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2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 38 - Certificate

Section 38. Each stockholder shall be entitled to a certificate, which shall be signed by the president and by the treasurer of the corporation, or by such other officers as may be authorized by the by-laws, shall be sealed with its seal, and shall certify the number of shares owned by him in such corporation; but when any such certificate is signed by a transfer agent or transfer clerk and by a registrar and the registrar is not the same person, partnership, association, trust or corporation as the transfer agent or transfer clerk, the signature of the president or of the treasurer or of the other officers authorized by the by-laws, or the seal of the corporation, or any or all of such last-mentioned signatures and such seal upon such certificate may be facsimile, and such certificate shall be as valid and effectual for all purposes as if signed by such president, treasurer or other authorized officer, or sealed with the seal of such corporation, as the case may be.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 39 - Assessment; Failure to Pay Assessment

Section 39. The directors may from time to time assess upon each share such amounts, not exceeding in all one hundred dollars on a share, or the price fixed under section fifty of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, as they think proper, and may direct the same to be paid to the treasurer, who shall give notice thereof to the subscribers. If a subscriber has made no payment upon his shares, the directors, thirty days after an assessment has become due, may declare them forfeited, and may transfer them to any responsible person who subscribes for them and pays the assessments then due. If a subscriber neglects, for thirty days after notice from the treasurer, to pay an assessment upon his shares, the directors may order the treasurer, after giving notice of the sale, to sell such shares by public auction to the highest bidder, and, upon the payment by him to the corporation of the unpaid assessments, of interest to the date of sale and of the charges of sale, the shares shall be transferred to him. If within thirty days after the sale the purchaser does not make said payment to the corporation, the sale shall be cancelled, and the subscriber shall be liable to the corporation for the unpaid assessments, interest thereon and charges of sale. If the amount so paid by the purchaser to the corporation is more than the amount for which the shares were sold, the subscriber shall be liable to the purchaser for the deficiency; if it is less, the purchaser shall be liable to the subscriber for the surplus.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 40 - Collection of Assessment

Section 40. If a subscriber neglects to pay his assessment for thirty days as provided in the preceding section, the directors may elect to proceed at law against said delinquent subscriber to recover all amounts due and payable by him with interest. If a judgment rendered in an action against a subscriber remains unsatisfied for thirty days, all amounts previously paid by him shall be forfeited to the company and the directors may offer such shares for sale as provided in said section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 41 - Increase of Capital Stock; Purposes

Section 41. A railroad corporation, for the purpose of building a branch or extension, or of aiding in the construction of another railroad, or of taking stock in a grain elevator corporation in the organization of which it is an associate, or of erecting and operating grain elevators within the commonwealth, or of building depots, or of abolishing grade crossings, or of making permanent investments or improvements, or of funding its floating debt, or of refunding its funded debt, or for the payment of money borrowed for any lawful purpose, or for other necessary and lawful purposes, may, from time to time, in accordance with sections forty-seven and forty-eight, increase its capital stock or bonds beyond the amounts fixed and limited by its agreement of association or its charter, or by any special law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 42 - Corporation Consolidated With One in Another State; Unauthorized Capital Stock Increase

Section 42. If a railroad corporation owning a railroad in this commonwealth and consolidated with a corporation owning a railroad in another state increases its capital stock, or the capital stock of such consolidated corporation, except as authorized by this chapter or chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, without authority of the general court, or without such authority extends its line of railroad, or consolidates with any other corporation, or makes a stock dividend, the charter and franchise of such corporation shall be subject to forfeiture.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 43 - Issue of Preferred Stock

