SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY. The Southern Railway Company was chartered under the laws of Virginia, 1894, as successor to the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company. It operates main lines in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Missis sippi, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. There are also branches and spurs in these States, also in the District of Columbia. The lines owned extend 4,341.60 miles; those controlled through the ownership of securities, 1,456.68 miles, and the leased lines, 78n.03 miles. The road covers, with its leased lines and trackage rights, practically all points of importance in the South Atlantic and Gulf States.
The Southern Railway, by its ownership of securities, controls the following leased lines: Southern Railway, Carolina division, 755 miles; Mobile and Birmingham Railroad, 150; Rich mond and Mecklenburg Railway, 31; Georgia Midland Railroad, 98; .Virginia and Southwest ern Railway, 189; North Carolina Midland Rail road, 54; Elberton Southern Railway, 51. The lines controlled but not leased are: the State University Railway, 10 miles; Knoxville and Ohio Railroad, 69; Sievern and Knoxville Rail road, 17; Ensley Southern, 33; Cumberland Railway, 11; Tennessee and Carolina Southern Railway, 30; Roswell Railroad, 13. Other lines leased and trackage rights bring the aggregate length of line controlled by the Southern Railway Company, as above, to 7,102 miles.
Other Lines The Southern Railway Company also controls the Mobile and Ohio Railroad; Alabama Great Southern Rail road, 357 miles; Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railroad, 336; Georgia Southern and Florida Railway, 391; Northern Alabama Railroad, 119. During the fiscal year ended 30 June 1917 the company acquired prac tically all the capital stock of the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad, extending from New Orleans to Meridian, Miss., 195 miles.
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad is controlled by the Southern Railway Company through ownership of the majority of each class of its capital stock. The Southern Rail way Company controls the Mobile and Ohio Railroad through ownership of more than 73 per cent of its capital stock and about 87 per cent of its general mortgage bonds.
The Georgia Southern and Florida Railway Company is controlled through ownership of more than 58 per cent of its capital stock and the entire issue of its first consolidated mort gage bonds. The above companies are operated independently. Other lines in the same class are: Northern Alabama Railway; Atlantic and Yadkin Railway; Blue Ridge, Danville and Western Railroad; Tallulah Falls Railway ; Lawrenceville Branch Railroad; Hartwell Rail way; High Point, Randleman, Asheboro and Southern Railroad; Saint Johns River Termi nal, and Yadkin Railroad.
The operating revenues in the year ended 31 Dec. 1917 amounted to $90,716,569, earned by the transportation of 19,886,602 passengers and 37,063,095 tons of freight. The passenger travel averaged 55.99 miles at 2.183 cents per mile—aggregating in the year 1,113,473,875 passenger-miles and $24,303,183. The freight traffic averaged 175.81 miles per ton, at a charge of 0.897 cents per ton-mile—aggregating in the year, 6,516,208,527 ton-miles and $58,450, 029. The total operating expenses for the year amounted to $60,113,508 and the total operating income was $26,429,962, of which $14,037,415 was net income. The appropriation for divi dends was $1,500,000 and for physical better ments, $120,210. The surplus for the year was $12,417,205.
The equipment of the road on 31 Dec. 1917 comprised 1,750 locomotives, 626 passenger coaches, 345 baggage, mail and express cars and 49,495 freight cars, of which 18,480 were coal cars.
The entire investment in the road and its equipment was $416,468,542. Other investments of the company amounted to 75,752,539. The 1 total stock outstanding was 180,000,000 and the long-term debt was $253,27 ,500. The credit balance of the profit and loss account on the date quoted was $43,288,162.
The Southern Railway with its main artery extends from Washington, D. C., to Atlanta, Ga., where branches extend south ward to Mobile, Ala.; eastward to Brunswick, Savannah and Charleston; westward to Chatta nooga, Birmingham and Memphis; another westward branch also reaching Louisville and Saint Louis; while other ramifications extend to Harrisburg, Pa., Richmond, Va., and Norfolk, N. C. _