Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Belt Line Railway (Montgomery, Alabama)

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 114

Belt Line Railway (Montgomery, Ala.)

Location and General Description of Property

The Belt Line Railway Company (Montgomery, Ala.), hereinafter called the carrier, owns and operates a single-track standard-gauge steam-operated terminal railroad in the city of Montgomery, Ala. The property consists of 0.649 mile of main track and terminal facilities along Tallapoosa Street, between Whitman and Perry Streets. The company also owns and uses 1.470 miles of yard tracks and sidings. Its owned and used road thus embraces 2.119 miles of all tracks. In addition, the carrier owns 0.189 mile of sidings which are leased to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company for exclusive use. A summary of the mileage is given in the trackage table in Appendix 1. The property of the carrier is operated by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company as agent for the owner. It is operated for or used by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company, under joint facility or other arrangements, for the purpose of providing switching and other facilities between industries and connecting lines.

Introductory

The carrier is a corporation of the State of Alabama, having its principal office at Montgomery, Ala. It is controlled by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company through ownership of its entire outstanding capital stock. On the other hand, the records do not indicate that the carrier, itself, controls any common-carrier corporations. The property of the carrier has always been operated by the Alabama Midland Railway Company and its successor, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company as agent, in connection with terminal facilities. The Mobile and Ohio Rail Road Company uses a part of the property under the terms of an agreement described in the Section on leased railway property.

Corporate History

The carrier was incorporated December 6, 1889, under the general laws of the State of Alabama. The purpose for which it was incorporated was not indicated by the records reviewed. The date of its organization was December 6, 1889. The records indicate that its property was formerly owned by the Montgomery Belt Line Railway Company, all of whose books of account and other records are stated to have been lost or destroyed.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

The owned mileage of the carrier includes 0.649 mile of main track, which was purchased in an unfinished state on February 1, 1890, from the Montgomery Belt Line Railway Company, the predecessor in ownership. Thereafter the carrier completed the construction work, and the property was opened for operation on September 1, 1890. The carrier constructed 1.659 miles of yard tracks and sidings, the cost of which is not identified in the records reviewed.

Leased Railway Property

The property of the carrier is operated by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company as agent and is used by that company under an agreement dated February 8, 1890. The terms of this agreement and the rental accrued for the year ending on date of valuation are given in the section on leased railway property in the report on the latter company. The Mobile and Ohio Rail Road Company uses 0.189 mile of track of the carrier under an agreement by which the former pays as rent 6 per cent upon an agreed valuation. The rental accrued and credited to income by the carrier for the use of all of its property during the year ending on date of valuation is $24,157.54.