Reading Co. v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.

173 B.R. 496, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14134, 1994 WL 592496
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 4, 1994
DocketCiv. A. No. 91-7577
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 173 B.R. 496 (Reading Co. v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reading Co. v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., 173 B.R. 496, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14134, 1994 WL 592496 (E.D. Pa. 1994).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

DITTER, District Judge.

In this case, Reading Company claims that Norfolk Southern Railway Company must reimburse Reading for a portion of the pre-bankruptcy Ireight loss and damage and overcharge claims that Reading paid in full pursuant to its plan of reorganization.

After consideration of the deposition testimony, the documents, and the arguments of counsel, I make the following

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff, Reading Company (Reading), is the successor in interest to Reading Company (Debtor), a railroad company that filed for bankruptcy protection in this court on November 23, 1971, under the caption In the Matter of Reading Company, Debtor, Bky. No. 71-828. Debtor ceased rail operations on April 1, 1976, when Debtor’s assets were conveyed to the Consolidated Rail Corporation. Debtor was reorganized and emerged from bankruptcy as Reading Company on December 23, 1980, the consummation date of its plan of reorganization. Reading is a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal place of business in Pennsylvania.

2. Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS), a Virginia corporation with its principal place of business in Virginia, is the parent corporation of both Norfolk and Western Railway Company (NW) and Southern Railway Company (Southern). Before NW and Southern became subsidiaries of NS in 1982, NW and Southern operated as independent entities. At some point before 1982, Southern had a subsidiary known as Norfolk Southern Railway Company (Old NS). Old NS completely merged into Southern Railway Company before the consolidation of Southern and NW as subsidiaries of NS. NS is the successor in interest to NW, Southern, and Old NS. NW, Southern, and Old NS will be referred to as NS predecessors.

3. Debtor, NW, Southern, and Old NS each operated as part of the interline freight carriage system. This system made it possible for American railroads to route shipments to their final destinations using other railroads’ facilities. During the early 1970s, many railroads experienced financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Due to the interrelationship of all railroads, those that were solvent were affected by the bankruptcies. In June, 1970, the solvent railroads organized the Committee of Interline Railroads (Interline Committee) to represent their common interests ip the various railroad bankruptcy proceedings. The Interline Committee appeared as a party throughout most of Reading’s reorganization, but disbanded sometime in the early 1980s. The NS predecessors were members of the Interline Committee. NW and Southern served on its steering committee, the principal decision making body. At all times the Interline Committee acted with the full authority of the NS predecessors.

4. Because of the unique dependency of American railroads on each other, a specific set of accounting rules had been established by contract among members of the industry long before the events in question here took place. These rules are contained in the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Rules of Order, the AAR’s Principles and Practices, and the Fréight Claim Rules of the Freight Claims and Damage Prevention Division of the AAR, collectively referred to as “AAR rules.” Debtor and the NS predecessors were parties to the AAR rules, which governed the way they adjusted claims arising out of their freight operations. These [498]*498rules were assumed by Debtor’s trustees as part of its reorganization.

5. When freight was lost or damaged in rail transit, an affected party could file a claim for compensation with the origin (or receiving) carrier, the destination carrier, or the carrier causing the injury. The claim would be investigated, settled, and paid by the carrier with which the claim was filed except in two instances: (1) where the damage was caused by an easily identifiable incident, such as a wreck or fire, in which case the carrier on whose line the event occurred would provide “a statement of the circumstances and an opinion as to liability,” and (2) where the claim was filed with more than one carrier, in which case the carriers would notify each other and collaborate. The paying carrier could seek contribution from each of the interline carriers that participated in the freight carriage, generally in an amount proportionate to the distances involved.1

6. Throughout Debtor’s reorganization, the Debtor and the NS predecessors regularly settled and allocated among themselves claims relating to post-bankruptcy shipments, i.e., those occurring after November 23, 1971, and until the cessation of Debtor’s rail operations on April 1, 1976.

7. However, pre-bankruptcy claimants, i.e., holders of claims relating to carriage prior to November 23, 1971, who had not been paid by Debtor prior to that date, became its creditors. Debtor investigated and adjusted the claims, but the ultimate payment of those claims had to await approval of a plan of reorganization.

8. The NS predecessors also became creditors of Debtor’s bankruptcy estate. The NS predecessors filed claims against Debtor for loss, damage, and overcharge claims which they had paid prior to November 23, 1971, but which they had not allocated to Debtor or been paid by Debtor prior to that date.

9. Pursuant to its plan of reorganization, Reading issued unsecured notes in the amount of $284,000.00 to the pre-bankruptcy shipper-claimants. Reading redeemed these notes in 1988. Some claimants also received small amounts of cash in 1981 to accomplish rounding; a few claimants chose and received a 15 percent cash payment in 1981 in lieu of a note. Total cash payments were $13,369.26.

10. In satisfaction of the NS predecessors’ pre-bankruptcy claims against Debtor and pursuant to its plan of reorganization, Reading issued notes to the NS predecessors in the following amounts: NW $10,700.00; Southern $5,100.00; Old NS $600.00. The value of the NS predecessors’ notes at maturity in 1988 was $25,912.00.

11. Reading’s instant claim is for the NS predecessors’ allocable share of the pre-bankruptcy loss, damage, and overcharge claims for which Reading issued its notes pursuant to the plan of reorganization and which Reading ultimately paid in 1988.

12. Reading claims that NS is responsible for an allocated share of these eclaims in the amount of $111,524.36. In 1988, Reading offset against this claim securities otherwise redeemable by NS predecessors in the amount of $25,912.00. Additionally, four shipper-claimants failed to redeem their securities, thereby reducing Reading’s allocation claim by $764.63. Net of the offset and reduction, Reading’s claim is for $84,847.93.

13. Throughout Debtor’s reorganization the interline railroads, including the NS predecessors, were aware that among them and Debtor there were reciprocal claims relating to the allocation of pre-bankruptcy freight loss, damage, and overcharge shipper-claims. The matter had been specifically discussed by H.M. Sutton, a representative of NW, and Louis J. Hauer, Debtor’s freight claim agent, shortly after the filing of Debtor’s bankruptcy petition. Therefore, as early as 1972, NW was aware of the need to keep its records pertaining to interline matters with Debtor prior to November 23, 1971.2

[499]*49914.

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173 B.R. 496, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14134, 1994 WL 592496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reading-co-v-norfolk-southern-railway-co-paed-1994.