Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow

That's a fascinating idea - like British rail privatisation in Depression-era America. Here's hoping FDR can do a better job than NR...
 
January 3, 1933

William Z. Ripley is summoned to Hyde Park for a meeting with President-elect Roosevelt. The incoming president discusses his plans for addressing the nation’s railroad crisis. He intends to appoint Ripley to chair a special advisory panel on rail transportation, and as his first act, to write legislation that will put the “Ripley Plan” into effect. Ripley agrees to serve on the panel and to have the draft legislation ready by the end of January. He in turn asks Barriger and another young and talented railroad expert, William B. Poland, to serve as his assistants.

March 21, 1933

The National Railroad Reorganization and Administration Act is introduced into Congress as part of President Roosevelt’s “first hundred days” New Deal legislative actions.

The legislation prepared by Ripley’s panel incorporates the main features of Ripley’s plan, including the consolidation of railroad companies. It also incorporates some provisions of the proposed 1919 “Plumb Plan,” in that the board of the new U.S. Railroad Commission will include representatives of both salaried and wage-earning employees, along with the railroad companies. The existing Interstate Commerce Commission will gradually be folded into the USRC, which will then oversee such areas as regulation of rates and pricing and safety standards.

Some other features of the plan:

-The Federal government’s initial purchase of the routes will be based on the assessed value of the properties as of January 1, 1934, with the assessment to be performed by the Department of the Treasury.

-The lease formulas will be determined to enable the railroads to immediately lease the lines back from the government as of the start-up date.

-Because the railroad rights-of-way will not be private property but leased public property, railroads will not be able to arbitrarily abandon entire routes any longer. If a railroad company announces that it cannot afford to operate a route in its leaseholding, the USRC will first be directed to attempt to find another operator. If that fails, it can direct the original railroad to continue operating the route as needed for a two-year period, during which the USRC will make a determination as to whether the line is obsolete and permanent abandonment is warranted. The law will also allow the USRC to embargo routes (take them out of service temporarily) in case operators in the future are interested.

-The above provision is distinguished from “facilities,” which can be abandoned or revised as needed to meet the railroad’s operating needs. (This allows railroads to close or replace yards, repair shops, and similar facilities as needed.)

-The law will encourage the USRC to locate opportunities for consolidating freight and passenger terminals in cities to provide greater convenience to both shippers and the traveling public.

-Finally, the law will create a mechanism by which cities, counties or states can subsidize or assume control of unprofitable but nonetheless essential rail services (such as streetcar or subway lines) at their discretion.
 
July 12, 1933
Following a spirited debate, President Roosevelt signs the NRRRA into law.
Although many railroad executives (particularly those in danger of losing their jobs) denounce the plan as socialistic, the railroads have not been able to form a universal front of opposition to the new act. Many see the NRRRA as advantageous to the railroads: they will be freed from the burden of crushing fixed costs, including property taxes, on their tracks and buildings, with capital costs limited mostly to new locomotives and rolling stock. Also, the catastrophic collapse of the New York Central and its ripple effect, which has caused the entire industry to begin stumbling toward a similar crisis, creates a sense of desperately needed reform which overrides concerns about the approach.
Among the railroads, the biggest opponent is the biggest potential loser: the Pennsylvania Railroad. The PRR, which has watch the flailing of rival NYC with a smirk, now faces the loss of its valuable Norfolk & Western subsidiary, as the Ripley Plan assigns that railroad instead to a system that will include the Wabash, Lehigh Valley and Seaboard. The PRR, of course, is also the most traditional, crusty and hidebound of all railroads (“The Standard Railroad of the World”), and therefore the most resistant to change in general.
Joseph Eastman of the ICC is appointed the first president of the USRC (which is under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department). He appoints as his chief lieutenants Frederick Prince, a Boston lawyer and past railroad president, along with Barriger and Poland. Ripley declines the presidency due to age but will continue to act as President Roosevelt’s informal transportation adviser.



September 4, 1933

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company and its holding company, Pennroad, file suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to overturn the new law. The railroad's lawyers ask for an expedited finding.

