# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 4/21st Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 85

Chap. LXXXV.—An Act to authorize the extension, construction, and use of a lateral branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, into and within the District of Columbia.
Whereas it is represented to this present Congress that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, incorporated by an act of the General Assembly of Maryland, entitled “An act to incorporate the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company,” passed the twenty-eighth day of February, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, are desirous, under the powers which they claim to be vested in them by the provisions of the before-recited act, to construct a lateral branch from the said Baltimore and Ohio railroad to the District of Columbia. Therefore,
Authority for lateral road.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, incorporated by the said act of the General Assembly of Maryland, shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to extend into and within the District of Columbia a lateral railroad, such as the said company shall construct, or cause to be constructed, in a direction towards the said district, in connection with the railroad which they have located, and are constructing, from the city of Baltimore to the Ohio river, in pursuance of their said act of incorporation:Powers, rights, &c. And the said Baltimore ​and Ohio Railroad Company are hereby authorized to exercise the same powers, rights, and privileges, and shall be subject to the same restrictions, in the extension and construction of the said lateral railroad into and within the said district, as they may exercise, or are subject to, under and by virtue of their said charter or act of incorporation, in the extension and construction of any railroad within the state of Maryland, and shall be entitled to the same rights, compensation, benefits, and immunities in the use of the said road, and in regard thereto, as are provided in their said charter, except the right to construct any lateral roadRestriction. or roads within the said district from the said lateral branch or road hereby authorized, it being expressly understood that the said Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company shall have power only to construct from the said Baltimore and Ohio railroad one lateral road within the said district, to some point or terminus within the city and county of Washington, to be determined in the manner hereinafter mentioned:Proviso: proceedings for appropriation of lands, &c. Provided, always, and be it enacted, That before the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company aforesaid shall proceed to construct any railroad which they may lay out or locate, on, through, or over any land or improvements, or to use, take for any earth, stone, or other materials, on any land within the said district, they shall first obtain the assent of the owner of such land, improvements or materials, or, if such owner shall be absent from said district, or shall refuse to give such assent on such terms as the said company shall approve, or, because of infancy, coverture, insanity, or any other cause, shall be legally incapable of giving such assent, then it shall be lawful for the said company to apply to a justice of the peace of the county of Washington, who shall thereupon issue his warrant, under his hand and seal, directed to the marshal of the said district, requiring him to summon a jury of twenty inhabitants of the said district, none of whom shall be interested, or related to any person interested in the land or materials required for the construction of the said railroad, or a stockholder, or related to any stockholder, in the said company, to meet on the land, or near to the other property or materials so required, on a day named in such warrant, not less than three nor more than fifteen days after issuing the same, to proceed to value the damages which the owner or owners of any such land or other property will sustain by the use or occupation of the same, required by the said company; and the proceedings, duty, and authority of the said marshal, in regard to such warrant and jury, and the oath or affirmation to be administered, and inquisition to be made and returned, shall be the same as are directed and authorized in regard to the sheriff, by the fifteenth section of the said act of the General Assembly of the state of Maryland, incorporating the said Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company; and all the other proceedings in regard to such jury, and the estimating and valuation of damages, and the payment or tender of payment of any damages ascertained by such valuation and effect thereof, and of the view of any lands, or other property, or materials, as to giving the said company a right to use the same for the use or construction of any railroad within the said district, as hereby authorized, shall in every case, and in every respect, be the same as is provided in and by the above-mentioned act of incorporation in regard to the railroads thereby authorized to be constructed by the said company:Proviso: other roads not to be obstructed. Provided, also, and be it enacted, That whenever the said company, in the construction of a railroad into or within the said district, as authorized by this act, shall find it necessary to cross or intersect any established road, street, or other way, it shall be the duty of the said company so to construct the said railroad across such established road, street, or other way, as not to impede the passage or transportation of persons or property along the same;Wagon ways to be provided. and, where it shall be necessary to pass the said railroad through the land of any individual within the said district, it shall also be the duty of the said company to provide for such ​individual, proper wagon ways across the said railroad, from one part of his land to the other;City lots, &c. but nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to authorize the entry by the said company upon any lot or square, or upon any part of any lot or square, owned by the United States, or by any other body or bodies politic or corporate, or by any individual or individuals, within the limits of the city of Washington, for the purposes aforesaid, of locating or constructing the said road, or of excavating the same, or for the purpose of taking therefrom any material, or for any other purpose or uses whatsoever; but the said company, in passing into the district aforesaid, and constructing the said road within the same, shall enter the city of Washington at such place, and shall pass along such public street or alley, to such point or terminus within said city, as the said company shall find best calculated to promote the objects of said road:Proviso: level. Provided, That the level of said road within the said city shall conform to the present graduation of the streets, unless the said corporation shall agree to a different level:Proviso: limit. And provided also, That the said company shall not be permitted to take or terminate the said road west of the west of the side of seventh street west:Proviso: Canals protected. And provided also, That the said road shall not cross, of interfere with, or infringe on the existing Washington City Canal or the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, their waters or basins, or any other canal which may hereafter be projected and executed to connect the said Chesapeake and Ohio Canal with the aforesaid Washington City Canal in its whole extent to the eastern branch of the Potomac:Proviso: Rate of toll, &c. Provided also, The rate actually charged and received on all that part of said road within the district shall not exceed three cents a ton per mile for toll, and three cents a ton per mile for transportation, except as hereinafter specified, and shall be the same each way:Proviso. Provided also, That the privileges granted by this bill to the aforesaid railroad company shall be upon the condition that the said company shall charge the same rate of toll upon the same articles going east and west between Baltimore and Washington.