Section 43. A railroad corporation organized under the laws of this commonwealth, or organized under the laws of this commonwealth and of any other state or states may, by vote of two thirds in interest of its common stockholders, at a meeting duly called therefor, with the approval of the department, issue and from time to time increase preferred stock of one or more classes for any lawful purposes for which railroad corporations are authorized to issue or increase their capital stock. Each class of preferred stock shall be entitled to the preferences and rights and shall be subject to the restrictions and limitations fixed by such vote, as approved by the department. Such stock shall be issued subject to all the provisions of the laws of this commonwealth governing the issue of capital stock by railroad corporations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 44 - Designation of Preferred Stock; Filing of Record of Proceedings; Contents of Certificate

Section 44. Each class of preferred stock issued under authority of the preceding section shall be designated by a name approved by the department to distinguish it from all other classes of stock of the corporation. A certified copy of the vote creating, and of the order of the department approving the creation of, any class of preferred stock shall be filed in the office of the department and in the office of the commissioner of revenue. Every certificate of stock issued by a railroad corporation after the approval by the department of the creation by it of preferred stock shall contain a reference to all votes creating preferred stock and a brief description of the respective preferences, rights and restrictions of each class of said stock.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 45 - Voting Power of Preferred Stock; Amount of Stock

Section 45. Any preferred stock issued under authority of section forty-three shall have the same voting power as the common stock, except that, in any case, there may be such limitations of the voting power of the preferred stock as the department approves and finds to be consistent with the adequate protection of the public interest. The aggregate amount at par of preferred stock of all classes issued by a railroad corporation shall at no time exceed twice the amount at par value of its outstanding common stock, and no class of preferred stock shall be created which is not, in a manner approved by the department, made subordinate in respect to dividends or to participation in the proceeds of liquidation to the preferences of every previously created class of preferred stock.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 46 - Offer of Preferred Stock to Common Shareholders

Section 46. Upon any issue of preferred stock the new shares shall, unless the common stockholders shall, with the approval of the department, otherwise provide, first be offered to the common stockholders in the manner prescribed in sections fifty and fifty-one of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, including the holders of such of its evidences of indebtedness outstanding as on their face entitle the holders thereof to participate in the right to subscribe to such shares; and any shares of the preferred stock which shall not have been duly subscribed and paid for by the common stockholders or their assigns and by holders of such evidences of indebtedness, and all of the preferred shares, if the common stockholders so determine and the department approves, may be sold in the manner and subject to section fifty-one of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, or in any other manner, at not less than par, which the department may approve. In case of any increase in the common stock of the corporation, holders of preferred stock shall be entitled to have offered to them shares of the new stock in the manner provided in sections fifty and fifty-one of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, whenever the vote creating such preferred stock as approved by the department shall so provide.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 49 - Exchange for Registered Bonds

Section 49. At the request of the owner or holder of any coupon bonds lawfully issued, the railroad corporation issuing them may issue registered bonds in exchange therefor, upon such terms and under such regulations as its directors may prescribe, and with the consent and approval of the trustees, if any, to whom a mortgage or pledge has been executed; and such registered bonds shall, with the exception of the coupons, correspond in all respects with the coupon bonds for which they are exchanged, and shall be in conformity with all laws authorizing the issue of said coupon bonds. Such exchange shall not affect a mortgage or pledge given as security for the payment of such coupon bonds, and such mortgage or pledge shall remain in full force as security for such registered bonds; and the coupon bonds shall be cancelled and destroyed at the same time that the registered bonds are issued in exchange therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 51 - Default on Mortgage; Contract to Allow Those in Possession to Operate