January 2, 1934

The process of assessing the fair market value of the physical plant of American railroads, a task assigned to Treasury agents, begins. The District Court refuses the PRR's request to grant an injunction stopping the assessment pending its lawsuit.

January 8, 1934

The board of directors and management of the Pennsylvania Railroad hold a stockholders' meeting at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The PRR's president, W.W. Atterbury, and the rest of the PRR's board - the stuffiest in railroading, which is a true accomplishment - pronounce their determination to resist President Roosevelt's "socialistic" plans. Atterbury growls that he will "see the Pennsylvania Railroad shut down completely" before he allows its infrastructure to be "confiscated" by the government. His tirade draws only a mixed reception from the board; many stockholders are worried about what might happen if the PRR fights the new law and loses.


January 10, 1934

It takes only two days for President Roosevelt to respond. "I am the President, and I am charged by oath with implementing and enforcing the laws of our country," he tells newspaper reporters at the White House. "I fully intend to fulfill that oath." The reporters press him for specifics: does that mean he will call Atterbury's bluff? He will. He makes it clear that if the Pennsylvania or any other railroad shuts down in defiance of the law, he will immediately request congressional authorization to order the United States Army, under the authority of protecting the mail (which travels mostly by train), to seize control of the railroads. With the Congress firmly in control of the President’s party, his threat is hardly a hollow one.

There is no official response to the President's words from Atterbury, but the PRR's employees quietly receive orders to cooperate with the Treasury assessors. The threat of a seizure of the railroad is simply too great to permit the PRR to play the game of non-cooperation. Other railroads, who have been watching events, rush to comply with the new law as well, and some who have offered tacit support to the PRR in its lawsuit now withdraw it. Before long the PRR stands with only its subsidiaries, like the Long Island Rail Road, in opposition to the law.

February 18, 1934

A financier by the name of Robert R. Young quietly begins buying the stock of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in conjunction with a group of stockholders who are disgruntled by the current management's attitude and fear that when the new law is implemented, the PRR will be left out in the cold. Young points out that the PRR's insular management is not known for innovation, saying, "It's time to get the dead wood out of Philadelphia."
 
This is far from the normal TL on AH, but that’s no bad thing. You write an interesting story and I along with many others will be following it. Keep up the good work!
 
March 12, 1934
The Delaware & Hudson and Boston & Maine railroads request an interpretation of the NRRRA from the USRC. The law requires all Class 1 railroads to merge into the systems specified in the Ripley Plan by December 31, 1934. Does the merger require the companies to operate as single railroads, or can they operate as “sister companies” – subsidiaries under a common owner – but still keeping their distinct identities? The D&H and B&M connect with one another through the Albany gateway, and were therefore put together in the Ripley Plan. But the D&H serves mostly New York and Pennsylvania, and the B&M serves mostly New England; the two companies fear that use of one or the other of their names would displease local customers in each region. The USRC comes back with permission for railroads to operate as sister companies. (Along with the Class 1’s, many shortlines are included in the Ripley Plan mergers; excluded are a number of railroads owned by shippers, like most of the western logging railroads.)

April 6, 1934

The case of Pennsylvania Railroad Co. v. United States is decided by the Supreme Court. As the PRR had requested, the Court has moved quickly to expedite its ruling. However, that ruling - to no one's surprise by now - is quite the opposite of what the railroad had originally hoped for. By a 5-4 vote, the Court upholds the NRRRA. The majority opinion states that because the railroad companies and their stockholders are being recompensed at fair market value for the value of their properties, there is no violation of the Fifth Amendment's requirement for just compensation. Further, the Court rules that the Congress has the authority to adjust the nation's rail structure and affect its operations under its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce.

The PRR's stock dips precipitously following this news, as demoralized "proper Philadelphians" sell off their families' long-standing holdings in "The Railroad" in disgust. Most of this stock is immediately picked up by Robert Young and his allies.

April 22, 1934

Robert R. Young announces that his consortium, now called Penn Central Investments, has gained 54 percent control of the PRR. W.W. Atterbury, Martin Clement, and other top executives begin packing up their desks.

