Southern Railway, Station Consolidations, 1959-1971

This series consists of the files the RLEA kept on the cases heard before the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) on the Finance Docket. The ICC was the governmental body that regulated the railroads from its inception in 1887 until it was abolished in 1995. One of the areas of the railroad industry that the ICC oversaw was the ability of the carriers to consolidate, enter into mergers, abandon lines, or acquire new properties. Any of these activities had to first be approved by the ICC. A decision could only be reached after a series of hearings and negotiations between the various corporate entities, railroad labor representatives, and any other interested parties. The proceeding could take years, and produced voluminous records.

The records in this series consist of the filings before the ICC by both the carriers and by railroad labor organizations. Also found are filings by states and municipalities that had a stake in the outcome of any decision. Expert witnesses, such as economists, labor scholars, and railroad industry experts, provided extensive testimony before the ICC, transcripts of which are also found in this series.

These records extensively document what is sometimes referred to as the Railroad Merger Era, in which American railroads, suffering a sudden decline in profits because of the rise of the interstate highway system, reduced reliance on coal, and other factors, sought to consolidate in an effort to remain competitive. This period is generally considered to begin with the merger between Norfolk and Western and the Virginian Railway in 1959 and peaked in 1968 with the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad into the Penn Central Transportation Company. The records of both of these mergers are located in this series.

The records in this series also include the mergers of the Wabash Railroad and New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) into the Norfolk and Western, forming a successful company that served 14 States and regions of Canada. The records of the merger between the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Erie with the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Hudson may also be found in this series.

The records of the Penn Central merger are of particular interest. The Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central had been rivals, operating in the same areas of the country, since their inceptions. However, due to numerous financial considerations in the postwar era, the two companies began to discuss the possibility of a merger in the late 1950s. As a result of the freight traffic they handled as well as the passenger service both carriers operated into the major metropolitan centers of the East Coast, the ICC requirements for the merger, as well as the objections of labor organizations, rival carriers, and the concerns of the municipal governments, the merger took over a decade to be approved. The two companies merged in 1968, and as a requirement to the merger imposed by the ICC, they also absorbed the New Haven Railroad in 1969. The new carrier was called the Penn Central Transportation Company. In 1970, the Penn Central declared bankruptcy. This was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history until the 2001 Enron bankruptcy. Extensive documentation of the merger proceedings are located in this series. The records of the bankruptcy may be found in Collections 5552 and 5728.

Other major attempted mergers of note that are documented in this series are the ultimately unsuccessful attempt by the Chicago and North Western to acquire the Rock Island Railroad (Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad) and the proposed merger between the Union Pacific and Rock Island. This merger, which would have created a mega-system between Chicago and the West Coast, led to numerous objections being filed by other carriers. The proposed merger between the UP and the Rock Island resulted in 10 years of hearings in front of the ICC and voluminous filings by carriers, experts, labor organizations, and various state and local entities. It was also one of the most complicated cases ever heard before the ICC. The merger ultimately proved unsuccessful because at the end of the process, the Rock Island had lost too much value through discontinuance of lines and lack of repairs and maintenance on its rolling stock and facilities. In 1974, the ICC approved the merger but the UP withdrew its offer because the cost had become prohibitive. The Rock Island entered bankruptcy in 1975, and went out of business in 1980.

Also of interest are the numerous applications by various railroads for the discontinuance of passenger services. The majority of railroad profits were made from freight haulage, and many lines sought to rid themselves of unprofitable passenger lines, many times to the detriment of the communities these lines served. This, in combination with the Penn Central merger and bankruptcy and the bankruptcies of other major carriers, led to the Northeast Rail Crisis and the federal government's creation of Amtrak. (See Collections 5552 and 5728 for the RLEA files on these subjects.)