Section 51. If a railroad corporation, having executed a mortgage of its property, rights and privileges, or of a part thereof, to trustees for the benefit of its general creditors, or of a particular class of creditors, makes default in the performance of the condition of the mortgage, so that the trustees or their successors are entitled to the actual possession and usufruct of the property, rights and privileges therein conveyed, in trust for the purposes specified in the mortgage, the trustees, after entry, instead of retaining actual possession of the mortgaged premises and operating the railroad, may contract with the corporation or other competent party to take or retain for them the possession of the mortgaged premises, and to use and operate the same on its own responsibility, accounting with the trustees for the earnings and income, and paying over the profits and net income periodically, when and as far as necessary for the performance of the conditions of the mortgage, if a majority in interest of the bondholders or creditors under the mortgage shall so vote, in person or by proxy, at a meeting called therefor, notice of which shall be published ten days before said meeting in two or more daily newspapers published in Boston, and in at least one newspaper published in each county where the railroad is located. All liabilities incurred by the corporation or other party in operating the railroad under such contract shall be held as claims against and be paid out of the income, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the property had remained in the actual possession of the trustees and been operated by them.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 52 - Trustees in Possession of Railroad; Annual Meeting

Section 52. Trustees in possession of a railroad under a mortgage shall annually call a meeting of the bondholders or creditors for whose security they hold the railroad in trust, to be held in December, of which notice shall be given by publication, at least ten days before such meeting, in two or more daily newspapers in Boston, and in at least one newspaper in each county where the railroad is located; and at such meeting they shall submit a report for the year, similar to the annual report of railroad directors to stockholders. If they fail to call such a meeting, five or more bondholders or creditors, whose claims secured by the mortgage amount to not less than ten thousand dollars, may in the same manner call such meeting, to be held in the January following said December.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 53 - Trustees in Possession of Railroad; Election and Confirmation of Trustees

Section 53. At the annual meeting held under the preceding section, the bondholders or creditors, by a majority in interest vote, may, in person or by proxy, elect three trustees under the mortgage for the ensuing year, and until others are chosen and qualified. And the trustees or any of them or a bondholder or creditor may submit the proceedings of the meeting for confirmation to a justice of the supreme judicial court, in court or at chambers, first giving notice of their intention so to do to the former trustees under the mortgage, to the trustees of all other existing mortgages upon the railroad, and to the corporation, seven days at least before the hearing thereon; which notice may be served by an officer or disinterested person. The justice may hear the parties, ratify the election, and enter such decree as he may find necessary to transfer the property to the new trustees; which decree shall be filed in the office of such clerk of the court as the justice may direct.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 54 - Trustees in Possession of Railroad; Jurisdiction of Supreme Judicial Court

Section 54. The supreme judicial court shall have jurisdiction in equity of all cases arising under the two preceding sections, and of all questions arising out of railroad mortgages, and may summarily remove a trustee under a railroad mortgage, whether he is in possession of the railroad or not, and appoint a new trustee in his stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 55 - Purchaser Under Foreclosure

Section 55. A purchaser of a railroad at a sale under a valid foreclosure of a legal mortgage thereof, and his successors in title, shall, relative to the construction, maintenance and operation of said railroad, be subject to all the duties, liabilities and restrictions, and have all the powers and rights, which the mortgagor was subject to and had at the time of said sale.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 56 - Necessity of Payment of Par for Shares; Limit Upon Capital Stock

Section 56. A railroad corporation shall not declare any stock or scrip dividend or divide the proceeds of the sale of stock or scrip among its stockholders; nor shall any such corporation issue any share of stock to any person unless the par value of the shares so issued is first paid in cash to its treasurer; nor shall it without authority of the general court increase its capital stock beyond the maximum amount fixed by its act of incorporation, or fixed under sections forty-one, forty-seven and forty-eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 57 - Liability for Issuing Void Stock

Section 57. A certificate of stock or scrip issued in violation of the preceding section shall be void; and each director of the corporation issuing it shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars, to be recovered by indictment in the county where he resides, or, if he resides in no county, in the county where he is commorant, or the offence was committed; but if any such director proves, that, before such issue, he filed his written dissent thereto with the clerk, and at no time voted therefor, he shall not be so liable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 58 - Use of Each Other's Railroad

