Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Boston and Maine Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 30

Description of Properties
The Boston and Maine Railroad, hereinafter called the carrier, and the lines it operates comprise a standard-gage, steam railroad system, with a network of main lines and branches within the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York, extending from Rotterdam Junction, N. Y., to Portland, Me., and from Springfield, Worcester, and Boston, Mass., northward through Wells River to Groveton, N. H., and Sherbrooke, Quebec. The carrier operates, as lessee, certain properties in Canada which are not included in this report. Its lines reach most of the important New England industrial centers. Portions of the routes between Springfield and Sherbrooke and Springfield and Bretton Woods, N. H., are operated by the carrier, as agent for the owners thereof. The carrier owns and uses 708.888 miles of first main track, 235.670 miles of other main track, and 435.971 miles of yard tracks and sidings, a total of 1,380.529 miles of all tracks. It jointly owns and uses 1.152 miles of track, uses but does not own 2,756.413 miles of all tracks, and operates 109.069 miles of all tracks, as agent for the owners.

The Montpelier and Wells River Railroad is situated in Northern Vermont. Its main line extends from Montpelier to Wells River, approximately 38 miles, and the total mileage owned and used is 54.199 miles. In addition, it uses but does not own 6.331 miles of track. The St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain, also in Northern Vermont, extends from Lunenburg to Maquam, 120.649 miles, with 6.910 miles of branch lines. It owns and uses 114.566 miles of track and owns but does not use 32.602 miles.

Location and General Description of Property
The railroad of the Boston and Maine Railroad, herein referred to as the carrier, is a standard-gage, steam railroad, situated in the States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. The carrier also operates as lessee, sublessee, or under other arrangement properties of other companies situated in the three States named and in Vermont, New York, and the Province of Quebec, Canada. In addition, the carrier operates as agent the properties of the York Harbor and Beach Railroad Company, the Vermont Valley Railroad, and The Sullivan County Railroad. Separate reports are made on these three companies. These are, however, included in this docket. The property situated in Canada, on which no report is made, is leased by the carrier through The Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Rail Road Company.

The principal main lines extend from Boston, Mass., to the following points: Portland, Me., by two routes, one through Portsmouth, N. H., and the other through Dover, N. H., to Groveton, N. H., Intervale, N. H., Bretton Woods, N. H., Sherbrooke, Province of Quebec, White River Junction, Vt., Bellows Falls, Vt., Troy and Rotterdam Junction, N. Y., and Northampton, Mass.; from Springfield, Mass., to Sherbrooke, Province of Quebec, and from Springfield, Mass., to Bretton Woods, N. H., and from Worcester, Mass., to Portland, Me. Portions of the routes between Springfield and Sherbrooke and Springfield and Bretton Woods consist of the properties of certain of the roads which the carrier operates as agent. There are numerous branches from the foregoing main lines.

The carrier uses under trackage agreements, the tracks of a number of other carriers and likewise permits other carriers to use its tracks. A statement of the properties thus used, together with a summary of the terms of the use, is found in Appendix 2 under the caption Leased Railway Property.

Jointly Used Property
The carrier and the Providence and Worcester Railroad Company and the Norwich and Worcester Railroad Company, lessors of The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, own, one-third each, and use jointly, 0.283 mile of main line and 1.152 miles of all tracks situated at Worcester, Mass.

Corporate History
As finally organized on June 3, 1844, the carrier represented a consolidation of three companies, one incorporated in Massachusetts, one in New Hampshire, and one in Maine. The earliest of these companies was the Andover and Wilmington Railroad Corporation, which was incorporated by special act of Massachusetts of March 15, 1833, to construct a railroad from the south parish meeting house in Andover to the Boston and Lowell Rail Road in Wilmington “so as to form a branch thereof.” Subsequently, through changes of name effected by special acts of April 5, 1837, and April 3, 1839, it became the Andover and Haverhill Rail-road Corporation, and later the Boston and Portland Rail-road Corporation. As finally constructed, the road of the Boston and Portland Rail-road Corporation extended from Wilmington to the Massachusetts State line near Haverhill, Mass., a distance of approximately 16.82 miles.

The Boston and Maine Railroad, a New Hampshire corporation, was incorporated by special act of that State of June 27, 1835, for the purpose of constructing a railroad from the State line near Haverhill, Mass., to the State line of Maine. Similarly, The Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Rail Road Corporation was incorporated by special act of Maine of March 30, 1836, for the purpose of constructing a railroad from Portland, Me., to the Maine-New Hampshire State line at Great Falls, there to connect with the Boston and Maine Railroad.

By mutually conditional and substantially identical legislation, enacted on July 2, 1841, in New Hampshire, on March 6, 1841, and March 24, 1843, in Massachusetts, and on March 22, 1843, in Maine, these three roads were authorized to unite to form the Boston and Maine Railroad. The union of the Boston and Portland Rail-road Corporation and the Boston and Maine Railroad took place on November 5, 1841. The resulting company and The Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Rail Road Corporation were united on June 3, 1844, to complete the formation of the carrier. Inasmuch as the consolidation was effected through the New Hampshire company of 1835, and since the accounts of that company were continued without break, the carrier is considered for most purposes in this report to have had a continuous existence since 1835 under the corporate name of Boston and Maine Railroad.

