Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. Wisconsin Central Railway Co.

135 N.W. 984, 117 Minn. 217, 1912 Minn. LEXIS 746
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedApril 19, 1912
DocketNos. 17,299—(23)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 135 N.W. 984 (Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. Wisconsin Central 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
Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. Wisconsin Central Railway Co., 135 N.W. 984, 117 Minn. 217, 1912 Minn. LEXIS 746 (Mich. 1912).

Opinion

Philip E. Brown, J.

This action is brought by the Northern Pacific Railway Company, hereinafter called the Pacific Company, against the Wisconsin Central Railway Company, hereinafter called the Central Company, and the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company, hereinafter called the Soo Company, to recover the compensation or rent reserved and provided for in two certain contracts or agreements entered into between the Pacific Company and the Central Company for the use of a certain drawbridge and the terminals thereof, and a certain piece of track to the east of the easterly approach to the said bridge, which said agreements are referred to in the complaint as Exhibit A and Exhibit B. The cause was tried by the court without a jury, findings were made in favor of the defendants upon Exhibit A, and in favor of the plaintiff upon Exhibit B. This is an appeal by the plaintiff from the judgment rendered upon such findings.

The following are the main facts of the case:

The said drawbridge, for the use of which the said contract (Exhibit A) was entered into, is known as the “Grassy Point Bridge,” and crosses the St Louis river, a navigable stream, between the city [221]*221of Superior, Wisconsin, and the city of Duluth, Minnesota. It was erected by the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company, the plaintiff’s predecessor, under and pursuant to authority of an act of Congress entitled “An act to authorize the construction of a bridge across the St. Louis river at the most accessible point between the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin,” approved January 3, 1887 [24 St. 556, c. 15]. Subsequently to the acquisition of the said bridge by the Pacific Company, and prior to June 4, 1907, the Central Company had located and was constructing a line of railway extending, .among other places, between Duluth and Superior, respectively, as aforesaid, and desired to obtain from the Pacific Company the right to connect its line of railway with the easterly and westerly approaches to the aforesaid bridge; and to this end, on June 4, 1907, it entered into the agreement (Exhibit A) with the Pacific Company.

This agreement, after reciting the desire of the Central Company to connect with the line of the Pacific Company as above stated, and further reciting the Central Company’s desire to obtain from the Pacific Company the right to use the aforesaid drawbridge and the approaches thereto * * * as a part of the Central Company’s railway between the said cities of Superior and Duluth, and the willingness of the Pacific Company to grant such right upon the terms and conditions recited and to be recited in the agreement, and the value of the bridge, proceeds, in substance and effect, .so far as is deemed material to the questions presented by this appeal, as follows:

Eirst, That the Pacific Company “gives and grants” to the Central Company the right — to be enjoyed in common with the Pacific ■Company and such other railroad companies as may be hereafter ■admitted to the use of the said track and bridge — to connect its tracks with those of the Pacific Company at the easterly and westerly approaches to the said drawbridge, to enter upon such approaches for the purpose of making all such connections as shall be necessary to the full enjoyment of this “grant,” and to run its trains over the said approaches and drawbridge.

[222]*222Second. The Pacific Company reserves the right to lay new tracks and to alter the bridge or replace it with a new structure, in which case, however, the Central Company’s rights shall not be affected, except as may result from the increased value of the bridge.

Third. The Central Company agrees to install, at its own expense and according to plans to be submitted to the Pacific Company, an interlocking and derailing apparatus, and to maintain and operate the same at its own expense.

Fourth. Provides for the regulation of the passage of trains arriving at the bridge at the same time.

Fifth. Provides for the reimbursement of the Central Company as to part of the cost of the interlocking and derailing apparatus, in the event of the admission of other companies to the use of the bridge.

Sixth. The Central Company shall “indemnify the Pacific Company against all loss, cost, damage, or expense of any kind which said last-named company may suffer, or for which it may become liable, resulting from any neglect or failure of the Central Company strictly to keep and perform all its covenants and agreements in this contract contained. It is mutually agreed between the parties hereto that each party shall bear and pay any and all loss and damage to its own property, and to property in its charge, and all loss and damage for any injury to or death of any of its employees, or of any person in its care as a carrier or otherwise, arising from the fault or negligence of any person employed in the operation of said interlocking and derailing plant, and each party shall bear and pay all loss and damage, claim, or recovery, resulting from the fault or negligence of its exclusive employees, and each party agrees to indemnify the other against and save it harmless from all such claims, loss, damage, and recovery which by the terms hereof it has assumed and agrees to pay, together with all costs, expenses, -and attorney’s fees incident thereto. All employees engaged in the operation of said interlocking and derailing plant shall, as to any question of responsibility for their acts and omissions, be deemed to be joint employees of the parties hereto.”

Seventh. The Pacific Company will keep account of the expense [223]*223of all permanent improvements and additions to the bridge, and, “so long as only the two parties hereto use the property, the Central Company will pay unto the Pacific Company on the first day of each month, a minimum rental of six hundred twenty-five dollars ($625.00), to be increased from time to time so as to at all times equal half the interest upon the then value of the bridge and approaches, computed at five per cent per annum; but, if and when there shall be more than two users of the property, the rental shall be such part of the interest, so computed, as the number of wheels the Central Company moves over the same each month bears to the whole number of wheels of all users, the minimum rental, however, to be one-third of such interest. Provided, however, that the maximum rental shall never exceed one-half of said interest.”

Eighth. “The Pacific Company shall keep and maintain in good order, condition, and repair the said bridge and approaches,' and operate the same in such manner as to safely carry the traffic of the parties hereto,” a certain proportion of the expense of such operation, etc., to be computed with reference to the number of users of the bridge, to be paid by the Central Company in addition to the aforesaid rental.

Ninth. The parties agree to arbitrate disagreements that may arise as to the interpretation of this agreement.

Tenth. “This agreement shall begin on the date when the Central Company commences to use the bridge, but upon January 1, 1909, whether it then uses the bridge or not, and shall continue twenty-five (25) years.”

Eleventh. “The grants, covenants, and stipulations hereof shall extend to and be binding upon the respective successors and assigns of the parties hereto.”

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Bluebook (online)
135 N.W. 984, 117 Minn. 217, 1912 Minn. LEXIS 746, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/northern-pacific-railway-co-v-wisconsin-central-railway-co-minn-1912.