Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Western Pacific Railway

http://books.google.com/books?id=t5ZaGImwblYC

The railroad of the Western Pacific Railway Company, herein called the carrier, is a single-track, standard-gage, steam railroad, and extends from Salt Lake City, Utah, westerly across the States of Utah, Nevada, and California, to Oakland and San Francisco, Calif. The practical rail terminus on the west coast is at Oakland. The service across the Bay of San Francisco to the city of San Francisco, a distance of about 3.5 miles, is maintained by ferry boats and car floats. The length of the main line from Salt Lake City to San Francisco is 925.706 miles. There is one branch line, from Carbona to Tesla, Calif., 13.176 miles in length. The following tabulation shows the mileage in each State. [table]

In Appendix 1 will be found a general description of the characteristics of the property of the carrier.

Corporate history.—The books of account and other records of the carrier were destroyed in the San Francisco fire of April, 1906. The chief dependence for the facts prior to that date is upon a report made by the New York office of the carrier on May 31, 1905.

The carrier was incorporated under the general laws of California March 6, 1903, for a period of 50 years, and the company was organized on March 9, 1903.

The principal office of the carrier is at San Francisco, Calif. The original plan was to build several lines of railroad in California, Nevada, and Utah, and to buy the rights and properties of four other companies already organized. The plan called for the building or acquiring of about 810 miles of main line and 440 miles of branch lines. The incorporators were all residents of California, but the carrier was promoted and the property constructed or acquired by the Gould interests for a Pacific-coast connection for The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company. It appears that the latter obtained what it considered a fair amount of the through traffic to the Pacific coast, and also of the local traffic in the territory it served until the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and the Union Pacific Railroad Company began to act in concert. Thereupon the Denver and Rio Grande lost a considerable portion not only of its through traffic, but a large part of its local traffic in the territory reached by the Southern Pacific. To meet this situation the carrier was incorporated. The Denver and Rio Grande controlled the carrier through stock ownership at the date of valuation and had controlled it from the beginning.

At the respective dates mentioned below [where?] the carrier acquired by purchase all the property except the books, the cash, corporate franchises, and some local or street franchises of the following seven California corporations: Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad Company, San Francisco Terminal Railway and Ferry Company, The Stockton & Beckwith Pass Railway Company, Sacramento and Oakland Railway Company, Indian Valley Railway, Marysville & Susanville Railroad Company, and Butte & Plumas Railway. These predecessor companies almost immediately passed out of existence as separate corporations by voluntary surrender or forfeiture of their charters. The carrier constructed all of its mileage, except about 31 miles of completed road and about 6 miles of yard and other tracks bought from the Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad Company. It reconstructed and made part of its main track about 18 out of said 31 miles. The remaining trackage of this branch to-day constitutes the only branch of the carrier. None of the other predecessor companies had constructed any road.

Under various contracts, two construction companies constructed, the one 717 miles, the other 185 miles, while the company forces did the major part of the surfacing, tracklaying, and ballasting. The more important structures were built under contract, each for a lump sum. The chief contracts for construction and those by which the control of the carrier passed to the Denver and Rio Grande were entered into at substantially the same time, in the summer of 1905. These contracts also provided for the financing of the road.

History of corporate financing.

Because of the destruction of early records, it is impossible to state with completeness the activities of the carrier for the period prior to April, 1906.
 * THE CARRIER
 * INTRODUCTORY

[?]

During this period not only the organization and preliminary expenses of the carrier had to be met but the carrier paid [?] gross in cash for the property of the predecessor companies in 1903 and 1905. The report made by the New York office of the carrier as of May 31, 1905, showed notes then outstanding, issued between July, 1903, and May, 1905, to the amount of $2,640,600.29. These notes were apparently secured by bonds of the carrier authorized but not then issued. The notes were evidently paid, as they did not appear on the books of the carrier on valuation date.

The funds for actual construction were secured mainly through the sale of bonds.