Section 58. If a railroad constructed after April eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, meets another railroad which terminates in the same city or town, or lawfully crosses another railroad at the same level therewith, the corporation by which either of said railroads is owned may enter its railroad upon, unite the same with and use the railroad of the other; if a railroad constructed after said date meets another railroad which passes through the same city or town, the corporation by which either of said railroads is owned may, with the written consent of the department and upon such terms as the department upon hearing prescribes, enter its railroad upon, unite the same with and use the railroad of the other; and if a railroad corporation whose railroad was constructed prior to said date is specially authorized to enter its railroad upon, unite the same with and use the railroad of another corporation, each of such corporations may enter upon, unite its railroad with and use the railroad of the other; but no locomotive engine or other motive power not owned and controlled by the corporation owning or lawfully operating the railroad shall be allowed to run upon a railroad except with the consent of such corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 59 - Service Provided to Other Railroad; Compensation

Section 59. If two corporations are authorized as in the preceding section each to enter its railroad upon, unite the same with and use the railroad of the other, each of them shall at reasonable times and for a reasonable compensation draw over its railroad the passengers, merchandise and cars of the other, and each of them shall for a reasonable compensation provide upon its railroad convenient and suitable station accommodations for the passengers and merchandise of the other corporation passing to and over it, and shall receive and deliver the same in the manner in which it receives and delivers its own passengers and freight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 60 - Rates for Services for Connecting Company

Section 60. If the corporations cannot agree upon the stated periods at which the cars of one shall be drawn over the railroad of the other, and upon the compensation to be paid therefor, or upon the terms and conditions upon which accommodations shall be furnished for the passengers and merchandise of the other, or if two corporations operating railroads of different gauges cannot agree as to the requisite terminal accommodations, or as to the manner in which freight and passengers shall be transferred from one railroad to the other and forwarded, the department, upon the petition of either party and after notice to the other, shall hear the parties, and determine, having reference to the convenience and interest of the corporations and of the public to be accommodated thereby, the stated periods for drawing cars, the compensation therefor, the terms and conditions for passengers and merchandise, or the requisite terminal accommodations and manner of transferring passengers and freight as aforesaid; and, upon the application of either party, shall determine all questions between the parties relative to the transportation of freight and passengers and other business upon and connected with said railroads in which they are jointly interested and the manner in which the business shall be done, and shall apportion to the corporations their respective shares of the expenses, receipts and income of the same; and the award of the department shall be binding upon the respective corporations for one year and thereafter until the department revises the same; and the compensation of the department for services and expenses under this section shall be paid by the respective corporations in such proportions as the department shall determine and set forth in its award. Upon the written request of a party affected thereby, filed with the department within thirty days after the rendering thereof, the award shall be filed in the supreme judicial court which shall have jurisdiction to revise it as if it had been made by a commission appointed by said court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 62 - Lease by One Connecting Railroad to the Other

Section 62. Two railroad corporations, incorporated under the laws of the commonwealth, and whose railroads enter upon or connect with each other, may contract that either corporation shall perform all the transportation upon and over the railroad of the other; and any such corporation may lease its railroad to any other such corporation; but the facilities for travel and business on either of the railroads of said corporations shall not thereby be diminished. Such leases shall be upon such terms as the directors agree, and as a majority in interest of the stockholders of both corporations at meetings called therefor approve, subject to section fifty-four of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine. The income arising from such contracts or leases shall be subject to the provisions of law relative to the right of the commonwealth to purchase the railroads of the railroad corporations or to reduce their tolls, in the same manner as that arising from the use of the railroads. Copies of such contracts or leases shall be deposited with the department, and full statements of the facts shall be set forth in the next annual return of such corporations. This section shall not authorize a lease or contract between two railroad corporations, each of which has a terminus in Boston. The railroads of two railroad corporations shall be considered to enter upon or connect with each other, within the meaning of this section, if one of such railroads enters upon, connects with, or intersects a railroad leased to the other or operated by it under a contract as herein authorized.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 63 - Term of Lease

