In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, a paper railroad is a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

in the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

business that exists "on paper only": as a

legal entity In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

which does not own any

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the u ...

, or

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...

. In the early days of railroad construction, paper railroads had to exist by necessity while in the financing stage. It allowed incorporation of a company and the seeking of capital to build a proposed railroad. In the 1850s, speculation of stock of paper railroads became rampant, causing a bubble of their stocks. This led in large part to the

Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. Morse in 1844, the Panic of 1857 was ...

. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, this specific connotation of the phrase "paper railroad" was consistent: a proposed, often speculative (and sometimes wildly speculative) venture in which a company stock exists, but no physical assets to run a railroad do. In many cases, these railroads still existed as corporate entities long after plans to build them had been scrapped. In the context of recent times, the phrase "paper railroad" is still used, but generally refers to railroads which are

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a sa ...

of larger parent railroads, or formerly existed and still have locomotives or rolling stock in the former railroad's livery. Reasons railroads are operated this way include those of internal corporate structure, tax ownership or locale, or for public relations purposes. If not actually operating, these railroads are "non-operating subsidiaries" of the parent railroad.

References

{{US-rail-transport-stub

See also

References