El Paso And Northeastern Railway
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The El Paso and Northeastern Railway (EP&NE) was a
short line railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...
that was built around the beginning of the twentieth century to help connect the industrial and commercial center at
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
, with physical resources and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
' national transportation hub in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Founded by Charles Eddy, the EP&NE was the primary railroad in a system organized under the New Mexico Railway and Coal Company (NMRy&CCo), a holding company which owned several other railroads and also owned mining and industrial properties served by the lines. The EP&NE first connected El Paso with
Alamogordo, New Mexico Alamogordo () is a city in and the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force ...
, in 1897, further extensions allowed for tourist excursions to the Sacramento Mountains and some
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
extraction. A link with the
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...
(CRI&P) allowed for the introduction of the '' Golden State Limited'' in 1902. When a line connecting to lucrative coalfields was secured, the
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
and its system were folded into the
El Paso and Southwestern Railroad The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad began in 1888 as the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad, a short line serving copper mines in southern Arizona. Over the next few decades, it grew into a 1200-mile system that stretched from Tucumcari, New ...
, an affiliate of the predecessor of the
Phelps Dodge Corporation Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James (businessman), Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, Jame ...
. The lines of the NMRy&CCo were responsible for the founding of several settlements in the
Territory of New Mexico The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...
(later
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
). The main line of the El Paso and Northeastern is currently used by the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
as its Carrizozo Subdivision and Tucumcari Subdivision.


History

The railroad's beginnings lie in the discovery of
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
at
White Oaks, New Mexico White Oaks is a ghost town in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. Located on the outskirts of the Lincoln National Forest, it became a boomtown in 1879 following the discovery of gold and coal in the nearby Jicarilla Mountains. History ...
in 1879, at which point railroads began to gain interest in the
Tularosa Basin The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the Basin and Range Province and within the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas, in the Southwestern United States. Geography The Tularosa Basin is located pr ...
and Sacramento Mountains. The
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
deposits in the area were also enticing as they were perceived to be a good source of fuel for the city of El Paso to the south. An interested railroad promoter, Morris Locke, noted that the forests of the Sacramento Mountains would be a good source of
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
. Over the next fifteen years several railroads were projected to link the two settlements but only limited construction had been pursued by the time Charles Eddy developed an interest in linking El Paso with the CRI&P. Eddy kept his interests somewhat quiet and El Pasoans hopefully speculated that the CRI&P might build its own line to El Paso.


El Paso–Alamogordo

The first serious attempt to build a railroad north from El Paso and into the Tularosa Basin came in 1885 when the El Paso, St. Louis and Chicago Railway and Telegraph Company prepared a long roadbed. In 1888 CRI&P engineers began a westward survey from
Liberal, Kansas Liberal is a city in and the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States. As of 2024, the population of the city was 18,743. It is located in southwestern Kansas, along U.S. Route 54 highway, near the Kansas-Oklahoma state line. Lib ...
that projected never built lines through the
Maxwell Land Grant The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a Land grants in New Mexico and Colorado, Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico, and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This 1841 land grant wa ...
to
Taos, New Mexico Taos () is a town in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Santa Fe ...
and further west. Meanwhile, some of the partially prepared right-of-way in El Paso was incorporated three years later into the promising Kansas City, El Paso and Mexico Railroad (KCEP&M, led by Morris Locke) which built of track and graded a further 21 before its debt caught up to it. Construction began in September 1888 with loans from local entrepreneurs and some word of financial commitment from interests in the American Northeast. Just a few days after the first
excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent custo ...
s operated on the new line, lawsuits were filed in court seeking restitution for the
Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. However its lines never went we ...
, the unpaid shipper of the KCEP&M's construction materials. Although the founders continued to solicit funding, in 1892 the Texas and Pacific purchased the stalled KCEP&M. The new owners did not resume construction. Eddy had been in contact with the leadership of the CRI&P but had been unsuccessful in his pitch to connect their railroad to El Paso. Eddy had gained an interest in the prospective region after working on engineering projects in southeastern New Mexico. In the Spring of 1897 he led potential investors from
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
on a camping trip in the Tularosa Basin. Eddy received financial backing from these men but he did immediately not make any major announcements, file for incorporation in the territory or apply for the El Paso–White Oaks railway franchise. In May 1897 on the other side of the country in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
the New Mexico Railway and Coal Company was incorporated, it would become the holding company for Eddy and his group's
vertically integrated In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration, also referred to as vertical consolidation, is an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each ...
interests. When another group of men sought the necessary franchise from the El Paso city council, Eddy intervened and won the franchise because of the rival group's inability to pay a performance bond. A few days later (on October 22, 1897) the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad was incorporated in both New Mexico and Texas. By November 1897 the railroad's first line's route had been determined and orders for supplies were being placed. Using part of the KCEP&M's grade, which Eddy had purchased in full, the EP&NE completed an line north to a ranch owned by Eddy, where a town was being platted in anticipation of the railroad. The town was named
Alamogordo Alamogordo () is a city in and the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico), Sac ...
after a location Eddy was familiar with in the Pecos River Valley. It would become the main New Mexican town on the EP&NE in only a matter of a few years. Alamogordo remained the operational base of the EP&NE system for much of its history.