Section 63. A railroad corporation shall not lease or contract for the operation of its railroad for a period of more than ninety-nine years without the consent of the general court; but this section shall not render invalid a lease approved by the stockholders of a corporation before July first, eighteen hundred and eighty.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 64 - Taking Securities of Other Corporations

Section 64. A railroad corporation, unless authorized by the general court or by the six following sections, shall not directly or indirectly subscribe for, take or hold the stock or bonds of or guarantee the bonds or dividends of any other corporation; and the amount of the bonds of one or more other corporations subscribed for and held by a railroad corporation, or guaranteed by it conformably to special authority of the general court or the authority given in said sections, with the amount of its own bonds issued in conformity with sections forty-seven and forty-nine, shall not exceed at any time the amount authorized by said section forty-seven, computed as provided in section fifty-three of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 65a - Holding Stock in Railroad Car and Equipment Companies

Section 65A. A railroad corporation may hold stock in companies which manufacture, construct, sell, assign, lease, repair, equip, supply, maintain or deal in railroad cars and equipment to an amount not exceeding five per cent of its capital stock outstanding.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 65b - Real Estate, Warehouse, Industrial Facility, and Industrial Development Companies Stock

Section 65B. A railroad corporation may hold stock in real estate, warehouse, industrial facility, and industrial development companies but in no event shall such holdings exceed, in the aggregate, ten per cent of the outstanding capital stock of such railroad corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 66 - Guaranty of Steamship Company Bonds

Section 66. A railroad corporation may guarantee, to an amount not exceeding five per cent of its capital stock, the bonds of any corporation incorporated in the commonwealth for the purpose of carrying freight, passengers and mails between any port of this commonwealth and Europe; or, upon adequate security therefor, may issue its own bonds to the same amount, conformably to the provisions of sections forty-seven and forty-eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 67 - Associate in Formation of Grain Elevator Corporation

Section 67. A railroad corporation may become an associate under chapter one hundred and fifty-six in the formation of a corporation for the purpose of erecting and operating a grain elevator within the commonwealth, and may take stock in any elevator corporation so organized, and, at all meetings, and in all transactions of such elevator corporation, the president of the railroad corporation, or in his absence any officer appointed by its board of directors, may represent, act and vote in the name of such railroad corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 68 - Acquisition, Retention, Sale or Guarantee of Other's Bonds or Notes

Section 68. A corporation owning a railroad connecting with another railroad, both of which are wholly constructed, or a corporation owning a railroad leasing, operating or controlling another railroad, may acquire, hold, sell and, upon such terms and to such an extent as may be authorized by a vote at a meeting called therefor, may guarantee the bonds or notes of such other railroad, whether such other railroad is located within or without this commonwealth; provided, that such bonds or notes are issued in conformity with law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 69 - Powers of Railroad Corporations; Aid in Construction of Branch or Connecting Railroads

Section 69. A railroad corporation may aid in the construction of any branch or connecting railroad within the limits of the commonwealth, whether connecting by a railroad or steamboat line, by subscribing for shares of stock in such corporation, or by taking its notes or bonds secured by mortgage or otherwise, and may vote on all shares of stock so subscribed for and held; but a corporation shall not so subscribe to an amount in excess of two per cent of its paid-up capital stock, or mortgage its property to secure the loans or subscriptions made by any other corporation under this section, except by a vote of a majority in interest of the stockholders at a meeting called therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 70 - Terminal, Express and Subsidiary Companies; Interest of Railroads in Stock and Securities

Section 70. A railroad corporation may acquire, hold, vote, sell and negotiate the stock and securities of terminal companies organized under the laws of the commonwealth, and of express companies operating in whole or in part on its lines, and may guarantee the bonds of such companies. Such a corporation may acquire, hold, vote, sell and negotiate stock in subsidiary corporations organized under the laws of the commonwealth to operate aircraft and/or motor vehicles not running on rails or tracks for the transportation of passengers and/or freight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 70a - Steamship Companies, Ferries, Ferry Boats, Docks, Motor Vehicles and Aircraft

