Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company v. United States

This action involves the petition of Northwestern Pacific Railroad to set aside an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission which denied Northwestern’s request to abandon 2.465 miles of railroad line in Marin County, California. There are two major issues for consideration. First, plaintiff Northwestern Pacific contends that this Court should exercise its own independent judgment on the law and the facts pursuant to the “constitutional fact” doctrine as announced in Ohio Valley Water Co. v. Ben Avon Borough, 253 U.S. 287 , 40 S. Ct. 527 , 64 L.Ed. 908 (1920). Second, plaintiff contends that even if the Court refuses to make an independent judgment, the record does not contain substantial evidence to support the findings of the Commission as required by 5 U.S. C. § 1009(e). The Court has concluded that the “constitutional fact” doctrine does not apply to this ease, and that, viewing the record as a whole, the findings of the Commission are supported by substantial evidence.

Plaintiff’s railroad system extends from a point near the Oregon border along the coastal area of northern California to San Francisco Bay. From the north, the line runs south to Ignacio, a town in northern…