Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Plattsburgh and Dannemora Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 116

The Plattsburgh and Dannemora Railroad

Location and General Description of Property

The railroad of the Plattsburgh and Dannemora Railroad, hereinafter called the Plattsburgh and Dannemora, is a single-track standard-gauge steam railroad, located in the northeastern part of New York. The owned mileage extends eastwardly from Dannemora to Bluff Point, a distance of 16.336 miles. The Plattsburgh and Dannemora also owns yard and side tracks totaling 7.969 miles. Its road thus embraces 24.305 miles of all tracks owned.

Introductory

The Plattsburgh and Dannemora has no accounting or other records, and the information here submitted has been taken from the act authorizing the construction of the railroad and the subsequent acts of 1879 authorizing additional funds for construction purposes, the report of Louis D. Pillsbury, superintendent of State prisons, for the year ending September 30, 1879, and from the records of the comptroller of the State of New York.

Corporate History

The Plattsburgh and Dannemora was constructed by the State of New York from Dannemora to Bluff Point under a special act of New York passed April 19, 1878 (vide Laws of New York for 1878, chapter 148). This act authorized the superintendent of State prisons to construct a narrow-gauge railroad from a point near the Clinton State prison at Dannemora, in the county of Clinton, to a point in the town of Plattsburgh, in the same county. The purpose of the act was to secure to the State of New York—

direct railroad communications between the Clinton prison and the waters of Lake Champlain, and with the existing railroads terminating at or passing through the village of Plattsburgh, for the purpose of reducing the cost of transportation to and from said prison and securing an increased compensation to the state from the labor of the convicts confined in said prison.

The Plattsburgh and Dannemora is not an incorporated company and has never had any organization or principal office other than that given it by the State of New York through its offices. The railroad was operated from date of completion to January 1, 1903, by the Chateaugay Railroad Company, since which time it has been operated by the carrier.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

After the appropriations were made available the superintendent invited bids for the construction of the railroad, and on June 24, 1878, he made a contract with John O'Brien, who agreed to grade the roadway, build all bridges and trestles, and furnish and lay the ties and iron for the sum of $73,000. In addition to this sum the superintendent furnished, as agreed, a number of convicts who graded about 2 miles of the roadway nearest to Dannemora. Construction of the road under the contract was begun about June 24, 1878, completed December 30, 1878, and delivered to the superintendent of prisons ready for operation. The original appropriation did not provide for the fences along the right of way and the necessary ballasting of the road, which was provided for in the subsequent appropriations, and this work was done after the road had been turned over by the contractor.

Leased Railway Property

As soon as the Plattsburgh and Dannemora was ready for operation it was leased to the Chateaugay Railroad Company, under an agreement dated May 20, 1879, for 100 years from July 1, 1879. The terms of the agreement provided, among other things, that the lessee would construct a railroad from Dannemora to Chateaugay ore mines; would, so far as practicable, maintain a regular train schedule; would maintain and operate the road, renew the equipment and relocate the road, and change the gauge at its own expense when found to be necessary; that it would not charge more than 5 cents per mile for the transportation of passengers to and from Clinton Prison; that it would transport without charge the officers of the prison on official business, and all necessary supplies for the maintenance of the prison, charging only a fair and reasonable rate upon the materials used in the construction or repairing of the prison; and that it would be exempt from the payment of all taxes levied by the State.