Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Joliet and Blue Island Railway

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 84

Joliet and Blue Island Railway

Introduction

This carrier, whose principal office is in Chicago, is controlled through ownership of capital stock by the Illinois Steel Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation. It has no main-line, properly so called. Its lines consist of about 43 miles of industrial and yard tracks, located within and in the immediate vicinity of the plant of the Illinois Steel Company at Joliet, Ill. It owns no land. With the exception of three parcels used under contract with other railroads and several parcels which it uses under ordinances of the city of Joliet, all the land occupied by the tracks of the Joliet is owned by the Illinois Steel Company. The business done over the tracks of the Joliet is practically confined to the transportation of freight traffic, a very large portion of which is shipped from and to said plant, and its property is operated by the Elgin under a lease which was originally executed to the Eastern and afterwards assigned to the Elgin.

Corporate History and Development of Fixed Physical Property

The Joliet was incorporated in the State of Illinois on September 20, 1889. On August 18, 1890, it purchased from the Illinois Steel Company 15 miles of said industrial and yard tracks, and since that date it and the lessees of its property have constructed the other 28 miles, but the dates of construction and the mileage constructed by each carrier can not be determined from the carriers' records.

Leased Railway Property

Property leased from others

On August 18, 1890, the Joliet leased from the Illinois steel company land occupied by the tracks of the former, for which it agreed to pay an annual rental of $100,000.

This continued until June 1, 1909, except that on May 27, 1896, the Joliet and four other carriers, subsidiaries of the steel company, namely, the Calumet & Blue Island, the Chicago & Southeastern, the Chicago & Kenosha, and the Milwaukee, Bay View & Chicago, acting jointly, leased from the steel company the lands occupied by their respective tracks for an aggregate annual rental of $500,000. The annual rental to be paid separately by the Joliet under this lease is not shown, but this is a matter of small consequence, since, on May 30, 1896, the lease was assigned and transferred to another subsidiary of the steel company, the Eastern, and all payments under the lease appear to have been made by the latter.

On June 1, 1909, the annual rental to be paid to the steel company for the use of the land occupied by the tracks of the Joliet was reduced to $5, at which figure it has since continued under a lease which, by its terms, is to expire on June 1, 1969.

In addition to the above, small rentals are paid for three parcels of land owned by other carriers and used in connection with the operation of the Joliet.

Property leased to others

Under an agreement dated July 1, 1894, the Joliet and the four other subsidiary carriers above mentioned provided for a division between them of the aggregate net income from their properties, but the records do not show any payment made to the Joliet.

This arrangement was superseded on June 29, 1907, by a joint lease executed to the Eastern by the four other carriers mentioned, which provided for the payment of an annual rental of $15,000 by the Eastern for the use of the property of the Joliet.

The joint lease was canceled on June 1, 1909, whereupon a lease was executed by the Joliet to the Eastern and immediately thereafter assigned by the latter to the Elgin. The annual rental to be paid for the use of the property of the Joliet under this lease is $15,000. Since said June 1 the property has been operated by the latter carrier under this lease, which, by its terms, is to expire on June 1, 1969.