Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Doan

94 N.E. 598, 47 Ind. App. 322, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 48
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 28, 1911
DocketNo. 7,166
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 94 N.E. 598 (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Doan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Doan, 94 N.E. 598, 47 Ind. App. 322, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 48 (Ind. Ct. App. 1911).

Opinion

Adams, J.

— Action by appellee against appellant to recover damages for alleged trespass. The complaint is in two paragraphs. In the first paragraph appellee alleges that appellant is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Indiana, and for many years has owned and operated a line of railroad from the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, to the city of St. Louis, Missouri; that he is the owner of a farm of 200 acres, situate in Hendricks county, Indiana, subject to an easement in favor of appellant, said easement being in a strip of land seventy-five feet wide and thirteen hundred eighty feet long, and from zero to about thirty feet deep, which easement was acquired by deed of conveyance on 'May 14, 1906, also subject to an easement across said land, owned by appellant, acquired by the exercise of the right of eminent domain in the Hendricks Circuit Court on May 15, 1869, by the Indianapolis and St. Louis Eailway Company, of which appellant company is the successor. A copy of said proceedings and the map and profile, filed on May 7, 1869, are also made part of the complaint and set out as exhibits. Said complaint further alleges “that, by [324]*324virtue of said proceedings, said defendant railway company acquired an easement in and to a strip of land on each, side of the center line of said railroad, forty-nine and one-half feet wide, making the entire width ninety-nine feet, and running in a southwesterly direction through said tract, being about twenty-seven hundred- eighty-eight feet long, and containing six and thirty-three one-hundredths acres. Said strip being from zero to about sixteen feet in depth, as shown by the map and profile in said cause.”

The alleged trespass is charged in the following words: “Plaintiff alleges and says that defendant has unlawfully entered upon the real estate of this plaintiff, and is removing the earth, rock and gravel underneath the easement acquired by said defendant company, as set forth in exhibit B, from zero to about thirty feet in depth, and ninety-nine feet in width, and for a distance of twenty-seven hundred eighty-eight feet, and will continue to remove said earth, rock and gravel of said plaintiff if not restrained by this court, taking and transferring said earth, rock and gravel entirely away from the lands of this plaintiff, and depositing it upon other lands of defendant, and wrongfully converting and using it for the purpose of embankments and fills, to the damage of this plaintiff.”

The complaint then states more in detail the nature and extent of the injury which will result to the lands of the appellee by reason of the alleged trespass, and says that appellant has not taken the necessary steps in such cases made and provided by the statutes of Indiana, either by purchase or by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, to acquire from appellee title to said real estate, or in any manner compensating or offering to compensate appellee.

The second paragraph of complaint is substantially the same as the first, except that the map and profile of the seventy-five-foot strip acquired by deed, filed on December 8, 1905, is shown as an exhibit, and the damages claimed are set out more fully-than in the first paragraph.

[325]*325Appellant demurred to each paragraph, of the complaint for want of facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, which demurrers were overruled. A supplemental complaint was also filed, subsequent to the excavations made by appellant, in which special and additional damages are claimed. Appellant answered in four paragraphs, and also filed a motion to strike out certain parts of the supplemental complaint, which motion was overruled. Upon issues thus formed the cause was submitted to the court, resulting in a finding and judgment for the appellee. The ruling of the court upon demurrers and upon the motion to strike out, and the overruling of appellant’s motion for a new trial, are separately assigned as error, and relied on for reversal in this court.

1. It is the settled law in Indiana that a railroad company, in the exercise of the right of eminent domain, acquires but an easement in the lands taken for public use. Quick v. Taylor (1888), 113 Ind. 540; Cincinnati, etc., R. Co. v. Geisel (1889), 119 Ind. 77; Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Huncheon (1892), 130 Ind. 529.

2. The error assigned on the overruling of the motion to strike out part of the supplemental complaint is not well taken. The overruling of a motion to strike out parts of pleadings has been held not to constitute available error on appeal. Brown v. Summers (1883), 91 Ind. 151; Zimmerman v. Gaumer (1899), 152 Ind. 552; Pfau v. State, ex rel. (1897), 148 Ind. 539; Petree v. Brotherton (1892), 133 Ind. 693.

3. It is urged by appellant that the complaint fails to state a cause of action, for the reason that it contains no averment that the railroad was constructed upon the grade shown by the profile. While there is no direct averment to this effect, it is alleged in the complaint that, by virtue of the proceedings in condemnation, appellant acquired an easement in a strip of land ninety-nine feet wide, and twenty-seven hundred eighty-eight feet [326]*326long, said strip being from zero to about sixteen feet in depth, as shown by the map and profile in said cause. While this is not an averment that the railroad was constructed, as shown by the map and profile, it does show that the right or easement which appellant acquired was to a depth of sixteen feet, and as the trespass complained of relates to excavations made below the sixteen-foot line, we think each paragraph of the complaint stated a cause of action.

4. There seems to be no difference between the parties as to their rights in the seventy-five-foot strip of land acquired by deed. It was understood by both parties at the time of the execution of the deed that there should be a cut of thirty feet, and this is shown by the map and profile. The whole difference arises over the right of appellant to excavate to a greater depth than sixteen feet on the ninety-nine-foot strip acquired by condemnation proceedings in 1869. If the filing of the map and profile, showing the width of the tract claimed and the depth of the cut, formed the basis of the damages assessed, and was a part of the proceedings in the Hendricks Circuit Court, then the lower court was correct in holding that the damages assessed in 1869 were compensation only for the right of way as shown by the map and profile. But if such map and profile constituted no part of the condemnation proceedings, and the assessment of damages was made by appraisers without regard to such map and profile, but only on the instrument of appropriation and the order of the court to them delivered, then it must be presumed that the damages assessed were not only present damages, but included all future damages which, within the bounds of reasonable probability, might result to said real estate, by reason of the use of said right of way by appellant in a manner most injurious.

5. The statute which relates to the filing of a map and profile is section twelve of the act of May 6, 1853 (§5194 Burns 1908, §3902 R. S. 1881), and is as follows: “Every such company, before proceeding to con[327]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
94 N.E. 598, 47 Ind. App. 322, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 48, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cleveland-cincinnati-chicago-st-louis-railway-co-v-doan-indctapp-1911.