Public Service Commission of Maryland v. Northern Cent. Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 15 January 1914
• Citation: 90 A. 105,122 Md. 355
• Parties: PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND v. NORTHERN CENT. RY. CO. et al. NORTHERN CENT. RY. CO. et al. v. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

90 A. 105

122 Md. 355

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND v. NORTHERN CENT. RY. CO. et al.

NORTHERN CENT. RY. CO. et al. v. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

January 15, 1914

Appeals from Circuit No. 2 of Baltimore City; Henry Duffy, Judge.

"To be officially reported."

Action by the Northern Central Railroad Company and others against the Public Service Commission of Maryland, to restrain the enforcement of an order of the Commission establishing rates for the movement of loaded cars of freight within the city of Baltimore. From a judgment restraining such rates in part both parties appeal. Affirmed.

THOMAS J.

These appeals are from a decree of the circuit court No. 2 of Baltimore city, dissolving in part a preliminary injunction theretofore granted against the Public Service Commission of Maryland and making said injunction perpetual as to other features of the order of said Commission.

On the 11th of January, 1911, the Baltimore Drug Exchange and certain other trade associations filed their petition or complaint with the Public Service Commission of Maryland against the Baltimore Belt Railroad Company, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, the Northern Central Railway Company, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad Company, the Western Maryland Railway Company, and the Union Railroad Company, in which, after alleging that the petitioners were organized for the purposes of promoting the business of their members, and that their principal offices were in Baltimore city, they charged: That the defendants were common carriers engaged in the transportation of passengers and property between points in the state of Maryland, and as such were subject to the provisions of the act of 1910, creating the Public Service Commission of Maryland (Laws 1910, c. 180). That the defendants charged for local switching movements of car loads of freight between points on their lines in Baltimore city, or Baltimore county adjacent thereto, certain class rates. That the class rates of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company were 6 cents per 100 pounds for the first, second, and third classes of freight, and 5 cents per 100 pounds for the fourth, fifth, and sixth classes. That the class rates charged by the Northern Central Railway Company, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad Company, and the Union Railroad Company were 6 cents per 100 pounds for first class freight, 5 cents per 100 pounds for the second and third classes of freight, and 4 cents per 100 pounds for the fourth, fifth, and sixth classes. That for a movement of a car load of freight from a station on one of the defendants' lines to a station on the line of one of the other defendants within Baltimore city, or Baltimore county adjacent thereto, the charges were based on the sum of the two class rates, and that therefore if a shipper desired a car of first class freight moved from Camden Station, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, to Bolton Station, on the Northern Central Railway, he would have to pay to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company 6 cents per 100 pounds to move the car from Camden Station to Bay View, where the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad connects with the Northern Central Railway, and would have to pay to the Northern Central Railway Company 6 cents per 100 pounds to move said car from Bay View to Bolton Station. That the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and the Northern Central Railway Company, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad Company, and the Union Railroad Company had, by agreement, established a joint rate, effective December 15, 1910, whereby a shipper could have a car loaded with freight moved from a station on one of said railroads to a station on another of said railroads, within Baltimore city, or Baltimore county adjacent thereto, at the following rates: First class freight for 11 cents, second class for 10 cents, third class for 8 cents, fourth class for 7 cents, fifth class for 6 cents and sixth class for 5 cents per 100 pounds. That said rates subjected the members of the associations to the payment of sums ranging from $6 to $50 per car for such switching movements. That said rates were unjust, unreasonable, and discriminatory, and in violation of said act of 1910, "and that other cities, active competitors of Baltimore, enjoy switching charges averaging substantially $3 per car." The petition further alleges that said excessive charges were due in part to a failure of the defendants to construct and maintain switch connections within the city at points where the same could be properly made, and then prayed the Commission to pass an order, requiring the defendants to define the Baltimore city switching limits, to construct and maintain additional switch connections for the exchange of freight, an interchange car float service between Canton and Locust Point, and establish "flat switching charges for local or joint switch movements, not exceeding the following: Five miles and under, $3.50 per car; 10 miles and over 5, $4 per car; 15 miles and over 10, $5 per car; over 15 miles $6 per car."

The answer of the Northern Central Railway Company, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad Company, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the Union Railroad Company of Baltimore denied that the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was engaged in the transportation of property and passengers between points in the state of Maryland, and that the Union Railroad Company was engaged in such transportation, except in so far as other railroad companies use its road and facilities for that purpose. It admits that the Northern Central Railway Company and the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad Company charged and collected the rates referred to in the petition of the complainants, but denies that said rates were unreasonable, unjust, or unduly discriminatory, and that other cities active competitors of Baltimore, enjoy switching charges of $3 per car. It denies the further allegations of the petition, and that said rates were in violation of the Public Service Commission Act of 1910.

The answer of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and the Baltimore Belt Railroad Company was practically to the same effect, except that they denied that the rates for the transportation of a car load of freight between points on their lines within the city of Baltimore, or Baltimore county adjacent thereto, and points on the lines of the other defendants within the city of Baltimore, or Baltimore county adjacent thereto, were based on the sum of the local rates of said defendants and the other defendants, and that the rates from Camden Station to Bolton Station were 12, 11, 11, 9, 9, and 9 cents per 100 pounds, as stated in the complainants' petition.

After a hearing the Public Service Commission of Maryland passed, on the 31st day of May, 1912, the following order:

"Ordered (1) that the defendants, the Baltimore Belt Railroad Company, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, the Northern Central Railway Company, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad Company, the Western Maryland Railway Company, and the Union Railroad Company be and they severally are hereby notified and required to cease and desist, on or before the 1st day of August, 1912, from charging, exacting, demanding, and receiving the rates and charges heretofore charged, exacted, demanded, and received for the transportation of intrastate commerce of car lords of property from and to their and each of their several spurs, tracks, junctions, yards, and terminals situate and located within the boundaries in the second paragraph of this order designated and described.

"(2) It is further ordered that the said defendants be and they severally are hereby notified and required to establish and put in force, on or before the 1st day of August, 1912, and maintain during the period of five years thereafter, and until changed by further order of the Commission a 'switching district' for the city of Baltimore, to include all the territory within the following boundary lines, to wit: From a line drawn from Notre Dame, a station on the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad, to and including Rosedale, a station on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; thence southeasterly to and through Back river, a station on the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad; thence south to and through Turner, a station on the Baltimore & Sparrows Point Branch of the Northern Central Railway; thence southwesterly to Curtis Bay, a station on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (including Wagner's Point); thence west to and through Monumental, a station on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; thence northwesterly to and including Primrose, a station on the Catonsville Branch of the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad; thence north to and including Arlington, a station on the Western Maryland Railway; thence northeasterly through and including Melvale, a station on the Northern Central Railway, to Notre Dame, the place of beginning.

"(3) It is further ordered that said defendants be and they severally are hereby notified and required to establish and put in force on or before the 1st day of August, 1912, and apply thereafter during the period of not less than three years, and until the further order of the Commission to the transportation of intrastate commerce of property in car loads from and to the spurs, tracks, junctions, yards, and terminals of said defendants within the territory in this order above mentioned and described, the rates and charges as follows, to wit: A rate and charge not in excess of $1 per car for all services in connection with yard switching as in this order hereafter defined; rates and charges for all

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