Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Poteau Valley Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 75

The Poteau Valley Railroad Railroad

Location and General Description

The railroad of The Poteau Valley Railroad Company, hereinafter referred to as the Poteau, is located entirely within the State of Oklahoma. It extends from Shady Point, Okla., to Calhoun, Okla. It owns 6.61 miles of main-line track and 1.273 miles of other tracks, a total mileage of 7.883 miles.

Corporate History

The Poteau was incorporated under a patent issued by the secretary of the Territory of Oklahoma on October 19, 1900. The life of the corporation is fixed at 99 years.

Its purpose was to build a standard-gauge railroad from Fort Smith, Ark., via Shady Point, Sutter, and McAlester, Okla., to Guthrie, Okla. It is the original corporation and there are no underlying companies. An amendment to the charter filed January 14, 1913, reduced the amount of capital stock authorized and also provided for the removal of the principal office from Calhoun (formerly Sutter) to Oklahoma City, Okla. It is controlled by The Kansas City Southern Railway Company through ownership of all of its outstanding stock.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

The property as it now exists consists of 6.61 miles of main track and 1.273 miles of side tracks, or a total of 7.883 miles of all tracks. It extends from Shady Point in La Flore County, Okla., at which point it connects with the line of The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, to Calhoun, Okla.

The line was constructed for the Poteau some time in the year 1900 by the Choctaw Coal & Mining Company. This latter-named company was succeeded in 1905 by the Sequoyah Coal Mining Company. Evidently the coal companies used the property as a plant facility in their operations for no separate records of its operation as a common carrier were kept until June, 1907.

Further information concerning the construction of the property and its early history were not available.