Enterprise Railway
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Louisiana |
| Dates of operation | 1903–1914 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 12.0 miles (19.3 km) |
The Enterprise Railway was incorporated in Louisiana in 1903. It operated 12.0 miles (19.3 km) of road, from a junction with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway (Iron Mountain) at Simms, LA, eastward into the forest of the Enterprise Lumber Company. The lumber company had a mill in Alexandria, LA. 11 miles (18 km) of trackage rights on the Iron Mountain, from Simms south to Alexandria, connected the railroad, and the forest, to the mill.[1]: 888
The Enterprise Railway was part of a so-called "Southern Pine System," an informal association of four lines: Griffin, Magnolia & Western Railway, Saline Bayou Railway, Enterprise Railway, and Natchez, Ball & Shreveport Railway. While their ownership or control was not clear, the four lines were similar, as was their methods of doing business.[1]: 887
With the Interstate Commerce Commission's (ICC) ruling in 1912[1]: 870 , the ICC found in relation to tap lines[1]: 873 that:
the service performed for the respective proprietary lumber companies in moving logs from their forests to their mills and the mill products to trunk lines was not a service of transportation by a common-carrier railroad and that any allowances or divisions out of the rate on account thereof are unlawful.[2]
This ICC ruling invalidated the practice where a lumber company owned a nominal railroad and received divisions of freight rates from trunk lines. Once those allowances were eliminated, it negatively impacted a tap line's economic viability.
The Enterprise Railway ceased operations by 1914.[3]
See Also
References
Interstate Commerce Commission (April 23, 1912). The Tap-Line Case, Opinion No. 1853 (Report). Vol. 23. p. 277. Investigation and Suspension Docket No. 11. The common ownership of an industry and a short line serving it is not in itself sufficient to divest the railroad of its status as a common-carrier. On the other hand, the fact that the rails, locomotives, and cars of an industry have been turned over to an incorporated railroad company owned and operated by the industry or in its interest, does not divest those appliances of their character as a plant facility if such in fact is the case. A line must be drawn at some point between what is transportation and what is industry and between a facility of transportation and a plant facility or tool of the industry. Each case, however, must stand on its own facts. On the facts shown of record: Held, That the service performed for the proprietary lumber companies by certain tap lines described on the report is not a service of transportation by a common carrier.
- 1 2 3 4 The Traffic Service Bureau (1912). "Decisions of Commission, The Tap-Line Case". The Traffic World and Traffic Bulletin. IX (18). Chicago, IL: 870–889 – via Google Books.
- ↑ The Traffic Service Bureau (1912). "Decisions of Commission, The Tap-Line Case". The Traffic World and Traffic Bulletin. IX (24). Chicago, IL: 1218 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Railroad Commission of Louisiana (1915-01-01). Sixteenth Annual Report of the Railroad Commission of Louisiana (Report). Baton Rouge, LA: Ramires-Jones Printing Company. p. 518. Retrieved 2026-06-18 – via Google Books.