Section 70A. A railroad corporation may acquire, hold, maintain and operate steamship companies, ferries, ferry boats and docks, and either directly or through subsidiaries, may own, maintain and operate motor vehicles not running upon rails or tracks, and aircraft for the transportation of passengers and/or freight. A railroad corporation, or any subsidiary thereof, in maintaining and operating such vehicles, shall be subject to all provisions of chapter ninety and of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine B and to all other laws applicable to aircraft or motor vehicles and the operation thereof, and, in respect to the transportation of passengers, to chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, but in respect to the transportation of freight shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine.
The department may from time to time prescribe forms of accounting reports relating to the operations of motor vehicles for the transportation of passengers or freight by a railroad or subsidiary thereof and such reports shall be made in accordance with the forms prescribed.
Motor vehicles operated by a railroad corporation directly or through subsidiaries for the transportation of freight within the commonwealth shall be operated only in areas now served by such corporation; and the department shall have authority, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, to determine specified areas in which or points between which such motor vehicles may be operated and by order to prescribe and limit the number of such vehicles that may be operated by a railroad in such areas or between such points and to regulate the operation of such motor vehicles.
This section shall not be construed to affect any right or privilege derived from the constitution or laws of the United States.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 71 - Prohibition After 1907

Section 71. No corporation owning, leasing or operating a railroad wholly or partly in the commonwealth, nor any person or corporation acting in its interest shall, directly or indirectly, acquire, or attempt to acquire by purchase, exchange of shares, or in any other way, any shares of the capital stock of any domestic railroad company not lawfully leased, owned or operated by it prior to May first, nineteen hundred and seven, except under specific authority provided by law. No such domestic railroad company, or any officer, director, servant or agent thereof, shall permit or suffer the said corporation or any of its officers or agents to exercise any control whatsoever over the corporate acts of such domestic company, except as hereinafter provided.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 72 - Application for Consolidation; Notice; Hearing; Determination

Section 72. The presidents, or a majority of the boards of directors, or the holders of not less than one third in interest of the capital stock of two or more railroad corporations, may apply to the department for its determination as to whether the consolidation of the railroads of such corporations is consistent with the public interest. If the department, after public notice and hearing, shall find that such consolidation is consistent with the public interest, it shall report its findings to the general court, together with drafts of a law or laws to authorize such consolidation upon the agreement of the corporations to be consolidated, and after ratification by a vote of not less than two thirds in interest of the stockholders in each, and under terms and conditions which will effectually prevent any decrease in the facilities for transportation on the railroad of either of such corporations or any increase in the rates for passengers or freight by the said consolidation, and which will, in the opinion of the department, secure to the commonwealth adequate control over the organization, conduct, and management of the said corporations and railroads, and upon such other terms and conditions as may seem to the department desirable and proper.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 73 - Rates and Facilities of Consolidated Railroads

Section 73. In case of any lease, purchase and sale or consolidation as authorized by the preceding section, no rate, fare or charge for transportation of passengers or property shall be increased, and no facilities for transportation shall be diminished thereby, nor in connection therewith or as a result thereof shall there be any increase in the aggregate outstanding capital stock or indebtedness of the contracting companies.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 74 - Violations; Penalties

Section 74. A railroad corporation, which violates any provision of section seventy-one or seventy-two, shall be punished by a fine of ten thousand dollars; and any officer or agent of such railroad corporation who procures, aids or abets such corporation in any violation of said sections, and any partnership, trustee or other person who procures, aids or abets in any violation thereof, shall be punished by a fine of one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than one year, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 75 - Determination of Method of Crossing Highways

