Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington R. R. v. Cavens's administrator

72 Ky. 559, 9 Bush 559, 1873 Ky. LEXIS 5
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedJune 14, 1873
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 72 Ky. 559 (Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington R. R. v. Cavens's administrator) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington R. R. v. Cavens's administrator, 72 Ky. 559, 9 Bush 559, 1873 Ky. LEXIS 5 (Ky. Ct. App. 1873).

Opinion

JUDGE PRYOR

delivered the opinion oe the court.

James B. Cavens, while in the employ of the Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington Railroad Company as engineer on a locomotive (freight-engine) drawing trains between Louisville and Lexington, lost his life by reason of the collision of the train he was at the time running as engineer with another freight-train owned by the company and running upon the same track. W. H. Cavens qualified as his administrator, and' as such instituted the present action against the company, alleging that the death of his intestate was caused by the gross and willful neglect of the company by its agents and servants, and asking exemplary damages under the statute authorizing a recovery in such cases. The allegations of the petition were traversed by the company, and a trial had resulting in a verdict for the plaintiff of eight thousand dollars, upon which a judgment was rendered, and the case is now in this court for revision.

The regular freight-train running between Louisville and Lexington at the time Cavens lost his life was under the control of Armstrong, as conductor, and left Lexington on the morning of the day the accident happened for Louisville at 7:15 a.m., and by its time-table was due at Midway at 8:45 A.M., Frankfort 10:27 A.M., Eminence 1:45 p. M., Lagrange 3:20 P.M., and Louisville at 7:35 P. M. This train on that day was behind time, so far as the proof shows, at all the stations after leaving Lexington, and instead of reaching Eminence at 1:45 P.M., did not reach that place until 5:36 p.m., making it behind its time when leaving there near four hours. After it left Eminence, and before reaching Lagrange, and at a point two and a half miles east of the latter town, in attempting to run up an ascending grade, either for the want of steam or on account of the incapacity of the engine, the train failed to ascend, and there remained on the track until it was run into by an extra train, on which the deceased was engineer [562]*562and Anderson conductor, running in the same direction, resulting in the loss of Cavens’s life and much injury to others.

The train commanded by Anderson was an extra, or what is called by railroad men a wild-train, running by no time-table, but required by the regulations of the road not to interfere with the time of the regular trains. Anderson, the conductor on the wild-train, had received on the evening of the day this accident happened a dispatch at Midway Station from the train-dispatcher at Louisville, containing the following order:

“To Anderson, Midway Station:
“Follow flag No. 12 from Midway to Lagrange. Make as fast time as is safe. Look out for Dodson, at work under a flag between Frankfort and Bagdad.
J. E. R., Train-dispatoher.”

This order was obeyed by Anderson by following flag No. 12 on the evening passenger-train that left Lexington for Louisville; this flag was placed on the passenger-train in order to notify all other trains it met or passed on the road that there was a train following after. There were telegraph-stations at Frankfort, Bagdad, Eminence, and Lagrange, and although this morning freight-train, bound for Louisville under the control of Armstrong as conductor, was behind time at Frankfort, Bagdad, and Eminence, and. had not.reached Lagrange when due at that place by its regular time-table five hours prior to the accident, and these delays all known at the office of the train-dispatcher at Louisville, as well as the fact that this wild-train ivas then on its way to Lagrange under orders to run as fast as was safe, no information by telegraph or otherwise was given Anderson, the conductor, in order that he might avoid the impending danger. The telegraph-agents both at Eminence and Lagrange had notified the train-dispatcher of these delays on the part of Armstrong’s train.

It is urged by counsel for the appellant, based upon the [563]*563testimony of the train-dispatcher, that it was not the duty of the latter to notify Anderson of his danger. It is immaterial, in our opinion, whether the train-dispatcher was required to give the information or not. If no such rule or regulation had been adopted by the company, with telegraph-offices at nearly every station on the road, it evidences such a disregard for the safety of its employees, as well as those traveling upon its trains, as renders it inexcusable negligence. The evidence of the train-dispatcher, however, makes it clearly his duty to have given Anderson notice of the delay of Armstrong’s train. He says that among the duties of a train-dispatcher “ are those requiring him to give train-orders, running-orders to wild and extra trains and others that have no schedule time, and to give orders to delayed trains, arranging for meeting-points as he thinks best.” If these are the duties imposed by reason of his position, it is certainly incumbent upon him, when cognizant of the facts, to warn conductors when there is danger of colliding with other trains, or when by the exercise of even the slightest care and caution he ought to know that such danger exists.

It is not pretended that this train of Anderson’s was encroaching upon the time of any other train, and certainly not of the train under Armstrong, as they were both running .in the same direction, and when the accident occurred Armstrong’s train was five hours behind time. It is also insisted by the company, based upon the same testimony, that the only means Anderson had of knowing that Armstrong’s train was in his way was by seeing it upon the track, or by the signals given, or by making inquiry of persons at the various stations. If this inquiry had been made by Anderson at either Frankfort, Bagdad, or Eminence, the response would have been that Armstrong’s train was at least an hour in advance of him, as such was the case, and he would have felt entirely secure in making the speed required of him by the order; hence the [564]*564necessity of communicating to Anderson the facts so essential to the safety of his train and those upon it, and the discharge of so plain a duty would have saved the life of the unfortunate engineer.

It was also Armstrong’s duty to have given the proper signals by placing torpedoes on the track, and also red lights, in order that the coming train might be advised of danger. This he recklessly failed to do, and the weight of the testimony conduces strongly to show that although he had been endeavoring to make his way up this ascending grade with his train for about one half hour, still during this whole time no precautions were used to warn Anderson of the danger until his train was heard coming, and before Armstrong could get from the front to the rear end of the train, having thirty cars attached to his engine, Anderson’s train was too near for any signal to have prevented the unfortunate occurrence.

It also appears that the engine belonging to Armstrong’s train was defective, and had been in such condition for a long time, and, although attempting to pull thirty heavily-laden cars up this ascending grade, had only the capacity to pull twenty-two.

After a careful consideration of all the testimony in the case, we are well satisfied that the death of appellee’s intestate was caused by the reckless and willful negligence of the agents of the company and those in its employ.

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72 Ky. 559, 9 Bush 559, 1873 Ky. LEXIS 5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisville-cincinnati-lexington-r-r-v-cavenss-administrator-kyctapp-1873.