Home/Supreme Court of Minnesota/Hocking v. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway Co.

Hocking v. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway Co.

117 N.W.2d 304, 263 Minn. 483, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 808
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedSeptember 14, 1962
Docket38,301
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 117 N.W.2d 304 (Hocking v. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hocking v. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway Co., 117 N.W.2d 304, 263 Minn. 483, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 808 (Mich. 1962).

Opinion

Nelson, Justice.

This appeal involves an action for personal injuries sustained by Steven Michael Hocking, a minor, brought against the Duluth, Mis-sabe & Iron Range Railway Company in said minor’s behalf by his mother and natural guardian, and said action includes a separate claim by Corinne Hocking, the mother, for medical, hospital, and other expenses incurred by her. The injuries to said minor resulted *484 from a fall while climbing about a trestle leading to one of the ore docks of defendant railway company in the city of Duluth.

The case was tried to a jury. At the close of plaintiffs evidence, and again at the close of all the evidence, the trial court denied a motion by the railway company for a directed verdict. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Steven in the sum of $10,000 and in favor of his mother in the sum of $3,324.72. The railway company moved for judgments in its favor notwithstanding the verdicts, which motion was denied. Defendant made no motions for a new trial. Defendant appeals from the judgments.

The trial court submitted both cases to the jury on the theory of negligence and left it for the jury to determine whether the railway company was negligent and whether Steven was contributorily negligent.

Upon the motion for directed verdicts below, plaintiffs were entitled to have the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to them.

The relevant facts, many of which are not in dispute, may be stated as follows: Steven, 1016 years of age, and a companion, age 12, went upon the railway company’s property to capture pigeons for sale to a restaurant. The property and tracks involved are located in West Duluth, Minnesota, near West Third Street or Grand Avenue. The property consists of three large trestles which run down from that street to the edge of St. Louis Bay. These trestles were built between the years 1913 and 1918 and are used to load iron ore hauled from the mines on the iron range to the boats in the bay. The trestles abut against the hill which runs along the northern edge of the city of Duluth and they are raised above the level of the ground which descends to the bay so as to maintain a level deck and tracks above the water. Trains proceed on the tracks over these trestles en route from the iron range to the bay and constitute a part of defendant’s railroad system. Two of the three trestles form the approach to the docks from which iron ore is discharged from the trains into vessels that carry it to the lower lake ports. The top or deck part of the trestles rests upon a network of upright steel columns which support two large I-beam girders which form the framework or structural portion of the deck containing the tracks over which the trains pass. The

*485

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Bluebook (online)
117 N.W.2d 304, 263 Minn. 483, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hocking-v-duluth-missabe-iron-range-railway-co-minn-1962.