Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Lawlor

132 Ill. App. 280, 1907 Ill. App. LEXIS 126
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 13, 1907
DocketGen. No. 4,738
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 132 Ill. App. 280 (Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Lawlor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Lawlor, 132 Ill. App. 280, 1907 Ill. App. LEXIS 126 (Ill. Ct. App. 1907).

Opinion

Mr. Presiding Justice Dibell

delivered the opinion of the court.

The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Bailway and Cass street, in the suburbs of the city of Joliet, cross each other. At that crossing a person driving east on the highway is going in a direction slightly north of east, and a train coming from the south on the railroad is going slightly west of north, and they there cross nearly at right angles. In the early evening of September 22, 1904, Michael Lawlor, appellee herein, and his friend, Frank Hurley, were driving east on the south side of Cass street and crossing the three tracks of the railroad at that point, and when upon the most easterly track they were struck by the north end of a string of freight cars being pushed north over said crossing by an engine on the south end of said string of cars, operated by a crew of the Michigan Central Bailroad Company, who were taking said cars to the yards of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Bailway some distance north of said crossing. The buggy was destroyed by the collision. Lawlor was thrown to the west of the track and Hurley and the horse to the east, and the horse ran some distance till stopped. Lawlor was injured, and brought this suit against the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Bailway Company to recover damages therefor. The declaration charged that said engine and cars were operated by the defendant, or by persons authorized by said defendant to run said train of cars over said tracks, and that they were operated so carelessly and negligently that through the negligent and improper handling and driving of said engine and cars one of them struck against the carriage of plaintiff with great force, and caused the injuries; and also that no bell was rung or whistle sounded at the distance of at least eighty rods from said crossing, and kept ringing or sounding until said crossing was reached by said engine and cars, and that in consequence of this default plaintiff was injured. There was a plea of not guilty and a verdict and a judgment for plaintiff for $1,650, from which judgment defendant appeals.

The case chiefly concerns questions of fact and the rulings and expressions of the trial judge, and we have studied the case from the record itself in order to fully understand all that occurred at the trial. The proof shows that the railroad passes through this vicinity in a swale or low place, there being something of a depression in the highway as the railroad is approached. The- photographs show that the railroad and the highway are upon a level at the crossing, and the proofs show that a little way south of the crossing the railroad is elevated two or three feet above the level of the ground there. The railroad crosses the Bock Island Bailroad about eighty rods south of Cass street and approaches Cass street on a curve, as stated by the engineer driving this train, who seems to have been confused as to the direction of the curve, but he testified that he was on the west side of the engine backing north at or before the time of the collision; he was on the inside of the curve, so that it appears that if a line was drawn across Cass street at this crossing at right angles to Cass street, this engine at the time of the collision was west of such line and on a curve. The plat in evidence is drawn upon a large scale and shows the railroad a comparatively short distance south of Cass street, and does not include the curve testified to by the engineer. The train consisted of fifteen box cars, and at the length of such cars testified to by the engineer this train was from thirty-two to thirty-five rods long, besides the length of the engine. A man stood on the car next to the engine to transmit signals to the engineer, and two men stood on the north car, but without lights. Appellant insists that it was broad daylight, but not only did appellee and Hurley testify that it was dusk and that it was six o’clock or after, but the engineer also testified for appellant that it was 6:15 p, m. and that it was about dusk. Another witness for appellant testified that it was not dark and not real light, and still another that it was twilight, so that the jury were warranted in finding that it was dusk. Though it was shortly after sunset, the amount of light depended also upon other conditions, such as whether it was cloudy and the number of trees, etc., in that vicinity. South of the highway and next west of the railroad was the Faust lot, west of that a narrow street called Faust street, and next west the residence of the witness Hammond. On the Faust lot, in the corner made by the railroad and the street, was a barber shop some thirty feet long and sixteen feet- high; about thirty feet back of that was the Faust residence, and still further back his barn. A fence ran from the barber shop south along the right of way. There were trees at various places on and around the Faust lot and shrubbery along the fence. This shrubbery cannot, all of it, be readily detected upon the photographs in evidence which, though valuable aids to understanding the situation, need to be examined with reference to the fact that they were taken in February, whereas at the time of this injury all witnesses agree that all the trees,shrubs and vines were covered with leaves, except certain dead trees, one of which was removed after the accident and before these photographs were taken. The proof makes it clear that a person travelling east towards the railroad, on the highway, could at certain points see a train approaching from the south, and yet that such view was very much obstructed by the buildings, trees, shrubs, vines, and the leaves thereon. The obstructions to a view of this crossing, by persons approaching it on the highway from the west, were well known to appellant and to the crew conducting the train. They took such a train over it nearly every day. The statute, the infraction of which is here alleged, requires a bell and steam whistle to be placed on.each locomotive and to be rung or whistled at least eighty rods from the place where the railroad intersects a highway and to be kept ringing or whistling till the highway is reached. We think it is manifest that this refers to a locomotive at the head of a train, and means that the whistling, or ringing of a bell, shall .begin when the locomotive at the head of the train is eighty rods from the crossing, and shall be continued till such whistle or bell at the head of the train reaches the crossing. Appellee’s proof tended to show that no bell was rung or whistle sounded, but this proof was of a negative character. The engineer testified that he blew the whistle when near the crossing of the Bock Island Boad, about eighty rods from Cass street, and the fireman testified that he began ringing the bell at the same time and rang it continuously till the accident. But when the whistle was so sounded and when the bell began to so ring, if it was rung, the north end of this string of cars, the head of the train as it was being pushed, was about thirty-five rods nearer Cass street. In other words, when the signals were. given at the rear of the train, the head of the train was only about forty-five rods from the crossing. If the bell was ringing and if appellee had heard it as he came to the crossing, it would have been a. sound more than thirty-five rods from this highway, and that would not have notified appellee that the head of the train was almost at the highway. If he heard the bell at that distance away and so near the place where the engine had crossed the Bock Island Boad, appellee ■might, well have understood from it .that he had plenty of time to cross.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
132 Ill. App. 280, 1907 Ill. App. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/elgin-joliet-eastern-railway-co-v-lawlor-illappct-1907.