DateTime
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Author
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Posting
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12/15/2001
9:33:00 AM |
Bob Montbriand |
Chuck Soule gave us a good
explanation of the land grant/NP situation. The government granted alternate sections of land to the NP, but
some of the land was already owned by
other parties, and when that was the case the NP was granted land remote from the actual route of the railroad
(probably the source of the Mt St
Helens grant). Another point to consider was that the agreement to provide transportation for
the government at 50% of the normal
rate on thr NP led to 50% rate cuts on all railroads which were
competitive with the NP. One last
item which is critical to this discussion - Upon completion of the construction of the NP the value of the
alternate sections of land retained
by the government immediately doubled in value. Thus, it is safe to say that Uncle Sam got his
money back even before the 50% price
cuts (which I believe, continued until the mid-1940s). Mt. St. Helens, alternate sections.
Checkerboard Compiler C Frissell |