July 2, 1934

With great fanfare and celebration, President Roosevelt presides over opening ceremonies at Union Station in Washington, D.C., as the NRRRA takes effect and the federal government takes possession of the rails leading into Union Station, the building itself, and all of the country's other railroads. "Today all the signals are green, and the engineer's hand is on the throttle," he says.
 
I'm not sure I quite buy the decision. The horseman would say that the government was taking the railroad tracks for PRIVATE use since they were to be operated and maintained by private companies, for private citizens, and maintained, but I really think the government would have to argue that the taking was temporary based on the urgent public policy need--which is contrary to the law.

So I think you'd need to change things so they are temporary and then later contrive to make them permanent.

ED: Look at Farm Bankruptcy Act. The emergency did not justify the situation.

So to revise what I wrote above, have it so that the railroads are leasing the track to the government who is employing the railroads as private contractors to refurbish the lines (but I would assume this mostly has to be done in an open auction).
 
I'm not sure I quite buy the decision. The horseman would say that the government was taking the railroad tracks for PRIVATE use since they were to be operated and maintained by private companies, for private citizens, and maintained, but I really think the government would have to argue that the taking was temporary based on the urgent public policy need--which is contrary to the law.

So I think you'd need to change things so they are temporary and then later contrive to make them permanent.

ED: Look at Farm Bankruptcy Act. The emergency did not justify the situation.

So to revise what I wrote above, have it so that the railroads are leasing the track to the government who is employing the railroads as private contractors to refurbish the lines (but I would assume this mostly has to be done in an open auction).

You could possibly argue it either way. I do think you have a good point, though. I'm not going to go back and change the TL, because I'm lazy :), but it might indeed make for another interesting approach.
 
August 31, 1934
By now, most of the merged systems resulting from the Ripley Plan are taking shape. Some of the companies have opted to merge all their Class 1’s; some will merge several and leave others separate. The new systems are:
  • Guilford Transportation, Inc.
    Includes: Boston & Maine
    Bangor & Aroostook
    Delaware & Hudson
    Maine Central
    Rutland
Guilford’s corporate headquarters will be in New York. (In a soon-to-be-famous story, the company’s incoming vice president-operations selected the name by throwing a dart at a wall-mounted map of New York and New England. The dart landed on Guilford, Connecticut.)
This is the company that originally requested the ruling on sister companies. The D&H (headquartered in Albany) and the B&M (in Boston) will operate as separate-but-associated entities. The BAR and MEC will be folded into the B&M, and the Rutland into the D&H.

2. New Haven Railroad Company
Includes: New York, New Haven & Hartford
Lehigh & Hudson River
Lehigh & New England
New York, Ontario & Western


All components will be merged into the New Haven, to be headquartered in New York.

3. The New York Central Railway Corporation
Includes: “old” New York Central
Pittsburgh & Lake Erie
Virginian


Considerable discussion was given to renaming the NYC, but in the end the new ownership decided that the long and honorable history of the NYC was a greater asset than the last few years were a liability. The company will retain the old company's name, its classic symbols and its New York office building. The P&LE (headquartered in Pittsburgh) and the Virginian (Norfolk, Va.) will operate as sister subsidiaries.

4. Penn Central Industries, Inc.
Includes: Pennsylvania Railroad
Long Island Rail Road


Robert R. Young’s group will move into the PRR’s office building in Philadelphia. The LIRR will continue to be operated as a sister railroad, out of New York.

5. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
Includes: “old” Baltimore & Ohio
Monon
Central Railroad of New Jersey
Reading


The B&O’s corporate headquarters for both the whole company and the B&O railroad will be in Baltimore; the Monon will be folded into the B&O. The CNJ will be folded into the Reading, which will operate as a sister railroad to the B&O, headquartered in its namesake city in Pennsylvania.

6. Chessie System, Inc.
Includes: Chesapeake & Ohio
Chicago & Illinois Midland
Erie
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
Nickel Plate Road
Pere Marquette


Chessie’s headquarters will be in Cincinnati, along with those of its C&O component. The C&IM and PM will be folded into the C&O. The Erie, DL&W and Nickel Plate will be combined into a single line, to be called the “Erie Lackawanna,” headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania and operated as a sister road.