Expansion and affiliated lines

Not long after connecting Alamogordo to El Paso, Eddy, his chief engineer
Horace Sumner Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC),Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The r ...
and their crews set about building the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway (A&SM). Described as an "engineering marvel", were completed by 1898. By 1903 the line climbed over crossing several large trestles and a switchback with
ruling grade In railroading, the ruling grade is steepest grade on the rail line between two locations. Climbing the steepest part of the line dictates the minimum motive power needed, or how light the train must be, in order for the run to be made without ass ...
s of 6.4 %. From the outside world it provided improved connections to rich timber country, and later the
resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
at Cloudcroft—in addition to small communities like
La Luz La Luz is a census-designated place (CDP) in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,615 at the 2000 census. It is located immediately north of Alamogordo and lies in the eastern edge of the Tularosa Basin and on the ...
and Russia. The logs harvested in the mountains provided the Alamogordo Lumber Company (owned by the NMRy&CCo) with many of the raw materials necessary to make the ties, poles and structures for the EP&NE's northward expansion. While work to the east was also under way the EP&NE under its own name was extended further north to Carrizozo, near White Oaks. In 1899 the EP&NE opened a extension from Carrizozo to
Capitan Capitan and Kapitan are equivalents of the English Captain in other European languages. Capitan, Capitano, and Kapitan may also refer to: Places in the United States * Capitan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Capitan, New Mexico, a villa ...
. With an operational railroad in place extending north-by-northeast from El Paso, Eddy was able to better gain the attentions of the CRI&P leadership. It was agreed in December 1900 that Eddy's railroad was to meet the CRI&P in
Santa Rosa, New Mexico Santa Rosa is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, New Mexico, Guadalupe County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,848 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It lies between Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerqu ...
. The El Paso and Rock Island Railway (EP&RI) was incorporated in 1900 by Eddy to build the remaining between Santa Rosa and Carrizozo. A tightly controlled multinational workforce was brought in to expedite construction of the line. This effort was completed on February 1, 1902 when, under the direction of contractor George S. Good, the EP&RI met the CRI&P, operating under the name Chicago, Rock Island and El Paso Railway while in New Mexico. It marked the opening of a new transcontinental route that gave the CRI&P "the shortest line from
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and Kansas City to El Paso and
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, and by way of the Southern Pacific to Los Angeles." The coal deposits near White Oaks proved to be a disappointment. Eddy was still determined to link his railroad system to a mineral rich area so he hedged, on the advice of his trusted attorney William Ashton Hawkins, that the outcome of litigation about the ownership of part of the
Maxwell Land Grant The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a Land grants in New Mexico and Colorado, Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico, and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This 1841 land grant wa ...
in northeastern New Mexico would favor the current tenant, an elderly rancher named John Dawson, and Hawkins secured the eventual purchase of a parcel of the contested
land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
from him. The approximately parcel was rich in
bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the coal seam, ...
, and Eddy co-founded the Dawson Fuel Company in 1901 to buy and mine the parcel. Work on the Dawson Railway began at a crossing of the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...
(AT&SF) at French (near present-day
Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...
). A second construction gang worked north from
Tucumcari Tucumcari (; ) is a city in and the county seat of Quay County, New Mexico, Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 5,278 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Tucumcari was founded in 1901, two years before Quay Cou ...
. The first section of the Dawson Railway opened in November 1902 and linked the interchange with the AT&SF's transcontinental line to the
coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
s,
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
s and
coke oven Coke is a grey, hard, and porous coal-based fuel with a high carbon content. It is made by heating coal or petroleum in the absence of air. Coke is an important industrial product, used mainly in iron ore smelting, but also as a fuel in stove ...
s being built near the future townsite of
Dawson, New Mexico Dawson (also Mountview) is a ghost town in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. Dawson is located approximately northeast of Cimarron, and was the site of two separate coal mining disasters in 1913 and 1923. In 1950, the mines were close ...
. Construction of the southern section of the Dawson Railway, from a bridge over the AT&SF line to a junction at Six Shooter Siding (later Tucumcari, located east-by-northeast of Santa Rosa) with the CRI&P was held up due to litigation with the owners of the Pablo Montoya Grant over the proposed
right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...
. The outcome of those proceedings allowed for the completion of the originally projected Dawson Railway in 1903.


Sale to the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad and Phelps Dodge

James Douglas, a representative and co-owner of the growing
Phelps Dodge Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, James & Co., the part of the ...
mining corporation who was also the owner of the
El Paso and Southwestern Railroad The El Paso and Southwestern Railroad began in 1888 as the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad, a short line serving copper mines in southern Arizona. Over the next few decades, it grew into a 1200-mile system that stretched from Tucumcari, New ...
(EP&SW), entered negotiations with Eddy over the sale of the NMRy&CCo, the
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
for Eddy's rail and coal properties in the territory and Texas. Eddy was able to convince Phelps Dodge that Dawson coal was better for
coking Coking is the process of heating coal in the absence of oxygen to a temperature above to drive off the volatile components of the raw coal, leaving behind a hard, strong, porous material with a high carbon content called coke. Coke is predomina ...
than the coal Phelps Dodge was interested in extracting from northwestern New Mexico so on July 1, 1905 Eddy's properties were transferred to Phelps Dodge, the rail line from El Paso to Dawson becoming the Eastern Division of the EP&SW. The A&SM continued to operate for some time as a subsidiary of the EP&SW.