Section 75. No railroad corporation shall purchase or take by eminent domain or enter upon or use, except for making surveys, any land or other property for the construction of its railroad or of any branch or extension thereof until the county commissioners of the county where such land or other property is situated, after hearing the parties, have determined the manner in which the railroad shall cross the highways and other ways within such county, nor until it has obtained from the department the consent required by sections ninety-seven and one hundred and two in all cases in which the county commissioners adjudge that public necessity requires the crossing at the same level; and notice of such hearing shall be given by publication for three successive weeks in one or more newspapers published in such county, the last publication to be at least seven days before the hearing.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 76 - Estimate of Cost; Subscription for Capital Stock; Certificate of Compliance

Section 76. No railroad corporation shall take by eminent domain or enter upon or use, except for making surveys, land or other property for the construction of its railroad or any branch or extension thereof until a sworn estimate of the total cost of constructing the same, prepared by its chief engineer, has been submitted to the department and approved by it; nor until the department is satisfied that an amount of the capital stock of the corporation equal to at least fifty per cent of such estimated cost has been actually subscribed by responsible parties without any condition which invalidates the subscription, and that twenty per cent of the par value of each share has been actually paid in, and that the authority and consent required by the preceding section have been obtained; nor until the clerk of the department, upon its order, has filed a certificate with the state secretary that this section has been complied with; nor until the corporation has paid to the state secretary a fee of fifty dollars for filing such certificate. The certificate of a master in chancery or a justice of a court of record for the county where a subscriber resides that he owns property in his own name equal in value, above all encumbrances, to the amount of his subscription shall be conclusive evidence of his responsibility. If the department refuses its approval to an estimate or a subscription list so submitted, it shall in writing state its reasons therefor in detail at the time and shall include them in its next annual report.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 77 - Consent to Locate Within Three Miles of State House

Section 77. No railroad or part thereof which is operated by steam power shall be located or constructed within three miles of the state house without the previous written consent of the department, and of the board of aldermen of any city or of the selectmen of any town where the location is sought.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 78 - Authorized Purchases

Section 78. A railroad corporation may purchase land for the location of its railroad within the limits of the route fixed under section twenty or twenty-one, and may also purchase so much more land as may be reasonably necessary for the proper construction and security of the railroad and the convenient operation thereof, for one or more new tracks adjacent to other land occupied by it by a track or tracks already in use, and for the purpose of cuttings, embankments, and for procuring stone and gravel, and for stations, car houses, roundhouses, freight houses, yards, docks, wharves, elevators and other structures.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 79 - Filing of Descriptions With Department

Section 79. The corporation may, within one year after it has purchased land for railroad purposes, file with the commissioners of each county where such land is situated a description thereof, defining the courses, distances and boundaries of such land and certified by the clerk of the department in such form and with such other particulars as the rules of the department may require.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 80 - Proceedings to Fix Location of Land

Section 80. If a railroad corporation is not able to obtain by agreement with the owner any land necessary for the location of its railroad, it may file with the department a description of such location, which shall not be more than five rods wide unless authorized by the department under section eighty-three. Such description shall define the courses, distances and boundaries and shall be in such form and shall contain such plans and particulars as may be required by the rules of the department. Within ten days after the filing of such description with the department, the corporation shall submit to the board of aldermen of every city, and to the selectmen of every town through which the route of the proposed railroad passes, a copy, duly certified by the clerk of the department, of so much of the said location as applies to that part of the said railroad which lies within the limits of such city or town. The board of aldermen or the selectmen shall thereupon appoint a time and place for a hearing in the manner provided by section nineteen.
If the board of aldermen or the selectmen, after notice and hearing as aforesaid, shall agree with the directors as to said location, or as to any location of the said railroad in their city or town, they shall in such agreement fix the location, and sign and give to the directors a certificate setting it forth, and shall make report of their action to the department within sixty days after the said copy has been submitted to them as hereinbefore provided. If they fail so to agree within sixty days after said corporation has submitted the location to the board of aldermen or to the selectmen, the directors shall, within sixty days, petition the department to fix the location in that city or town, and the department, after notice to the board of aldermen or to the selectmen, shall forthwith hear the parties and, within ninety days, fix the location in that city or town, and shall make a certificate setting forth the location so fixed, which shall be certified by its clerk to the board of directors. The costs of the petition shall be paid by the corporation. The department shall by order finally fix the location of the said railroad in accordance with the original location as varied in the said certificate, subject to the provisions of the following section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 81 - Change of Location

