Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Hawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway

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Corporate history.—The carrier was incorporated May 25, 1896, under the general laws of Georgia. Its principal offices are at Macon, Ga. It is controlled by the Georgia Southern & Florida Railway Company through ownership of the entire capital stock. On July 11, 1896, the carrier acquired from the Enterprise Lumber Company approximately 17 miles of road, extending from Pitts to Worth. The carrier constructed, under contract with the Enterprise Lumber Company, about 25 additional miles of road, extending from Pitts to Hawkinsville, completed in 1900. The carrier leased this property, effective May 1, 1907, to certain parties who were to form a corporation known as the Gulf Line Railway Company. Pending the formation of this corporation the lease was transferred to the Flint River & Gulf Railway Company, the immediate predecessor of the Gulf Line Railway Company. On August 1, 1913, the carrier acquired the property of the Gulf Line Railway Company, embracing about 51 miles of road, from Ashburn to Camilla, and canceled the lease which was to have continued in effect until April 1, 1952. Additional facts with respect to the corporate history of the predecessors of the carrier are given in Appendix 2.

History of corporate financing, capital stock, and long-term debt.—

The corporate history and development of fixed physical property of the carrier have been related in the body of this report. Below are given such facts with regard to the corporate history of the carrier's predecessors as are disclosed by the available records.

Flint River and Gulf Railway Company.—The Flint River and Gulf Railway Company was incorporated under the general laws of Georgia on October 14, 1901. If it maintained any accounting records they were not available in this examination. It filed one annual report with this commission, that for the year ended June 30, 1907, and in the main the information here submitted was taken from that report. The property owned by the Flint River and Gulf Railway Company consisted of about 31 miles of standard-gauge railroad, extending between Ashburn and Bridgeboro, Ga., and was brought into operation on March 1, 1906. Apparently the property had been originally constructed for logging operations, but no details as to the date, manner, or cost of construction are available.

On May 1, 1907, the Flint River and Gulf Railway Company leased for operation the property of the carrier between Hawkinsville and Worth, Ga., consisting of about 42 miles of road. Connection between Worth and Ashburn, approximately 3 miles, was effected by trackage rights over the line of the Georgia Southern & Florida Railway Company. The aggregate total mileage operated was, therefore, about 76 miles. Rental for the property leased from the carrier was at the rate of $18,000 per annum. On August 8, 1907, the property of the Flint River and Gulf Railway Company was sold to the Gulf Line Railway Company for $300,000 par value of the capital stock and $300,000 par value of the first-mortgage bonds of the latter company.

Gulf Line Railway Company.—The Gulf Line Railway Company was incorporated under the general laws of Georgia, July 17, 1907, as the successor to the Flint River and Gulf Railway Company, for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, maintaining, and operating a line of railroad from Hawkinsville, Ga., to some point on the Gulf of Mexico. The principal office of the Gulf Line Railway Company was located at Macon, Ga., and control of its affairs was vested in the banking firm of Kissel, Kinnicutt and Company of New York, as owners of all outstanding securities. On August 1, 1913, the property, rights, and franchises of the Gulf Line Railway Company were sold to the carrier, and the company thereupon ceased to own or operate railway property. The open accounts of the Gulf Line Railway Company are being liquidated by Kissel, Kinnicutt and Company, which firm advanced $30,319.98 for that purpose during the period August 1, 1913, to June 30, 1915.

The property operated by the Gulf Line Railway Company to the date mentioned was a single-track standard-gauge railroad, about 96 miles in length, extending from Hawkinsville to Camilla, Ga. [?]

The 51 miles of line owned by the Gulf Line Railway Company were acquired as follows:
 * DEVELOPMENT OF FIXED PHYSICAL PROPERTY
 * By purchase of completed road from the Flint River and Gulf Railway Company August 8, 1907, Ashburn to Bridgeboro, Ga., about 31 miles
 * By construction under contract with the Cotton States Construction Company, Bridgeboro to South End and Camilla, Ga. (completed in 1911 and 1912), about 20 miles

The line between Ashburn and Bridgeboro was originally built as a lumber road. No details are available respecting its construction or acquisition by the Flint River and Gulf Railway Company and the Gulf Line Railway Company. The Cotton States Construction Company was organized by certain of the directors of the Gulf Line Railway Company for the purpose of constructing extensions to the line purchased. A contract for the construction of about 3 miles, Bridgeboro to South End, was let on April 14, 1910, and this portion of the line was completed by March 1, 1911. The contract for the remainder of the line, South End to Camilla, was dated March 1, 1911, and this portion of the line was completed and put in operation about March 1, 1912.

On July 1, 1912, the Gulf Line Railway obtained a lease of a 14-mile road between Hawkinsville and Grovania, owned by the Hawkinsville and Western Railroad Company, which lease was canceled, effective June 30, 1913, by agreement. The lease by the Gulf Line Railway Company of the line of the carrier between Hawkinsville and Worth was terminated on July 31, 1913, in consequence of the sale of the property of the Gulf Line Railway Company to the carrier.


 * HISTORY OF CORPORATE FINANCING