History
Originally, at least in the United States, it was not clear whether railroads were going to be run like turnpikes, in which any paying customer could use the road. The Seekonk Branch Railroad in East Providence, Rhode Island (then part of Seekonk, Massachusetts) tested this by in 1836 building a short branch of the Boston and Providence Railroad to their own dock and using the full line of the B&P. Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting this, and the B&P bought the branch in 1839.
Read more about this topic: Arrangements Between Railroads
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