line is hilly. The soil is of sand and clay, with outcroppings of sandstone and shale.

Economic Conditions Relating to Traffic
The products of the region served are those of mine and factory.

Corporate History
The carrier was incorporated by special act of the State of Kentucky, approved January 25, 1865, as the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad, Eastern Division. The carrier was incorporated as successor to the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad Company and authorized to carry on the mining and vending of coal and the manufacture of iron and other minerals, in addition to the usual powers granted railroads. The carrier acquired the property of The Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad Company by deed dated June 15, 1866. By special act of the State of Kentucky, approved March 31, 1880, the carrier's corporate name was changed to Ashland Coal and Iron Railway Company.

Under the act of the General Assembly of the State of Kentucky, which became a law April 15, 1892, the powers of a railway company were limited to those incident to the carrying on of the business of a common carrier. On November 14, 1901, the carrier filed with the secretary of state a copy of resolution passed by its board of directors, accepting the provisions of the act. In compliance therewith the carrier sold all of its mining and manufacturing property to the Ashland Iron and Mining Company. The separation became effective January 1, 1902.

The carrier's principal office is at Ashland. The records of the carrier for the period prior to May, 1870, have not been obtained, and the records available from that date to January 1, 1902, [?] For these reasons only partial information can be obtained from the accounts. Certain information pertaining to the period prior to January 1, 1902, has been taken from sources other than the carrier's records. Information as to the development of the carrier's fixed physical property is given in Appendix 2.

Corporate History [Appendix 2]
The Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad Company was incorporated by special act of the State of Kentucky of January 9, 1852. By deed dated June, 1864, the property, rights, and franchises of the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad Company were conveyed to William T. Nicolls himself and associates, purchasers under foreclosure proceedings brought by the city of Lexington, Ky., and sold on August 8, 1860, for $60,000. By deed dated July 9, 1864, this property was conveyed by William T. Nicolls for himself and associates to John G. Peebles and associates. By deed dated June 15, 1866, the property was conveyed by the latter to the carrier. No accounting records of the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad Company are obtainable.

Development of Fixed Physical Property
The property owned by the carrier on date of valuation was acquired by it as follows:

Of the foregoing mileage the carrier leases to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company for sole operation 0.270 mile of main track at Ashland.

Leased Railway Property
The carrier uses under trackage agreement the tracks of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company from Seaton to Hitchins, a distance of about 4 miles, for which it pays $6.25 per month, or $75 per annum, and about 0.21 mile of the track of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company in East Ashland, for which it pays $27.50 per month, or $330 per annum. The carrier also uses under trackage agreement the tracks of the Eastern Kentucky Railway Company from Hitchins to Grayson, a distance of about 4.5 miles. No rental is paid, the Eastern Kentucky Railway Company receiving all fares collected between Hitchins and Grayson and proportion of through tickets.

The carrier leases for sole operation 0.270 mile of its main track at Ashland to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company at a rental of $27.50 per month, or $330 per annum.

The carrier grants to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company the use under trackage agreement of its track between Ashland and Seaton, a distance of 24.742 miles. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company pays annual rental of $36,000, 90 per cent of taxes, and proportion of maintenance based on cars and engines handled. The annual rental applicable to the year ended at date of valuation was recorded as $46,250.08. The carrier received $34,377.04 from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company as the latter's proportion of maintenance and credited the amount to operating expenses. The carrier pays the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company $50 per month as proportion of cost of dispatching trains and charges that amount to operating expenses.