Finance Docket No. 10472
ST. LOUIS - SAN FRANCISCO RAILWAY COMPANY ABANDONMENT

Submitted August 15, 1934. Decided August 27, 1934.

Certificate issued permitting the St. Louis - San Francisco Railway Company and its trustees to abandon a line of railroad of said company in Henry and St. Clair Counties, Mo.
J. W. Jamison, M. G. Roberts, and John W. Murphy for applicants.

REPORT OF COMMISSION
DIVISION 4, COMMISSIONERS PORTER, FARRELL, AND TATE

BY DIVISION 4:
The St. Louis - San Francisco Railway Company and J. M. Kurn and John G. Lonsdale, its trustees, on May 10, 1934, jointly applied for permission to abandon a line of railroad of said company, extending from Brownington to Lowry City Junction, 6.18 miles, all in Henry and St. Clair Counties, Mo. No representations have been made by any State authority, and no objection to the application has been offered.

The line in question was constructed between 1881 and 1885 as part of the railroad of the Kansas City & Southern Railway Company. It was acquired by the predecessor of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company in 1900. In recent years up to April 10, 1931, it served certain coal mines at Tebo, a nonagency station located a short distance north of Lowry City Junction, when required. Since that date it has not been operated, as the coal mines became exhausted, and there has been no demand for transportation service. The record shows that during the period September 1, 1929, to April 10, 1931, the only traffic on the line consisted of 496 carloads of coal originated. No passengers were carried. The applicants state that there i s no prospect of any industrial development contiguous to the line, and that even if there were such development it would be more feasible to afford service by other lines of the applicants than to incur the expense of rehabilitating, and practically rebuilding, the line at an estimated cost of $57,000, exclusive of rail. If relaid with 90-pound rail the additional cost is estimated at $23,000.

Brownington, population 266 in 1930, served by another line of the applicants, is the only incorporated town on the line. The estimated population of the tributary area is 747. The area is said to be adequately served by other lines of the applicants within distances not exceeding 2 miles, and is generally served by an all-weather highway system.

It is apparent from the facts of record that the line sought to be abandoned is not serving any transportation purpose; that there is no prospective public need for it as a transportation facility; and that its operation would impose an undue burden on interstate commerce.

We find that the present and future public convenience and necessity permit the abandonment by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, and by J. M. Kurn and John G. Lonsdale, its trustees, of the line of railroad in Henry and St. Clair Counties, Mo., described in the application. An appropriate certificate will be issued, effective from and after 30 days from its date, in which suitable provision will be made for the cancellation of tariffs.

Source: 202 I.C.C. 185-186