Indiana Railways & Light Co. v. City of Kokomo

108 N.E. 771, 183 Ind. 543, 1915 Ind. LEXIS 94
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 4, 1915
DocketNo. 22,465
StatusPublished

This text of 108 N.E. 771 (Indiana Railways & Light Co. v. City of Kokomo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Indiana Railways & Light Co. v. City of Kokomo, 108 N.E. 771, 183 Ind. 543, 1915 Ind. LEXIS 94 (Ind. 1915).

Opinion

Spencer, J.

— This is an action by appellant against appellees praying for a temporary restraining order and asking that, on final hearing, appellees be perpetually enjoined and prohibited from tearing up or removing a certain turnout or switch constructed and being constructed by appellant company. The temporary restraining order was granted but, on final hearing, the same was dissolved and judgment rendered in favor of appellees. This appeal follows.

On December 4, 1890, appellee city of Kokomo, by ordinance, granted to the Kokomo City Street Railway Company, one of the predecessors of appellant, a franchise to construct, extend, maintain and operate a passenger railway in and on the streets and alleys of said city, “with the right to lay down and construct all necessary and convenient tracks, * * * turnouts and switches in and upon, along and over the streets, alleys and bridges of said city.” Said ordinance provided further “that double tracks shall only be laid upon any street after application shall have been made therefor by said company to the common council of said city and permission granted, except turnouts and switches.” The original ordinance granting this franchise was subsequently amended from time to time and each amendment was accepted by appellant ’s predecessor in-title. On August 10, 1903, the fol[545]*545lowing section was incorporated therein and now forms a part of the franchise under which appellant operates: “No extension of tracks shall be made and no tracks shall be laid in, upon, over or along any street, avenue or alley of said city by grantee, its successors or assigns, except those now occupied by it for such purposes, and no double tracks except turnouts and switches shall be laid in any part or portion of said city without first obtaining permission so to do by an ordinance or resolution duly adopted by the common council of said city.”

On March 11, 1912, appellant’s immediate predecessor in title, the Kokomo, Marion and Western Traction Company, entered into a certain written agreement with appellee city of Kokomo, by and through the latter’s board of public works, for the construction and maintenance of a certain spur track from the traction company’s main tracks on South Main Street in said city to the power plant of said company, a distance of about 350 feet. This track was to extend in a westerly direction from said main tracks, approximately at right angles thereto, running through one public alley and intersecting another, and finally crossing a strip of open ground owned by said city before it reached appellant’s property. It was further agreed that the traction company was to pay to the city an annual rental of $25 for the use of said strip of open ground. No action was ever taken on said agreement by the common council of the city of Kokomo and on November 25, 1912, said agreement was formally rescinded by the board of public works of said city. On December 7, 1912, appellant succeeded to the rights and liabilities of said Kokomo, Marion and Western Traction Company and three days later it was served by said board of public works with a formal notice to remove the switch and spur track then being constructed in accordance with the agreement above referred to. On December 11, 1912, this suit was instituted and a temporary restraining order then [546]*546granted to prevent appellees from removing said switch and track. On December 24, 1912, pending the final hearing in the cause, appellant paid to the treasurer of appellee city the sum of $25, as rental under the agreement of March 11, and received from him a receipt therefor.

1. In support of its contention that, on final hearing, the court erred in refusing to perpetually enjoin appellees from removing the track in question, appellant takes the position that it had an express right under its franchise to construct said track. If we concede that appellant is correct in asserting that the clear intent and spirit of the several ordinances mentioned above is to permit the construction of necessary turnouts and switches, without the company making application or procuring additional permission therefor, it still does not follow that appellant is thereby given the right to construct the track in controversy. Said track is not a switch or turnout, within the meaning of the ordinance. In the case of Philadelphia v. River Front R. Co. (1890), 133 Pa. St. 134, 139, 19 Atl. 356, it is said: “The words, sidings, switches, and turn-outs, in relation to railroads, are of course of modern growth, and, not only in popular use, but in the dictionaries, are treated as to some extent interchangeable. Thus, the only definition that Webster gives of siding is ‘the turn-out of a railroad’, (noted as English,) and turn-out is defined as ‘a short side track on a. railroad which may be occupied by one train while another is passing on a main track; a siding.’ ” A similar definition is found in Bridgewater v. Beaver Valley Traction Co. (1906), 214 Pa. St. 343, 347, 63 Atl. 796, where it is said: “The law attaches no peculiar meaning to the words double track and turn-out. They are not technical, but in common and general use, and anyone with the least familiarity with railroads or railways can distinguish between them. A turn-out in a railway is a short line of track, having connection by means of switches with the main track. By means of it a single track road may be used by cars moving in oppo[547]*547site directions, the tnrn-ont affording accommodation at the side of the track for one car while the other is passing over the main track at that point.” It will be observed from the above definition that one characteristic of a turnout or siding' is that it lies parallel to the main track or nearly so. This characteristic is expressly recognized in the case of City of Memphis v. St. Louis, etc., R. Co. (1910), 183 Fed. 529, 539, 106 C. C. A. 75. The court therein says: “The phrases ‘turnouts’ and ‘switches’ in our opinion clearly relate to tracks in the nature of side tracks, adjacent to and used in connection with another line of track, and manifestly do not refer to a track such as that in dispute which branches off entirely from the existing line and extends laterally to a distant objective point, and which can only be properly described as a lateral road.” Section 2 of the franchise ordinance, as amended on August 10, 1903, prohibits appellant from extending tracks of any character into streets, avenues or alleys not then occupied by its railway system, without the consent of the common council of appellee city. It further prohibits appellant from constructing double tracks in any part of said city, except such turnouts and switches as may be needed, without first obtaining the same consent. This ordinance, which was accepted by appellant’s predecessor and now binds appellant, does not expressly, or by necessary implication,, authorize the construction of the track in controversy without the consent of the common council first being obtained.

Appellant next contends that this case falls within the rule that the grant of a right to construct a street railway carries with it, as an incident, .the right to construct such turnouts and switches as may be necessary for the successful operation of the road. Mayor, etc. v. Houston, etc., R. Co. (1892), 84 Tex. 581, 595, 19 S. W. 786; Cleveland, etc., R. Co. v. Speer (1867), 56 Pa. St. 325, 335, 94 Am. Dec. 84; Lake Shore, etc., R. Co. v. Baltimore, etc., R. Co. (1894), 149 Ill. 272, 281, 37 N. E. 91. What we have said heretofore [548]

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Related

Bridgewater Borough v. Beaver Valley Traction Co.
63 A. 796 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1906)
Philadelphia v. River Front R.
19 A. 356 (Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, 1890)
City of Memphis v. St. Louis & S. F. R. Co.
183 F. 529 (Sixth Circuit, 1910)

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Bluebook (online)
108 N.E. 771, 183 Ind. 543, 1915 Ind. LEXIS 94, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/indiana-railways-light-co-v-city-of-kokomo-ind-1915.