by rhallock
Reading the New York State annual report of the Public Service Commission for 1923 I found the following oddity on page 817 under Pittsburg Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company.
"Mrs. Clara A.H.H. SMith, (owner, Rochester, HOrnellsville and Lackawanna Railroad). The railroad known as the Rochester, Hornellsville and Lackawanna railroad consists of a piece of track about ten miles long, without equipment or terminals. The title to it rests with Mrs. Clara A.H.H. Smith as legatee of Frank Sullivan Smith, formerly receiver of the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company. Frank Sullivan Smith acquired title to the road about 1893. The road was up until 1921 operated by the Pittsburg Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company under an informal lease agreement between that company and Frank Sullivan Smith, under the terms of which no rental was ever paid Mr. Smith for the use of his property; and the ten miles of track was shown in the annual report of the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company as "leased road", no report ever being made by Mr. Smith during the time he was sole owner of the property. Now that a formal lease has been entered into and approved by the Commission, it has been ruled that Mrs. Smith is a "railroad corporation" as defined under the Public Service Commission Law, and required to file annual reports, which have been agreed would take the form of a brief verified statement. The lease which was executed and approved in 1921 from Clara A.H.H. Smith to The Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company provides for the payment by the latter of a rental of $3000 per annum."
The gist of this is that since the RH&L RR, had no formal organization or officers, it was ruled that the railroad and Mrs. Smith, its sole owner, were one and the same for legal purposes.
"Mrs. Clara A.H.H. SMith, (owner, Rochester, HOrnellsville and Lackawanna Railroad). The railroad known as the Rochester, Hornellsville and Lackawanna railroad consists of a piece of track about ten miles long, without equipment or terminals. The title to it rests with Mrs. Clara A.H.H. Smith as legatee of Frank Sullivan Smith, formerly receiver of the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company. Frank Sullivan Smith acquired title to the road about 1893. The road was up until 1921 operated by the Pittsburg Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company under an informal lease agreement between that company and Frank Sullivan Smith, under the terms of which no rental was ever paid Mr. Smith for the use of his property; and the ten miles of track was shown in the annual report of the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company as "leased road", no report ever being made by Mr. Smith during the time he was sole owner of the property. Now that a formal lease has been entered into and approved by the Commission, it has been ruled that Mrs. Smith is a "railroad corporation" as defined under the Public Service Commission Law, and required to file annual reports, which have been agreed would take the form of a brief verified statement. The lease which was executed and approved in 1921 from Clara A.H.H. Smith to The Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad Company provides for the payment by the latter of a rental of $3000 per annum."
The gist of this is that since the RH&L RR, had no formal organization or officers, it was ruled that the railroad and Mrs. Smith, its sole owner, were one and the same for legal purposes.