Contracts for use of cars.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That in addition to the charges authorized by said act of incorporation to be made by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company aforesaid, the said company shall be authorized, within the said district, to make any special contract with any corporation, company or individual, for the exclusive use of any car, or of any part of, or place in, any car, or other carriage, on any railroad constructed by the said company, for a specified time or distance, or both, or for the receipt and delivery, or the transportation of merchandise or other valuable articles, in boxes, parcels, or packages weighing less than one-tenth of a ton, on such terms as may be mutually agreed on between the parties:Proviso: the charges to be restricted. Provided, That the charge for the transportation of merchandise or other valuable articles shall not exceed one cent per mile for any single box, parcel, or package weighing less than fifty pounds, and measuring in size not more than two cubic feet; and for any heavier or larger box, parcel, or package, weighing less than one-tenth of a ton; not more than two cents per mile. And the said company, in all cases where the whole of the merchandise, produce, or other property, transported on their railroad within the said district, at any one time, belonging to the same person, copartnership, or corporation, shall weigh less than a ton, and more than half a ton, shall be entitled to charge and receive, for the transportation thereof, at the same rate per mile as if it weighed a full ton; and if the same shall weigh less than half a ton, the charge per mile may be the same as for half a ton; always estimating a ton weight to be two thousand pounds.
Conveyance of mail, &c.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said company are, also, hereby empowered to make such special contract with any duly authorized empowered to make such special contract with any duly authorized officer or agent of the United States, for the conveyance of the mail, or the transportation of persons or property for the use of the United States, on any railroad which has been or shall be constructed by the ​said Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, on such terms as shall be approved of by the competent officer or authority; and in all such instances, to receive the compensation so agreed for, according to the terms of each contract.
Passengers.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said railroad company may charge and receive, for taking up and setting down any passenger or traveller within the district, conveyed a shorter distance than four miles, a sum not exceeding twelve and a half cents.
Condition.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That unless the said company shall commence the said lateral railroad within one year, and complete the same with, at least, one set of tracks, within four years from the passage of this act, then this act, and all the rights and privileges thereby granted, shall cease and determine.
Saving of right to authorize other roads, &c.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent the Congress of the United States from granting the same or similar privileges to those hereby granted to any other company or companies, incorporated or to be incorporated by the state of Maryland or Virginia, or by Congress, or from authorizing, by any future law, such additional railroads or roads, in connection with said road, so as to extend the same road, or to construct others connected therewith, to such parts of the district as from time to time may be required by the convenience of those parts of the district into which the said company are now restrained from carrying said road, or from enacting such rules and regulations, prescribing the speed or cars or carriages passing over said road, and other matter relating thereto, necessary for the security of the persons and property of the inhabitants of the district, in such manner as to the present or any future Congress shall deem expedient:Proviso. And provided, nevertheless, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to give any rights or privileges to the said company, beyond the limits of the District of Columbia.
Same rights, &c. to state of Maryland.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That if the state of Maryland shall determine to construct a railway between the city of Baltimore and the District of Columbia, or shall incorporate a company for the same purpose, then similar rights, privileges, immunities, and powers, conferred by this act on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, be, and the same are hereby, conferred on the state of Maryland, or any company which may be incorporated by it for the same purpose, within one year after the passage of this act.
Approved, March 2, 1831.