Denver & R. G. R. Co. v. United States

233 F. 62, 1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2427
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMay 1, 1916
DocketNos. 4483, 4484
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 233 F. 62 (Denver & R. G. R. Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denver & R. G. R. Co. v. United States, 233 F. 62, 1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2427 (8th Cir. 1916).

Opinion

AMIDON, District Judge.

This case involves section 3 of the Hours of Service Act (34 Statutes at Large, 1415 [Comp. St. 1913, § 8679]). The complaint charges in separate counts, a large number of violations, and demands the penalty fixed by the law. The case was submitted on an agreed statement of facts. Upon this the court directed a verdict in favor of the plaintiff as to all counts embraced in this writ of error, except 18. As to that it directed a verdict in favor of the company. Both parties bring error, the government as to count 18, and the company as to the others.

[1] Counts 1 to 5 charge the employment of a crew of five men overtime on a run from Salt Lake City to Park City, Utah, and re[64]*64turn, a distance of 33 miles. Soon after the train left Salt Lake City it was derailed. The conductor in charge communicated with the train dispatcher by telephone, advising him of the derailment, and stating that the crew could accomplish nothing further until the arrival of a derrick. The crew thereupon cut the engine loose and proceeded about a mile and a half from the point of derailment to a farmhouse where they left it in charge of a watchman. They were told by the dispatcher that a derrick to be sent from Salt Lake City would be at the derailment. about 1 p. m. From the farmhouse the smoke of the approaching derrick would be visible. They partook of a luncheon and rested under the shade of some trees at the farmhouse until the approach of the derrick, whereupon they returned to the scene of the derailment. ’ The crew was not released by any officer of agent of the company empowered to release them during the time they were at the farmhouse. If this period is deducted, there would be no violation of the law. Counsel for the company urge that the crew “released themselves.” This we think they could not do. They were on duty, as between themselves and the company, during the entire period. A release, so as to justify a deduction of time, under the statute, can only be given by some officer of agent having authority to give it. The men, therefore, remained on duty for more than 16 hours.

[2] No extra crews were kept at Park City, nor was there any occasion to keep them. The journey from Salt Lake City and return was usually made well within the 16-hour period. If the crew had been released from the train at Park City, the company had no person there competent to take charge of the train or the engine. We are therefore of the opinion that the round trip must be treated as a continuous journey, and Park City simply as a way station.

[3] This brings us to the question whether the derailment was such a “casualty” as to place the company within the protection of the proviso of section 3 of the Hours of Service Act. The stipulation is silent as to the cause of the derailment. There is nothing to show whether it was due to the negligence of the company or its employés, or was an unavoidable accident. Counsel for the government urges that it was incumbent upon the company, in order to bring itself within the proviso, to show that the derailment was not due to its negligence or the negligence of its employés. The trial court adopted that theory. We think this' was error.

. A carrier must use diligence to anticipate, as this court held in United States v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co., 202 Fed. 828, 121 C. C. A. 136, “all the usual causes incidental to operation.” And when any casualty occurs the carrier must still ’use diligence to avoid keeping its employes on duty overtime. Failure to perform either of those duties deprives it of the benefit of the proviso. Poor coal, meeting of trains, switching, defective shaker rod, leaky flues (United States v. Kansas City Southern Ry. Co., 202 Fed. 829, 121 C. C. A. 136), pulled out drawbar, bursted air hose (United States v. Great Northern Railway Co., 220 Fed. 630, 136 C. C. A. 238), extraordinary head wind, heavy grain movement, hot box (Great Northern Railway Co. v. United States, 218 Fed. 302, 134 C. C. A. 98, L. R. A. 1915D, 408), high wind, broken tail pin, hot box (United States v. Lehigh [65]*65Valley Railroad Co, 219 Fed. 532, 135 C. C. A. 282), have been held to he causes of delay “incidental to operation.” We stated generally in United States v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co, 202 Fed. 828, 121 C. C. A. 136, that:

“It lias been uniformly bold by tbe courts that ordinarily delays in starting trains by reason of the fact that another train is late; from sidetracking to give superior trains the right of way, if the meeting of such trains could have been anticipated at the time of leaving the starting point; from getting out of steam or cleaning iires; from defects in equipment ; from switching; from time taken for meals; and in short from all the usual causes incidental to operation — are not, standing alone, valid excuses within the meaning of this proviso.”

As to such causes of delay we said:

“The carrier must go still further and show that such delays could not have been foreseen and prevented by exercise of the high degree of diligence demanded.”

The casualty here is not of the character mentioned in any of the cases above referred to. It was a derailment. That is an event which is not to be anticipated in good railroading. A history of the statute will show that accidents which are of a character to' seriously interrupt traffic, and suspend for a considerable time the operation of trains, come within the proviso. As the statute was originally drafted, it simply provided that the carrier should not require or permit any employé to remain on duty more than 16 consecutive hours, “except when by casualty occurring after such employé has started on his trip, or by unknown casualty occurring after such employé has started on his trip, he is prevented from reaching his terminal.” The report of the' committee having the bill in charge, and the debate in the Senate, disclose that the statute was drafted by counsel representing the Brotherhoods of Railroad Trainmen, and it was thought by them that the word “casualty” alone expressed precisely the meaning intended; that is, an unforeseen accident. Certain Senators pointed out that the term “casualty” was not a legal term, and they were not sure that it would embrace unavoidable accidents and acts of God. While the bill was pending in the Senate these words were added, -not for the purpose of reducing the meaning of the term “casualty,” but to make certain that the carrier would have the protection of acts of God and unavoidable accidents. At that time the statute did not contain the clause in regard to telegraph operators. When that was added by the Blouse committee, the exception could not be conveniently embodied in section 2, and for that reason was carried forward and attached as a proviso to section 3.

We do not think it was the intent of Congress in case of such serious matters as derailments and collisions to take from the company the protection of the proviso even if such events were caused by the negligence of the company or its employes. On the other hand, it was the intent of the statute in case of such an event to leave the company free to deal with the situation and to retain employes in the service if that result could not be avoided by the exercise of reasonable diligence after the occurrence of the accident. As was pointed out by this court in United States v. Missouri Pacific Ry. Co., 213 [66]*66Fed. 169, 130 C. C. A.

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Bluebook (online)
233 F. 62, 1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denver-r-g-r-co-v-united-states-ca8-1916.