disadvantaged the remaining stockholders, however, who now found they were forced into profits or losses they did not choose. They sued, but in October 1962 the New York Supreme Court dismissed the suit. By August 1959, only 5,990 shares of MCR common stock remained outstanding, owned by 279 people. Shares traded at $455, and for the past two decades the stock had paid annual dividends of $45 a share. Under New York Stock Exchange rules, however, whenever too few large blocks of stock in a firm remained in public hands, the exchange had the authority to delist the stock. The NYSE did so on August 20. Dissolution In 1959, the MCR still had of track in use. American railroads had entered a long period of decline and financial difficulty in the post-World War II period, however. The MCR abandoned the Youngstown-Andover track in 1961, leaving it with just of track in 1962. The company won Interstate Commerce Commission approval to consolidate the Shenango Valley Railroad and Stewart Railroad in 1963. Penn Central ownership Subject to intense competition and dwindling passenger and freight traffic, the New York Central Railroad merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad on February 1, 1968, to create the Penn Central Transportation Company. The merged company immediately began cost-cutting, but losses mounted. The Penn Central declared bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central led to the MCR's dissolution. In September 1970, the MCR failed to pay a dividend for the first time in its history. On January 14, 1972, the Penn Central asked the bankruptcy court for permission to abandon all MCR trackage. The Penn Central continued to operate into 1974, until President Richard Nixon signed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act on January 2. Most (but not all) of the Penn Central's tracks were turned over to a new corporation, Conrail. The Penn Central continued to operate as a freight-only railroad, but reorganization efforts failed. In March 1976, Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act folded the remainder of the Penn Central into Conrail as well. Limited rights of way and minor trackage continued to be held by a new firm, the Penn Central Company. On October 15, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the Staggers Rail Act, which significantly deregulated the rail industry, allowing for swift abandonment of track. Liquidation In 1979, the Penn Central Company and shareholders of the Mahoning Coal Railroad reached an agreement