Infrastructure, operations and services

Trips to the cool mountain resort of Cloudcroft (elevation ) were a favorite retreat for El Pasoans around the turn of the century. Since the line's opening, Summer excursion trains were operated into the Sacramento Mountains east of Alamogordo via the A&SM from El Paso, and under new ownership as late as 1930. The EP&SW continued to encourage
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
on the A&SM line describing Cloudcroft as the "Roof Garden of the Sky" or "Nature's Roof Garden" and building its own hotel, the Lodge. The A&SM itself became a tourist attraction. The same features that gave the line into the Sacramento Mountains its scenic virtue and tourist draw also made it expensive to build, operate and maintain; by necessity and design hauling timber was the primary activity on the line. The Alamogordo Lumber Company was NMRy&CCo's logging enterprise and owned the
logging railway A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled Trunk (botany), logs to sawmills or railway stations. ...
s, short spurs and branches, that first harvested the territory's
trust land Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit * Trust (bu ...
in the Sacramento Mountains. The logging lines were temporary constructions, sometimes little more than tracks laid in the dirt, and initially relied on animal labor. The A&SM carried the lumber company's logs to its sawmill in Alamogordo for processing. While the best consumers for the mill's output were the NMRy&CCo's interests, lumber was also shipped out on the EP&NE destined for other markets, especially the mining districts at Bisbee and
Morenci, Arizona Morenci is a census-designated place (CDP) and company town in Greenlee County, Arizona, United States, and was founded by the Detroit Copper Mining Company of Arizona. The population was 2,000 at the 2000 census and 1,489 at the 2010 census ...
. Over the course of one month in 1901 the A&SM handled 850 log cars. Traffic on the A&SM line was not restricted to passengers and logs, a wide variety of other cargo was hauled including
express Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid * The Expre ...
, goods, machinery, produce, and livestock. Two daily roundtrips, one a
mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In some countries, the term refers to a freight train carrying various different types of freight rather a single commodity. Although common in the ...
, were common, though this frequency could increase more than twofold on Summer weekends. Passenger traffic on the Cloudcroft branch ceased in March 1937, having been overtaken by automobiles on improved highways. By late 1944, freight traffic had dwindled to a single round trip weekly, also due to highway traffic. All service was discontinued in the autumn of 1947, and the tracks taken up."SP Abandons Cloudcroft Branch," ''
Trains A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
'' magazine, February 1948
Some of the large trestles remain, still maintained as historic structures. The railroad founders were also eager to found a major town that would persist after the railroad was completed; they formed the Alamogordo Improvement Company to develop the area, making Alamogordo an early example of a
planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
. The Alamogordo Improvement Company owned all the land, platted the streets, built the first houses and commercial buildings, donated land for a college, and placed a restrictive covenant on each deed prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, or sale of intoxicating liquor. Through Eddy's Dawson Fuel Company, the NMRy&CCo helped spur the early development of Dawson, which is now deserted, in the form of one-hundred dwellings for its workers, in addition to industrial facilities. The premier long-distance train service on the joint EP&NE system was the Winter only '' Golden State Limited''. Year round passenger service was provided by the westbound ''Chicago and Mexico Express'' and the eastbound ''Chicago Express''. All of these Chicago–Los Angeles trains used the EP&NE system as an intermediate link between the CRI&P at Santa Rosa and the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
in El Paso. Following the sale of the NMRy&CCo, the EP&SW obtained a lease of the Santa Rosa–Tucumcari section of the El Paso–Chicago route (called the 'Golden State Route') to avoid unsatisfactory interline service with the Rock Island system on the Eastern Division between Dawson and El Paso. Another operational hurdle of the original EP&NE was also solved after the sale; Hawkins was able to secure legal rights to cleaner water from the mountains. Previously the system had relied on
alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...
and
gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...
rich well water that damaged the steam engines'
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
s and necessitated frequent repairs.


Footnotes


References

* * * * {{cite book , last1=Townsend , first1=David , last2=McDonald , first2=Clif , title= Centennial: Where the Old West Meets the New Frontier , publisher= Alamogordo/Otero County Centennial Celebration , location= Alamogordo, NM. , isbn= 978-1-887045-05-6 , oclc= 41400788 , date=July 1999


Further reading

*''Cloud-Climbing Railroad: Highest Point on the Southern Pacific'' - Dorothy Jensen Neal, El Paso: Texas Western Press (1998) *''Captive Mountain Waters; a Story of Pipelines and People'' - Dorothy Jensen Neal, El Paso: Texas Western Press (1961) Defunct New Mexico railroads Defunct Texas railroads Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company