Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Volume 97, Valuation Reports

Location and General Description of Property
The New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad Company, hereinafter called the carrier, owns and operates a rail-and-water transportation line in the States of Virginia and Maryland, extending from Norfolk, Va., to the Delaware-Maryland boundary near Delmar, Del. At the latter place it connects with The Delaware Railroad Company (Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company, lessee) and, in conjunction with this road and The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, forms a through line between Norfolk, Va., Wilmington, Del., Philadelphia, Pa., and New York, N. Y.

The rail portion of the owned line consists of about 95 miles of steam-operated standard-gauge road, approximately 83 per cent double tracked, extending from near Delmar, Del., to Cape Charles, Va.; a single-track branch road about 17 miles long, extending from King's Creek to Crisfield, Md.; and a yard with about 13 miles of track at Port Norfolk, Va.

The water-operated part of the line extends from Cape Charles to Norfolk, Va., a distance of about 36 miles, and affords both passenger and freight service, the greater part of the freight being transported in freight cars carried upon floats. In addition to the terminal stops, the passenger boats make a stop at Old Point Comfort, Va. At Norfolk the passenger terminal is in Norfolk proper, while the principal freight terminal is at Port Norfolk, Va., adjacent to Norfolk, Va.

The carrier also operates, as agent for The Cape Charles Railroad Company, a single-track line about 10 miles long extending between Cape Junction, near Cape Charles, and Kiptopeke, Va.

The following is a statement of the rail mileage owned and used by the carrier:

Jointly Used Property
The only property used jointly with other common carriers consists of certain jointly owned and used minor facilities, to which reference is made in the statement of cost of reproduction new and cost of reproduction less depreciation.

Economic Conditions Relating to Traffic
With the exception of some fishing and oyster dredging, the industries of the region are almost entirely agricultural. Excellent farms have been developed throughout the country and such development is steadily increasing. The principal products are potatoes and other vegetables.

Corporate History
The carrier was incorporated under special acts of Maryland and Virginia, dated, respectively, April 10, 1880, and February 9, 1882. It was formed by the consolidation, under agreement of September 19, 1882 (on which date its organization was perfected), of two companies both bearing the name of Peninsula Railroad Company, but one being a Maryland and the other a Virginia corporation. The former was a reorganization of the Worcester and Somerset Railroad Company, which was incorporated under special acts of Maryland dated April 10, 1880, and May 3, 1882, and built the property owned by the Peninsula Railroad Company (Maryland) at the time it was absorbed by the carrier. The latter had no property or other assets. In it were vested, by special act of the Legislature of Virginia, the franchises and powers which had previously been granted three other companies, none of which built any property.

The Eastern Shore Railroad Company was merged with the carrier under articles of consolidation and merger dated March 15, 1884, which became effective on June 11, 1884, when filed in the circuit court for Somerset County, Md. This company was preceded by the Eastern Shore Rail Road Company, which was incorporated by a special act of Maryland of March 29, 1836, revised by special act of March 23, 1853. However, no road was constructed by it until 1860.

The carrier is controlled by The Pennsylvania Railroad Company through ownership of its capital stock.

Physical Characteristics of Road
The grades in each direction are very light. There are comparatively few curves, and the usual degree of curvature is small. The flat and swampy character of the terrain has necessitated many drainage ditches, constructed by the carrier to prevent the flooding of its tracks during certain seasons of the year. Such ditches have generally been dug through the lands of adjacent property owners and along public highways. In addition to the ditches built by the carrier a great many ditches have been built by the public and by private landowners for the purpose of reclaiming the land from the water and making the soil tillable. In many cases the publicly and privately constructed ditches have been of considerable advantage to the carrier's scheme of drainage, and, vice versa, the carrier's ditches have usually contributed toward the improvement of the adjacent land. In a large number of situations ditches built by one interest form an integral part of the drainage system built by the other interest. Also, some of the ditches dug by the carrier, have since been rendered unnecessary by the ditches built by others. The estimated costs of all and only those ditches built and actually paid for by the carrier are included in the reproduction costs of this report.

Development of Fixed Physical Property
The carrier acquired its railroad property by consolidation, merger, and construction, as shown in the following statement, wherein are also stated the companies which constructed the property and the dates upon which different portions of the line were opened for operations.

By consolidation:
 * From the Peninsula Railroad Company (Maryland), constructed by the Worcester and Somerset in the early seventies: King's Creek to Newton, Md. 9

By merger:
 * From the Eastern Shore Railroad, constructed by its predecessor the Eastern Shore Rail Road—1860, Delmar, Del., to Salisbury, Md., 6 miles; 1866, Salisbury to Annemessic (now Crisfield) Md., 32 miles. 38

By construction:
 * 1884–1885 Pocomoke, Md., to Cape Charles, Va. 65

Total recorded mileage. 112

Nearly all of the construction work on the extension from Pocomoke to Cape Charles was done by contractor John Kellar. The carrier reconstructed, wholly or in part, both the property acquired from the Eastern Shore Railroad and that acquired from the Peninsula Railroad (Maryland). A waterline transfer service between Cape Charles and Norfolk, Va., consisting of tugs, floats, and barges for freight, and steamers for passengers, was acquired through construction.