Hugo Black

“ When materials and labor are devoted to the building of a line in an amount that cannot be justified in terms of the reasonably predictable revenues, there is ample ground to support a conclusion that the expenditures are wasteful whoever foots the bill. The fostering care of the railroad system intrusted to the Commission is not so circumscribed as to leave it without authority to pass on the economic advisability of relocation in a situation where someone other than the carrier provides the money. ”

“ The appellants, who also appeared as protestants before the Interstate Commerce Commission, are the Public Service Commission of Maryland and the McCullough Coal Corporation, a coal mining company which alleges it will be forced out of business if railroad service is discontinued.
The application to the Commission for abandonment was not made because the line had been operating at a loss. On the contrary, the Commission concluded that there was no evidence that the line had theretofore been a burden on the Baltimore and Ohio system of which it was a part ”

“ It is conceded that unless a new connecting section is built, the sections of the line not to be inundated-a detached six mile segment above the dam, and a one mile segment connecting with the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio below it-would serve no practical purpose justifying continued operation. ”