Section 81. If a railroad corporation is not able to obtain by agreement with the owner any land necessary for the location of its railroad, it shall furnish a plan of the land to the owner. An owner of land aggrieved by the location of a railroad crossing his land in such manner as to be of grievous damage, which could be avoided without serious injury to others, may, within thirty days after receiving the plan of his land, as provided herein, petition the department, who shall give notice and hear the parties. If it appears that such location will greatly and unnecessarily damage the petitioner, and that it can be so changed as entirely or partly to avoid such damage without material detriment to the line of the railroad and without great injury to other parties, the department shall change such location accordingly. It shall give to each party a certificate of its determination within sixty days after receiving the petition. The necessary expenses of the department and the costs of the petition shall be paid by the corporation; but if the department decides that the petition was frivolous, such expenses and costs shall be paid by the petitioner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 83 - Taking of Land for Purposes Other Than a Railroad

Section 83. If a railroad corporation requires land for any of the purposes specified in section seventy-eight other than for the location of its railroad not more than five rods wide as provided in the three preceding sections, and is unable to obtain it by agreement with the owner, it may apply to the department, which, after notice to the owner and a hearing, may prescribe the limits within which it may be taken without his permission; and the corporation may, within one year after the decree, take such property by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 84 - Lands or Rights of Other Railroads

Section 84. A railroad corporation may purchase, or take in the manner provided in the preceding section, from time to time, any lands or rights belonging to any other railroad or other public service corporation not necessary for the business of such corporation at such time or in the reasonably near future, provided that this section shall not authorize it to acquire by eminent domain any part of the location or right of way of any other railroad or street railway company except such lands or rights as the department adjudges necessary for the support, construction and repair of bridges or other methods of crossing such railroad or street railway.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 85 - Purposes for Change

Section 85. A railroad corporation, with the written approval of the department, obtained upon petition, and after notice to all persons interested, and a hearing, may, for the purpose of improving the alignment of its railroad or for any other lawful purpose, change its location, subject to the provisions of this chapter relative to the fixing of the route of railroads, and may take land for such new location by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 86 - Change of Direction

Section 86. A railroad corporation, having taken land for its railroad, may vary the direction of said railroad in the city or town where such land is situated; but it shall not locate any part thereof outside the limits of the route fixed under section twenty or twenty-one, without the written consent of the board of aldermen or selectmen, if it was fixed under section twenty, or of the department, if it was fixed under section twenty-one. If the board of aldermen or the selectmen, whose consent is required to such change of direction, shall neglect or refuse to give such consent within sixty days after the railroad company has in writing requested the same, the directors may petition the department for leave to make such change of direction.
The corporation may take land for such new location by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine, and in so far as said new location as finally fixed shall differ from the location originally taken, the original location shall be held to be abandoned, and the rights of all persons interested in so much of the original location as is included within the abandoned part shall revive as if no taking had been made. Any person who has suffered loss or been put to expense by having his lands, buildings, rights or other property included in the original taking, but not included in the final taking, shall be entitled to have his damages therefor assessed under chapter seventy-nine, but the value to him of the use of the land between the time of said taking and the abandonment thereof shall be taken into consideration in determining the sum to which he is entitled.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 160 - Railroads › Section 88 - Prescriptive Rights of Adjoining Landholders

Section 88. No length of possession or occupancy of land, which belongs to a railroad corporation, by an owner or occupier of adjoining land shall create in him or in a person claiming under him a right to such land of the corporation.