7. The Family Lines, Inc.
Includes: Lehigh Valley
Wabash
Seaboard Air Line
Norfolk & Western
Pittsburgh & West Virginia
Toledo, Peoria & Western
Western Maryland
Wheeling & Lake Erie


“Family Lines” is chosen as a name because of the far-flung geographic diversity of this system, which will be headquartered in New York. Operating as sister railroads will be the Wabash (headquartered in Chicago), the Seaboard (Atlanta; the “Air Line” – a 19th Century reference to the railroad’s use of air brakes, which are now standard – will be dropped to avoid confusion with the airline industry), the N&W (Roanoke, Virginia), and the WM (Baltimore). The P&WV, TP&W and W&LE will be folded into the N&W.

8. Coast Line Industries, Inc.
Includes: Atlantic Coast Line
Clinchfield
Gulf, Mobile & Northern
Louisville & Nashville


Coast Line will be headquartered in Atlanta, along with its ACL subsidiary. The L&N, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, will operate as a sister road. The GM&N and Clinchfield will be folded into the L&N.

9. Southern Railway Company
Includes: “old” Southern
Florida East Coast


The Southern will absorb the FEC and be headquartered in Atlanta.

10. Illinois Central Industries, Inc.
Includes: “old” Illinois Central
Central of Georgia
Minneapolis & St. Louis
Cotton Belt


The IC will absorb all components and be headquartered in Chicago.

11. Chicago & North Western Railway Company
Includes: “old” C&NW
Chicago & Eastern Illinois
Mobile & Ohio


The C&NW will absorb all components and be headquartered in Chicago.

12. Great Northern Railroad Company
Includes: “old” GN
Spokane, Portland & Seattle (joint ownership of lines with NP)


The GN will continue to be located in Seattle.

13. Northern Pacific Railroad Company
Includes: “old” NP
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific
Spokane, Portland & Seattle (joint ownership of lines with GN)


The NP, like the GN, will be headquartered in Seattle.

14. Burlington Northern Industries, Inc.
Includes: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Colorado & Southern
Green Bay & Western
Missouri-Kansas-Texas


The new Burlington Northern name will be adopted and will absorb all components. The BN will be headquartered in Chicago.

15. Union Pacific Railroad Company
Includes: “old” UP
Kansas City Southern


The venerable UP will retain its Omaha, Nebraska, headquarters. The KCS will be absorbed.

16. Southern Pacific Railroad Company
Includes: “old” SP and its subsidiaries like Northwestern Pacific and Sacramento Northern


The SP was already so competitive that Ripley found little to combine it with. It will retain its San Francisco headquarters.

17. Santa Fe Industries, Inc.
Includes: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Chicago Great Western


The Santa Fe will merge the CGW into it. It will continue to be headquartered in Los Angeles.

18. Missouri Pacific Railroad Industries, Inc.
Includes: “old” MoPac
Denver & Rio Grande Western
Texas & Pacific
Western Pacific


Main offices will be located in Chicago, with the MoPac railway offices in St. Louis (absorbing the T&P) and D&RGW’s sister road offices in Denver (absorbing the WP).

19. Rock Island Industries, Inc.
Includes: Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
St. Louis-San Francisco



The Frisco will be merged into the Rock Island, which will continue to be headquartered in Chicago.

20. Canadian National Railways (U.S. properties)
Includes: “old” CN (in U.S.)
Central Vermont
Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific
Grand Trunk Western


The CN will continue its practice of operating its U.S. subsidiaries as sister roads operated out of its Toronto offices.

21. Canadian Pacific Railway Company (U.S. properties)
Includes: “old” CPR (in U.S.)
Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic
Soo Line
Wisconsin Central


CPR, headquartered in Toronto, decides to merge the DSS&A and WC into the Soo, which will continue to operate separately out of its Duluth headquarters.
 
Wow. Nice linking of companies that would be formed in what would be the future in OTL.
And is there any chance someone could make this into a Rail Baron map?
 

FDW

Banned
My god. A transit TL. I didn't this existed. HEEEEEAAAAAHHH!!! (hits subscribe)
and BTW

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