Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway

Interstate Commerce Commission, Volume 31, Valuation Reports

Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic Railway

Location and General Description of Property

The property of Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic Railway Company, herein called the carrier, consists of both railway and steamer lines.

The railroad of the carrier is a single-track, standard gage, steam railroad, located entirely within the State of Maryland. The main line extends between Ocean City, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Claiborne, on Chesapeake Bay a distance of about 87 miles. A branch extends from a junction with the main line at Salisbury to Fulton, Md., a distance of about 0.5 mile. The total main-line mileage is 87.252 miles, which, with 15.582 miles of yard and side tracks, makes a total of 102.834 of all tracks owned.

The carrier has laid its tracks across and operates a bridge and signal protection therefor, located at Ocean City, Md., owned by the Ocean City Bridge Company, a noncarrier.

At Claiborne the railroad connects with the steamer lines. The steamer lines are operated between Baltimore, Md., and numerous other places situated either on Chesapeake Bay or on its tributary rivers, the Choptank, the Nanticoke, the Wicomico, the Pocomoke, the Great Wicomico, the Piankatank, and a few other and smaller streams. All of the steamer points are located either in Maryland or in Virginia, except for a small number on the Nanticoke River in Delaware. The carrier owns all of its floating equipment and the larger part of the wharves, docks, and other property at its various landings. The remainder of such fixed property is owned by various individuals or noncarrier companies.

The principal cities reached by the carrier's lines are Baltimore and Salisbury, Md.

Corporate History

The carrier was incorporated August 30, 1894, under the general laws of Maryland, with authority to acquire the railroad, franchises, and other property of the Baltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad Company, which on August 29, 1894, had been sold to the reorganizers under foreclosure. The latter company was incorporated on March 2, 1886. It had acquired part of its property, rights, and franchises from the Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad Company, which was incorporated on February 15, 1848. The principal office of the carrier is in Salisbury, Md.

Economic Conditions Relating to Traffic

The industries of the region consist of farming, fishing, and oyster dredging, the first-mentioned industry being by far the most important. The principal agricultural products are potatoes and other vegetables.

Description of Road

The grading is light, averaging about 7,000 cubic yards of excavation per mile of road. The material is all common excavation or earth; there is no rock, either loose or solid. The not infrequent swamps are usually crossed by means of low embankments.

Wooden trestles constitute the majority of the structures over waterways.

The predominating rail in both main tracks and yard tracks and sidings weighs 56 pounds per lineal yard, although a considerable part of the main track is laid with 85-pound rail. All rail is of Bessemer steel.

With minor exceptions, the buildings are all of frame construction.

The wharf and dock property is quite large in amount and is located at many scattered points.

The carrier uses, under the term of contracts, dated March 19, 1890, and February 19, 1895, The Western Union Telegraph Company's telegraph line between Ocean City and Claiborne. None of such property is included in the reproduction costs herein reported.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

The rail line owned, formerly the property of the Baltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad Company, was acquired by purchase and was constructed by the companies named and was opened for operation on the dates indicated below.

Constructed by the Baltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad Company, Salisbury to Claiborne, Md., opened for operation on Dec. 1, 1890. 57

Constructed by the Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad Company, Salisbury to Ocean City, Md., of which the section from Salisbury to Berlin was opened for operation on May 1, 1868, and the section from Berlin to Ocean City, Md., in 1876. 30

Total. 87

The properties of the Maryland Steamboat Company, the Choptank Steamboat Company, and the Eastern Shore Steamboat Company, all of Baltimore, Md., were purchased by the carrier in September, 1894.

Leased Railway Property

The carrier uses the Ocean City Bridge Company's bridge between Hammock Point and Ocean City, Md., about 0.16 mile in length. During 1908 and 1909, it repaired and improved the bridge at a cost of $15,170.42, for which, and the further consideration of maintenance, it has the use of the bridge for its tracks for a period of 10 years from January 1, 1908, and receives all rental collected by the Bridge Company in excess of $100 per annum. It is charging the $15,170.42 to its income account in annual installments of $1,500 each.