The Boston and Maine Rail-road Extension Company was incorporated by a special act of Massachusetts of March 6, 1844, to afford a connection between Wilmington, the terminus of the existing road, and Boston. On September 10, 1845, by authority of a special act of Massachusetts of March 19, 1845, this company was united with the carrier.

At this time, 1845, there was legislative authority for the construction of a continuous line of railroad from the city of Boston to the city of Portland, but the carrier did not reach Portland over its own lines until 1873.

At an early date the carrier entered upon a program of acquiring roads by lease. It leased, jointly with the Eastern Rail-road Company, the line of the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad Company from 1846 to 1871. During the period from 1854 to 1887 the properties of 8 companies were acquired in this manner. In that number is included the Eastern Rail-road Company, which brought with it 8 other companies which it held under lease. The carrier therefore operated in all the properties of 16 companies, 8 of which it operated as lessee and 8 as sublessee. The carrier subsequently acquired the ownership of the properties of these 16 companies and of that of 1 company which it had not previously held under lease. These 17 companies and their predecessors, numbering 23 together with the 4 original companies and their constituent companies, 2 in number, are the ones directly involved in the carrier's history. Of the total of approximately 707.33 miles of main track owned on date of valuation the carrier acquired, after making allowance for sales and abandonments, about 91.73 miles by construction and 615.60 from other companies.

The principal office of the carrier is at Boston, Mass. On date of valuation, by virtue of the ownership of 52.9 per cent of the carrier's capital stock, control of the carrier was vested in the Boston Railroad Holding Company, organized in the interest of The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company for the purpose of purchasing and holding any or all of the capital stock of the carrier. The purposes of the holding company and the ends accomplished by it, with its relationship to the carrier and to the New Haven, are set forth fully in our opinion in Financial Transactions of N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. Co., 31 I. C. C. 32.

The following table shows the companies whose property, rights, and franchises were acquired by the carrier and certain facts relating to the corporate history of each.

1 This company was designated Boston and Maine Rail-road Company in the Massachusetts act and Boston and Maine Rail Road in the New Hampshire act.

Development of Fixed Physical Property
The property of the carrier on date of valuation consisted of approximately 707.33 miles of road, of which approximately 91.73 miles were acquired by construction and 615.60 miles from other companies, as follows:

The above mileage account is further analyzed as follows: 5 These changes in the location of the carrier's road were made in 1902 to provide a location for a reservoir constructed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

With the exception of the Boston and Portland Rail-road Corporation and the Portland and Rochester Railroad, all of the foregoing properties had been operated at different times by the carrier, under lease.

Leased Railway Property
There are here presented the principal provisions of the leases and other arrangements under which the carrier operates the entire properties of the 26 leased companies. For the use of these properties rentals were accrued during the year ended at date of valuation in the aggregate amount of $5,470,128.95. The carrier also operates exclusively 0.176 mile of main track and 0.258 mile of all tracks at Easthampton, Mass., the property of The New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. No rental is paid.

The carrier leases 6.83 acres of carrier land, situated in Vermont, from the New London Northern Railroad Company.

In addition to the properties included in the foregoing summary the carrier operates under lease the property of the Massawippi Valley Railway Company, comprising about 35.46 miles of road situated in the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Connecticut and Passumpsic owns all of the capital stock of this company and has a leasehold interest in its property for a term of 999 years, dating from July 1, 1870. This lease was assigned to the carrier as sublessee on December 13, 1892. The carrier pays an annual rental of 6 per cent on the capital stock of the company (5 per cent for first 10 years of operation) and interest on funded debt. The amount paid for the year ended at date of valuation was $24,000.

The Newport and Richford Railroad Company, a controlled line in Vermont, and the Lake Champlain & St. Lawrence Junction Railway, a controlled line in Canada, are leased to the Concord & Montreal and Atlantic Railway Company, of the Canadian Pacific Railway System. The Connecticut and Passumpsic owns all of the capital stock of the first of these companies. The lease of this property is for a period of 99 years, dating from June 8, 1881, and calls for an annual payment of $18,000. This rental is collected by the carrier and from it is paid $17,500 per annum for interest on the company's bonds. The remaining $500 is retained by the carrier. The Connecticut and Passumpsic and the Concord & Montreal own about 75 per cent of the capital stock of the Lake Champlain & St. Lawrence Junction Railway. The lease of this property provides for the payment of the interest on the funded debt as the annual rental.

The carrier and certain of its lessor companies own 275.90 miles of telegraph and telephone pole line, and in addition certain wires and miscellaneous telegraph equipment on many sections of the road on which The Western Union Telegraph Company owns the pole lines. All of the aforementioned pole lines, wires, and equipment are leased to and operated by the telegraph company. Certain wires are reserved for exclusive railroad use.

Four steam locomotives and 14 passenger-train cars, owned by the carrier, are used by The St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad Company.