Interstate Commerce Commission

Valuation Orders

This page was last updated on March 9, 2013.

ICC Records

According to the National Archives web site, there are over 8,400 linear feet of ICC valuation records, along with 117,000 valuation maps:

134.5 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF VALUATION 1910-74

Textual Records: Valuation orders and related records, 1914-34. Railroad valuation records, 1910-74 (8,497 ft.). Land and appraisal records, 1921-48 (in New York).

Maps (117,750 items): Valuation section maps, 1916-19 (750 items). Railroad valuation maps, 1910-74 (117,000 items).

Valuation Orders

Source: "Interstate Commerce Acts Annotated", pages 2508‑2510

Between 1914 and 1928, the ICC issued 25 separate valuation orders that provided for the nation's railroads to document the value of their trackage, rolling stock, and other assets for the purposes of establishing each company's value, for the further purposes of establishing fair and equitable shipping rates.

For historians, the important valuation orders are:

No.1 for maps
No. 2 for physical property
No. 3 for improvements to physical property
No. 8 for equipment and rolling stock
No. 20 for corporate histories

Valuation Order No. 1

January 12, 1914

Containing specifications for the preparation of maps and profiles to be filed with the commission to support the valuation of the property of the railway carriers. Effective February 1, 1914. Modified by Valuation Order Nos. 5, 6, and 23.

Valuation Order No. 2

May 12, 1914

Requiring the filing of complete and detailed schedules of all fixed physical property abandoned prior to June 30, 1914. Modified by Valuation Order No. 10.

Valuation Order No. 3

June 25, 1914

Regulations to govern the recording and reporting of all extensions and improvements or other changes in the physical property of every common carrier. Effective July 1, 1914.

Revised June 28, 1917, effective July 1, 1917.
Revised March 31, 1919, effective January 1, 1919.
Supplement No. 1, July 27, 1920, effective September 1, 1920.
Supplement No. 2, September 27, 1920.
Supplement No. 3, February 12, 1923.
Supplement No. 4, June 12, 1928, effective January 1, 1928.
Supplement No. 5, June 12, 1928, effective July 1, 1928.

Valuation Order No. 4

June 25, 1914

Inventory of materials and supplies. Modified by Valuation Order No. 22.

Valuation Order No. 5

November 21, 1914

Modifying and supplementing the so‑called map order and requiring the preparation and filing of maps and profiles of extensions and improvements or other changes made after valuation date.

Valuation Order No. 6

November 21, 1914

Modifying and supplementing the so‑called map order, as amended by Valuation Order No. 5, with relation to details required.

Valuation Order No. 7

November 21, 1914

Instructions and forms pertaining to schedules of land to be filed with the commission by common carriers. Supplemental instructions issued November 1, 1916.

Valuation Order No. 8

November 21, 1914

Regulations and sample forms to govern the recording and reporting of register of equipment and original cost to date. Supplemental instructions, pertaining to original cost of machinery and equipment, issued September 23, 1916.

Valuation Order No. 9

December 14, 1914

Transportation of valuation division employees, supplies and cars.

Supplement No. 1, June 2, 1915, transportation of valuation division outfit cars.
Revised April 4, 1916.

Valuation Order No. 10

December 23, 1914

Modifying and supplementing Valuation Order No. 2.

Valuation Order No. 11

January 21, 1915

Instructions and forms pertaining to an inventory of records.

Valuation Order No. 12

January 21, 1915

Requiring the preparation and filing of schedules of industrial tracks.

Valuation Order No. 13

February 9, 1915

Requiring the preparation and filing of a complete inventory of the quantities, units and classes or kinds of all fixed property except lands and equipment included in Valuation Order Nos. 7 and 8.

Valuation Order No. 14

February 9, 1915

Instructions and forms pertaining to purchases of materials, prices paid, and rates of compensation paid for labor, to be filed with the commission by common carriers owning or operating a steam railroad, whose property is subject to the act.

Valuation Order No. 15

March 8, 1915

Instructions and form pertaining to privileges given and leases made by steam railroads.

Valuation Order No. 16

March 30, 1915

Requiring a report as to every aid, gift, donation, or grant of land made to every common carrier subject to the act. Supplemental instructions issued May 10, 1917.

Valuation Order No. 17

May 5, 1915

Instructions and forms pertaining to purchases of materials, prices paid, and rates of compensation paid for labor, to be filed with the commission by telegraph companies.

Valuation Order No. 18

May 5, 1915

Instructions and forms pertaining to purchases of materials, prices paid, and rates of compensation paid for labor, to be filed with the commission by Class A and Class B telephone companies.

Valuation Order No. 19

May 5, 1915

Instructions and forms pertaining to purchases of materials, prices paid, and rates of compensation paid for labor, pertaining to telegraph and telephone property, to be filed with the commission by steam railway common carriers.

Valuation Order No. 20

May 13, 1915

Requiring the preparation and filing of a statement relative to corporate history.

Valuation Order No. 21

July 6, 1917

Specifications for maps, charts, and schedules of telegraph and telephone properties owned by railroad, telegraph, cable, and telephone companies. Effective August 1, 1917.

Valuation Order No. 22

July 26, 1918

Modifying and supplementing Valuation Order No. 4

Valuation Order No. 23

March 9, 1920

Modifying and supplementing the so‑called map order, as modified and supplemented by Valuation Order Nos. 5 and 6, relieving carriers of the requirement of filing tracings or reproductions of tracings of maps and profiles with the commission, but requiring carriers to preserve the original tracings and keep the same subject to inspection of the commission.

Valuation Order No. 24

April 2, 1928

Regulations and instructions relating to the recording and reporting of changes in physical property of every common carrier subject to the provisions of the act, whenever such changes occur in connection with construction, transfer, lease, or abandonment of property. Effective May 15, 1928.

Valuation Order No. 25

June 12, 1928

Regulations and instructions to govern the reporting of data required to revise and extend to a new valuation date or dates the accounting reports made in the several basic valuations. Effective July 1, 1928.

###