I'm not sure where the beef is. But the WP acquired the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad, San Francisco Terminal Railway and Ferry Company, Sacramento and Oakland Railway, and Stockton and Beckwith Pass Railway. says that the Butte and Plumas Railway and Indian Valley Railway were also involved. Oakland Realty and Improvement Company was apparently a subsidiary of the SFTRy, and is listed in.

Here's some of the meat:

[ Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad Company] This company was incorporated under the general laws of the State of California, under date of May 1, 1895, for a period of 50 years. Its avowed purpose was to construct a railroad in the counties of Alameda, San Joaquin, and Contra Costa, in the State of California, having an estimated length of 30 miles. The corporation forfeited its charter, under date of November 30, on account of the nonpayment of State corporation license tax.

San Francisco Terminal Railway and Ferry Company.—This company was incorporated under the general laws of the State of California, under date of August 15, 1902, for a period of 50 years. Its avowed purpose was to construct a railroad tn the city and county of San Francisco and county of Alameda, State of California, having an estimated length of 145 miles. The authorized capital stock of the corporation was $6,000,000, represented by 60,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. The corporation forfeited its charter, under date of November 30, 1908, on account of the nonpayment of State corporation license tax.

The Stockton & Beckwith Pass Railway Company.—This company was incorporated under the general laws of the State of California, under date of December 1, 1902, for a period of 50 years. Its avowed purpose was to construct a railroad in the counties of San Joaquin, Sacramento, Butte, Plumas, and Sierra, in the State of California, having an estimated length of 290 miles. The authorized capital stock of the corporation was $15,000,000, represented by 150,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. The corporation forfeited its charter, under date of November 30, 1908, on account of the nonpayment of State corporation license tax.

Sacramento and Oakland Railway Company.—This company was incorporated under the general laws of the State of California, under date of February 3, 1903, for a period of 50 years. Its avowed purpose was to construct a railroad in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento, in the State of California, having an estimated length of 165 miles. The authorized capital stock of the corporation was $5,000,000, represented by 50,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. The corporation forfeited its charter, under date of November 30, 1908, on account of the nonpayment of State corporation license tax.

Indian Valley Railway.—This company was incorporated under the general laws of the State of California, under date of December 15, 1902, for a period of 50 years. Its avowed purpose was to construct a railroad from a point sometimes known and designated as Indian Creek, in Plumas County, Calif., to a point at or near Crescent Mills, in the same county, having an estimated length of 25 miles. The authorized capital stock of the corporation was $1,000,000, represented by 10,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. The corporation filed in the office of the secretary of state, under date of October 18, 1906, a decree of dissolution, dated September 24, 1906.

Marysville & Susanville Railroad Company.—This company was incorporated under the general laws of the State of California, under date of April 8, 1904, for a period of 50 years. Its avowed purpose was to construct a railroad in the counties of Yuba and Lassen, in the State of California, having an estimated length of 270 miles. The authorized capital stock of the corporation was $7,000,000, represented by 70,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. The corporation forfeited its charter, under date of November 30, 1908, on account of the nonpayment of State corporation license tax.

Butte & Plumas Railway.—The Plumas was incorporated under the laws of the State of California, under date of October 30, 1902, for a period of 50 years. Its avowed purpose was to construct a railroad from a point in the town of Oroville, county of Butte, State of California, to the junction of the north fork of the Feather River and the east branch thereof, in the county of Plumas, State of California, having an estimated length of 55 miles. The authorized capital stock of the corporation was $1,000,000, represented by 10,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. The corporation filed in the office of the secretary of state, under date of October 18, 1906, a decree of dissolution, dated September 24, 1906.

http://books.google.com/books?id=L4msTxa3Mh0C&pgis=1 is not a valuation volume, but it has some information.

