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Decision of Board, on petition of Maine Central Railroad Company, for approval of location of branch railroad track in the town of Waterville, and to determine the manner and condition of crossing a highway. Decision June 18 1889.

STATE OF MAINE.

To the Supreme Judicial Court, next to be held at Augusta in the county of Kennebec, on the third Tuesday of October A. D. 1889.

We, the undersigned Board of Railroad Commissioners. of the State of Maine hereby certify that in accordance with the foregoing application and order of notice, we met at the time and place designated in said order, and it then and there appearing that notice had been given as ordered, we viewed the route and location of said proposed Branch Track and carefully examined the map and plan thereof presented, and gave a hearing to all persons and parties who appeared and desired to be heard relative to the same, and it then and there appearing from the evidence presented to us, that all matters set forth in said application relative to said Branch Track were true. We therefore now approve said location and direct that said Branch Track be constructed as per plan (No. 3) this day approved by us. It further appearing that said Branch Track is to be wholly used for the transportation of freight to and from the manufacturing establishment mentioned in said application, and that trains thereon will be run infrequent and moved slow rate of speed. We are therefore convinced that a crossing at grade with the highway mentioned will not materially endanger public travel on said way, and we hereby determine and direct that said Branch Track shall be permitted to cross said highway at grade therewith, and that the manner and conditions of crossing the same shall be as follows:

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Said railroad track shall be laid exactly on the present grade or level of said highway, when said railroad shall be at full grade, and the surface of the approaches on either side

of said railroad track, on said way shall be made and maintained by said Railroad Company, as wide as the same is now constructed, and said company shall construct and maintain the said crossing within said railroad location in such manner that the same shall be safe and convenient for travelers on said highway with horses, teams and carriages, and shall also make suitable provisions for the passage of surface drainage

water.

Signed by the Board.

E. C. FARRINGTON, Clerk.

Decision of the Board on petition of the Mount Desert Railway, for revival of Charter. Decision June 18 1889.

STATE OF MAINE.

We, the undersigned Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of Maine, hereby certify that in accordance with the foregoing application and order of notice, we met at our office in Augusta, on Tuesday the eighteenth day of June, A. D. 1889, at two o'clock in the afternoon, being the time. and place designated in said order, and then and there gave a hearing to the petitioners and all other persons and parties, who appeared and desired to be heard relative to the subject matter stated in said application.

After carefully considering the prayer of the petitioners and the reasons urged for the revival of their charter, we do hereby determine and order that the corporate powers and charter of the "Mt. Desert Railway" be and is hereby revived, as provided by section 3, of chapter 96, of the Public Laws of 1887.

This revival, however, is not to be construed as renewing or including the approval of location heretofore made by this Board.

Signed by the Board.

E. C. FARRINGTON, Clerk.

Decision of the Board, on petition of the Dexter & Piscataquis Railroad Company, for approval of a change or variation in location. Decision July 8 1889.

STATE OF MAINE.

As appears by the foregoing petition, the Dexter & Piscataquis Railroad Company, after having located their line to a connection with the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad, and having the same approved by this Board, now asks permission to change said location from a point on the approved and located line, commencing at the Piscataquis river, in the town of Foxcroft; thence, as appears by plan submitted, curving easterly to a point, of connection with the line of the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad, something more than a mile easterly from the one first submitted and approved by this Board. To this contemplated change of location, the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad Company, for reasons hereinafter stated, objects. It appeared by evidence submitted at the hearing, by the petitioners, that failing to agree with Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad Company, as to an Union Station for both companies, no suitable point on their located line could be found for depot purposes, without extending their line as above described; that for business purposes and to accommodate the people of Dover, and Foxcroft, it was necessary to reach some point nearer those villages; and that having been refused the privilege of laying a track along and within the location of the Bangor and Piscataquis railroad, they desire to locate a line southerly and adjoining said railroad, for a distance of about one mile, to a locality, known as the "Parsonage" lot in Foxcroft. The objection urged by the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad Company to this contemplated change of location, by the petitioners company, is, if we understand it correctly, that it will be a parallel road, with theirs, for more than a mile, and between their road and the village of Foxcroft, and manufacturing establishments on that side of their line; that if petitioners are permitted to so ex

tend their line, they (the B. & P.) will in part, be deprived of business that, on account of their prior location legitimately belongs to them, and that they will be inconvenienced and hindered in locating and operating side tracks to such manufacturing establishments, etc.

While, we think, we fully appreciate the importance of the objections above mentioned, we do not think they are of sufficient weight or importance to overcome the reasons, given by the petitioners, why their prayer for approval of change of location should be granted. The matter here to be determined, is not merely the prior rights of one company or the conveniences of another, the rights of the public, and the business of that community, must be considered, as well as the convenience and interests of either corporations. We do not think it would be reasonable or public policy, to deny to one railroad corporation, reasonable terminal facilities, simply because in reaching a desirable point or locality it would have to extend its road, for a short distance, parallel with one already established. But there are other reasons why we cannot at this time approve this contemplated change of location. It appears by the plan submitted, that to make the change proposed, the road would have to be constructed at grade, across at least six public streets or ways, now crossed, at grade, by the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad track, and at a distance of fifty feet from said track. Such a violation of the spirit and intent of chapter 282, of Public Laws of 1889 relating to railroad crossings, we cannot sanction unless sufficient reasons are shown therefor. It may be said that to cross two tracks at grade, would be but little more dangerous than to cross one. This would be true if they were along side, or near to each other, but when placed at a distance of fifty feet apart, the danger to travelers on such ways would be very much increased. It is desirable that these two roads should have a union station at such a point as would convene both, and be also convenient to the inhabitants of the villages of Dover and Foxcroft, but if such an arrangement cannot amicably be made by these two

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corporations, we think a sufficient remedy is provided by chapter 120, Public Laws of 1887. If not, the objections to approval of this proposed location, above mentioned, may be overcome.

By the Board.

E. C. FARRINGTON, Clerk.

Decision of the Board, on petition of the Dexter & Piscataquis Railroad Company, for approval of change of location, so as to avoid a highway crossing. Decision July 8 1889.

STATE OF MAINE.

To the honorable Supreme Judicial Court next to be held at Bangor, in the county of Penobscot, on the first Tuesday of October, A. D. 1889.

We, the undersigned Board of Railroad Commissioners for the State of Maine, hereby certify, that in accordance with the foregoing application and order of notice, we met at the time and place mentioned in said order, and it then and there appearing that notice thereof had been given as ordered, we gave a hearing to all persons and parties who appeared and desired to be heard relative to the same.

Col. J. B. Peaks appeared as counsel for the petitioners, and Hon. Josiah W. Crosby, as counsel for the town of Dexter. Prior to said hearing, on the same day, this Board viewed the premises described in said petition, and did not deem another examination necessary and refused to do so, although requested by the counsel for the town of Dexter.

At said hearing it appeared from the evidence offered by the petitioners, that said railroad was located across said highway, as described in said petition, in order to obtain a uniform grade, though as appears, a more direct and shorter line could have been made without crossing said highway, though at great expense, by means of excavations and fills. It appeared from said view and from the evidence adduced at said

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