years past; that said line of railroad extends, with its connecting lines and under the same management, from the city of Minneapolis through the counties of Carver, Sibley, Renville, Madison and Lac qui Parle to the city of Watertown in the State of South Dakota; that the Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Minnesota, and operates lines of railway, one line of which extends from the city of Willmar in the county of Kandiyohi, through the counties of Yellow Medicine, Lyon, Pipestone and Rock, in the State of Minnesota, to the line of the State of South Dakota, thence southerly to Sioux City, Iowa, and the main line of said last named company connects at said city of Willmar with what is known as the Great Northern system of railways, operated by the Great Northern Railway Company, which said system operates lines extending from the city of St. Paul via the city of Crookston to St. Vincent in said last named state, and via the city of Breckenridge to the City of Fargo in the State of North Dakota, and from the city of Fargo to the city of Grand Forks in said last named state, and via said city of Crookston to the city of Everett in the State of Washington, from which last named city the said Great Northern system has and enjoys traffic connection with the lines of other railway companies, whereby it is enabled to haul its freight and passenger trains to points situate upon the Pacific coast; that said Great Northern Railway Company has traffic connections with the Eastern Railway company in the State of Minnesota, which last named company has a line extending from the city of Hinckley therein to the cities of Duluth and Superior, situated respectively at the head of Lake Superior. That at the station known as Hanley Falls, in said county of Yellow Medicine, the tracks of the lines of the said Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company and of the said Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company, respectively, cross and intersect each other at grade and in such manner as to make it practicable to provide thereat ample facilities by track connections for the transfer from one of the last named tracks to the other thereof, any and all cars of whatsoever name or character used in the regular business of the said two last named companies, or either thereof. That no facilities whatever have been provided by either of said last named companies at or near said station of Hanley Falls, nor do any now exist thereat, whereby cars of any kind or description can be transferred from one to the other of said lines. That the farmers along the. line of the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company raise now, and have been raising, a great many stock cattle, that is to say, cattle that are ready to be fed and fatted for market; that the natural markets for such cattle are St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., and Sioux City, Iowa; that in some seasons the market for stock is better at one point than the other, on account of the supply of feed being more plentiful and cheaper at one point than the other, and such stock can be sold at the best advantage in the market having the largest and cheapest supply of feed. That in order to ship from stations on the line of the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad to Sioux City, Iowa, there being now no transfer facilities at Hanley Falls, it is necessary, and has been for a long time past, to ship cattle to Hopkins Station, within a few miles of Minneapolis, and there transfer to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad Company, for transportation to said Sioux City; that the distance from Hanley Falls via the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad and its connections to Sioux City, Iowa, is 380 miles, and the distance from said Hanley to said Sioux City, Iowa, via the Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company and its connections is 181 miles, and that in shipment of stock over the longer line they are kept much longer on the road than they would be if they could be transferred at Hanley Falls and shipped over the shorter line which would be established if transfer facilities were provided at that point, and that stock shipped by the longer route lose considerable more by shrinkage than they would could they be shipped by the shorter line; and by the establishment of transfer facilities at Hanley Falls, between said Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company and said Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company the shippers and cattle raisers residing along the line of the said Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company west of Hanley Falls would have the advantage of two markets for said stock. We also find that in addition to the freight charges on both roads, the expense of transferring cattle from one road to the other by unloading and reloading the same would be so great as to make it impracticable and impossible to ship cattle in that way so as to make any profit in buying and shipping the same. We also find that at the stations of Dawson and Clarkfield, Madison, Boyd and other stations on the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company all wood and posts have to be shipped from a distance; that thousands of cords of wood are consumed in said towns annually; that the evidence shows that there is a larger supply of wood along the line of the Great Northern system, of which said Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway is a part, than there is along the line of the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad and its connections, and wood is cheaper on the line of said great Northern system, of which the Willmar & Sioux Falls is a part, than on the line of the other system, of which the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company is a part, and if proper transfer facilities existed at Hanley Falls it could be obtained in larger quantities and at less expense than it now costs. And we find that on account of there being no transfer facilities at said station of Hanley Falls, people living on one line of road are practically excluded from the markets of the other line of road, on account of the extra expense and inconvenience of transferring goods, wares, merchandise and cattle by unloading and reloading. We also find that the following is a proper, feasible and practicable location of curve for track connections between the main tracks of said railroad companies: From a point in the center line of the main track of the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company 479 feet westerly from the point of intersection of the main tracks of said railroads with foresight on point of intersection of said tracks, run a curve of 573.7 feet radius to the right for 778.6 feet, ending at a point in the center line of the main track of the Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company, 463.3 feet southerly from said point of intersection. We therefore find as conclusions of law from the foregoing facts that it is both practicable and necessary for the interests of traffic and the reasonable and proper accommodation of the citizens of this state using and employing the lines of the said defendant corporations as a means of travel and the transportation of produce, coal and merchandise, that ample facilities by track connections for the transfer of any and all cars used in the regular business of the respective lines of the said two defendant companies be provided at said station of Hanley Falls, and that a commercial necessity exists therefor. It is therefore ordered, that the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company, and the Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company, on or before Aug. 1, 1896, furnish ample facilities by track connection between the tracks of said roads where the same intersect each other at or near the station of Hanley Falls in Yellow Medicine county in this state, by the construction of a track of the same gauge of the tracks of said companies, commencing at a point in the center line of the main track of the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company 479 feet westerly from the point of intersection of said tracks of said railroads with foresight on point of intersection of said tracks, run a curve of 573.7 feet radius to the right for 778.6 feet, ending at a point in the center line of the main track of the Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company 463.3 feet southerly from said point of intersection, and furnish the same with the necessary and proper switches at each end to transfer cars from one road to the other. Dated June 19, 1896. By the Commission: A. K. TEISBERG, As to the present status of the case, see letter of attorney gen eral, ante. |