1. Bartnett promotion.—Prior to acquisition by the Union Pacific of control of the Southern Pacific and the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake, and some time in the year 1900, W. J. Bartnett, a director and officer of the California Safe Deposit & Trust Company, of San Francisco, and his associates in that company, who then had an investment of $730,600 in the Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad, a railroad about 36 miles in length running from Stockton to Tesla, Calif., conceived a plan for the extension of this railroad westwardly to Oakland and San Francisco and eastwardly to Salt Lake City. Pursuant to this plan, they incorporated the San Francisco Terminal Railway & Ferry Company, August 15, 1902; the Stockton & Beckwith Pass Railway Company, December 1, 1902; and the San Francisco & Oakland Railway Company, February 3, 1903. Prior to the incorporation of the Western Pacific, hereinafter mentioned, the railroads so incorporated did little actual construction work, but they obtained valuable franchises and right of way and owned, or controlled by options, valuable terminal properties in San Francisco, Oakland, and Stockton. For these purposes the sum of $475,249 was expended in approximately three years. Bartnett and his associates appear to have undertaken the project for the purpose of protecting their original investment in the Alameda & San Joaquin, and because sentiment in California was favorable to the construction of a railroad which would give California an outlet to eastern markets, free from the domination of the Southern Pacific. All money expended was provided by Bartnett and his associates, and the initiation of the enterprise does not appear to have been induced by Gould or by any person acting for the Gould or other railroad interests. But shortly after the enterprise was undertaken Bartnett disclosed his plans to Gould and thereafter kept him in touch with the progress made, apparently with the expectation that Gould might ultimately be induced to support the project.
 * EARLY HISTORY OF WESTERN PACIFIC

2. Gould-Jeffery promotion.—Meanwhile Gould and E. T. Jeffery, then president of the Old Denver and the Western Company, were developing their own plans for construction of a railroad from Salt Lake City to the Pacific coast. The statement frequently made in the public press to the effect that Gould undertook the promotion of the Western Pacific in deference to the wishes of his father, Jay Gould, who had cherished the ambition of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by a chain of railroads controlled by him, is not proved or disproved by the record in this proceeding. If the motive animating Gould's efforts was indeed the establishment of a complete transcontinental chain of railroads under domination of the Gould interests it seems clear, nevertheless, that the construction of the Western Pacific as a step in this direction was precipitated by the Union Pacific acquisition of control of the three railroads connecting the Ogden gateway with the Pacific coast, and the further fact that the Union Pacific was thereby placed in a position to divert, and did in fact take steps to divert, traffic to its own lines which had been enjoyed theretofore by the Denver Companies and the Missouri Pacific. Some efforts were made to negotiate a satisfactory traffic contract with the Union Pacific covering this situation but these efforts were ineffectual.

There are statements in the record to the effect that the project was not undertaken on behalf of the Old Denver. But Jeffery testified in this proceeding that the original promotion was undertaken about February 25, 1902, by and in the interest of the Old Denver, and the annual report to stockholders issued by that company June 30, 1905, in reviewing the first steps taken in the promotion of the Western Pacific, stated that, under the auspices of Old Denver, careful investigation and preliminary surveys were made by its chief engineer, E. J. Yard, and his assistants, supplemented by the professional services of Virgil G. Bogue, an engineer of experience, for the purpose of determining the best available route. In the summer of 1902 H. H. Yard, brother of E. J. Yard, was sent by Jeffery to make preliminary surveys and to acquire the necessary rights of way for a route through the Feather River Canyon, Plumas County, Calif. Some time between November, 1902, and February, 1903, H. H. Yard incorporated the Indian Valley Railroad Company and the Butte & Plumas Railway Company to construct certain portions of the contemplated railroad and to acquire the necessary franchises and rights of way. As a holding company for these railroads he incorporated during the same period the North California Mining Company. Some real estate and rights of way were acquired and a preliminary survey of the Feather River Canyon was made but no construction was undertaken. [?] was expended in this early promotion work, all of which was obtained from the Old Denver.

3. Bartnett-Gould-Jeffery cooperation.—The so-called Feather River Canyon route, by way of the north fork of the Feather River, Spanish Creek, Delaney Canyon, and Beckwith Pass, was recognized as the only practicable route for the proposed railroad through the Sierra Nevada. [?] employees were already actively mapping out a route through the Feather River Canyon when H. H. Yard started his operations in that locality. Bartnett became apprised of Yard's activities, and instituted proceedings for