Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 24

Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana Railroad

Location and General Description of Property

The railroad of Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana Railroad Company, herein called the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana, is a single-track, standard-gauge, steam railroad, of which the main line is in three segments, the first extending from Biddle to Benton, Ark., the second from Haskell, Ark., to Packton, La., and the third from Alexandria to Eunice, La., 21.992, 208.638, and 55.353 miles, respectively. Branch lines extend from Tinsman to Crossett, Ark., and from Malvern to Kent, Ark., 43.282 and 54.835 miles, respectively. It also owns 0.43 mile of main track and 0.931 mile of yard tracks and sidings at Camden, Ark.

The first and second segments of the main line above described are connected by the line of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf, extending from Benton through Haskell to Malvern, Ark., which also connects the main line of the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana with the branch extending from Malvern to Kent. The second and third segments of the main line are connected by lines of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway Company and the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company, respectively, 35.2 and 2.69 miles in length, over which the carrier has trackage rights. The carrier also has trackage rights, under a lease executed to the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana, over 2.18 miles of track of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, extending from Kent to Camden, Ark. The wholly owned mileage embraces the following:

	Main track Miles	All tracks Miles
In Arkansas:
Biddle to Benton	21.992	26.563
Haskell to Arkansas-Louisiana boundary	116.479	147.259
Tinsman to Crossett	43.282	49.115
Malvern to Kent	54.835	59.064
At Camden	.430	1.361
Total.	237.018	283.362
In Louisiana:
Arkansas-Louisiana boundary to Packton	92.159	114.827
At Alexandria	......	2.787
Alexandria to Eunice	55.353	63.954
Total	147.512	181.568
Grand total	384.530	464.930

Corporate History

The Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana was incorporated under the laws of Arkansas and Louisiana as a consolidation of The Arkansas, Kansas & Colorado Railway Company, the Stuttgart and Southern Railroad Company, and the Little Rock and Southern Railroad Company. The articles of consolidation were filed in Arkansas October 31, 1905, and in Louisiana November 2, 1905. The principal office is in Little Rock, Ark. Control is vested in the carrier through ownership of capital stock. The property is operated by the carrier under lease dated January 31, 1906, for 999 years.

[Edit note: The history from the ICC does not appear to be correct. In the development section below, the ICC states that Arkansas Southern Railroad and Arkansas Southern Extension Railway formed the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana.]

Development of Fixed Physical Property

The owned mileage of the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana, consisting of approximately 385 miles of main track, was acquired as follows:

		Mileage
In the consolidation of Oct. 31, 1905:
Property of the Arkansas Southern Railroad Company (second corporation)—
Eldorado, Ark., to Winfield, La.	98
Property of the Arkansas Southern Extension Railway Company—
Winfield to Packton, La.	10
		108
By purchase:
Part of the property of the Little Rock and Hot Springs Western Railroad Company, acquired on Oct. 9, 1911—
Biddle to Benton, Ark.	22
Property of the Malvern and Camden Railway Company, acquired on Dec. 29, 1913—
Malvern to Kent, Ark.	55
		77
By construction, between 1905 and 1908:
Haskell to Eldorado, Ark.; preliminary construction work had been done, when this line was acquired from the Little Rock and Southern Railroad Company	100
Tinsman to Crosset, Ark.; preliminary construction work had been done, when this line was acquired from the Little Rock and Southern Railroad Company	43
Alexandria to Eunice, La.	56
At Camden, Ark.	1
		200
Total		385

The Gulf Construction Company completed the construction of the lines from Haskell to Eldorado and from Tinsman to Crosset in February, 1907. The line from Alexandria to Eunice, La., was constructed by the Dalhoff Construction Company; construction work was commenced in August, 1906 and the line was completed and opened for operation in February, 1908.

Leased Railway Property

All of the property of the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana is leased to the carrier for sole operation, for a period of 999 years, under an agreement dated January 31, 1906. Under this lease the carrier assumes the payment of the interest on the funded debt obligations of the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana, which, for the year ended on date of valuation, aggregated $513,144, covering 4.5 per cent on $11,000,000 of first-mortgage bonds, and 4 per cent on $453,600 of long-term notes. The lease provides that the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana shall refund to the carrier all additions and improvements upon redelivery of the property at termination of the lease. All such expenditures have been charged by the carrier to a general advance account, which has been liquidated by the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana through the issuance of its first-mortgage bonds, as previously outlined. The carrier assumed leases of the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana covering the joint use by it of the tracks of other carriers, as follows:

	Mileage
Louisiana and Arkansas Railway Company:
Packton to Pineville, La.	35.20
Louisiana Railway & Navigation Company:
Pineville to Alexandria, La.	2.69
St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company:
Kent to Camden, Ark.	2.18

The details of these leases, covering tracks operated by the carrier, as of date of valuation, will be found in the portion of this appendix devoted to that company.