Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Anderson

81 S.W. 781, 36 Tex. Civ. App. 121, 1904 Tex. App. LEXIS 175
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 18, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 81 S.W. 781 (Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Anderson, 81 S.W. 781, 36 Tex. Civ. App. 121, 1904 Tex. App. LEXIS 175 (Tex. Ct. App. 1904).

Opinions

The appellee, the plaintiff below, in his suit against the appellant states in his petition that he is the owner of lots 6 and 7 in block 7 of the Wright addition to the city of Greenville. The lots are described as beginning at a stake, the intersection of the north boundary line of the right of way of the old East Line Red River Railway Company, subsequently conveyed to the Sherman, Shreveport Southern Railway Company, and now, at the time of filing the suit, operated and controlled as a part of the appellant's line of road, which said north boundary line intersects the west boundary line of Texas Street; thence north 125 feet; thence west 331 2-3 feet; thence south to the line of said right of way; thence east to the place of beginning. The above described land was at the time the suit was filed *Page 122 and before occupied by the plaintiff and his wife and children as their homestead; and that the lots in question are in the residence portion of the city of Greenville, and are valuable for residence purposes only. That at the time of and before the conduct of the defendant, as complained of, the property was worth $1750, and is located just north of and adjoining what was once defendant's main line of railroad; that before the changes made in the operation of the road and the use of appellant's right of way, the line of road was composed of only one track running immediately south of the plaintiff's land, and was used only for the passage of freight and passenger trains, in the usual and ordinary way; but was not used as any part of the yards of defendant's road, or for the purpose of switching or holding or making up trains thereon; that some time during the summer of 1901 the defendant began the laying out, construction and building of yards at and near the city of Greenville on an extensive scale, laying out and building same beyond the plaintiff's land; that it changed the natural lay of the land adjacent to plaintiff's property, and changed the former grade of its roadbed and track by and beyond the plaintiff's land, by piling up dirt, shoveling and scraping and excavating and taking away dirt from the south side of the plaintiff's land, and made its roadbed at that point much deeper and wider, and it laid down another main line and several switches and side tracks south of and near plaintiff's property, where no switches and side tracks had before existed; that just before the changes in defendant's roadbed and track before mentioned, the defendant built a large coal chute just east of plaintiff's land and also erected a large overground water tank, at which coal chute and water tank the defendant's engines and trains were filled with water and coal. That the main yards built by defendant are located southwest of the plaintiff's property, and that in connection with said yards the defendant built, just south of and near plaintiff's land, switch-stands and blocks, sidings and switches, used as approaches to and from the main line leading off to the switch yards on one side and the coal chute and water tank on the other; and that at these points are located quite a number of switch-stands and blocks, just south of and near plaintiff's property. After the completion of these improvements the defendant has had the same in full operation, and keeps and maintains about three regular switch crews in and about its yards, sidings, coal chutes, water tanks and depots, each crew having engines and tenders, and said crews with the engines and tenders are continually at work, day and night, and have been since the yards were built, switching and making up trains and going to and from the yards, coal chutes and water tanks, — all of this in addition to the regular trains that pass over the main lines of said road. That the work of said crews in the operation of said trains, engines, etc., makes and causes great and unusual noises, the engines emitting great quantities of smoke, dust, cinders and soot and offensive odors, causing plaintiff's property and dwelling to shake and vibrate; all of which things envelop and spread over and affect the lots and *Page 123 premises of plaintiff, and by reason of such use and things as aforesaid, the property has been rendered uninhabitable and almost useless as a place of residence, and that said dust, cinders, soot, gas, noxious vapors, vibrations and noises permeate plaintiff's house, residence and premises, and disturb him and his family, and that the dust and cinders settle upon and render soiled and filthy the persons and objects on said premises, contaminate the roof of plaintiff's house and affect the purity of plaintiff's drinking water in his cistern; and that by reason of all of said facts the plaintiff's premises have been rendered almost valueless and are not worth on the market over $500. That in the widening of said roadbed and tracks the defendant wrongfully and without authority and against the plaintiff's consent, took and appropriated a strip of the plaintiff's land, a part of the lots above described about fifteen to twenty feet wide, running the full length of the lots, and now wrongfully holds possession of said strip, and defendant has converted the same to its own use, to plaintiff's damage in the sum of $500, the reasonable and market value of said strip so appropriated; and that by reason of the things and acts of defendant, and the conduct as herein-before alleged, plaintiff and his wife have been subjected continually, day and night, to great physical and mental discomfort, and have been vexed, harassed and annoyed to a degree almost insupportable, on account of said noises, vibrations, noxious vapors, gases, smoke and cinders, dust and soot, that continually envelop and permeate and affect plaintiff's dwelling and premises, to their damage in the sum of $500.

The defendant for answer demurred to plaintiff's petition, and generally denied the allegations therein contained; and further alleged that if any damages had been sustained by the plaintiff, that the cause of action was barred by limitation, and that if the plaintiff had suffered any damages, they were occasioned and contributed to by the plaintiff's own negligence and want of ordinary care; and that of the defects and causes that produced the injuries, if any were produced, the plaintiff had notice, or by the exercise of ordinary care could have had notice in ample time to avoid the same.

Verdict and judgment in the trial court resulted in favor of appellee for the sum of $450.

The facts are as follows: M. H. Wright in 1880, and after that time, was the owner of the John Gillespie and John Hart surveys of land, adjoining the city of Greenville. M. H. Wright and N.E. Wright, his wife, are common source of title, the appellant and the appellee both holding under them. On the 30th day of January, 1880, Wright and wife executed to the East Line Red River Railroad Company the following conveyance:

"State of Texas, Hunt County. Know all men by these presents that we, M. H. Wright and his wife N.E. Wright, both of said county and State, for and in consideration of one dollar, to us in hand paid by the East Line Red River Railroad Company, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, and for the further consideration that the *Page 124 said railroad company will locate and construct its railroad on, over and across the following tracts of land, situated in the county of Hunt in said State of Texas, and known and described by metes and bounds as follows, to wit: All that part of the John Gillespie and John Hart headrights of land now owned by us, lying west of the town of Greenville, being the land now used and occupied by us as a homestead.

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Bluebook (online)
81 S.W. 781, 36 Tex. Civ. App. 121, 1904 Tex. App. LEXIS 175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/missouri-kansas-texas-railway-co-v-anderson-texapp-1904.