Petty v. Illinois Central Railroad

132 N.E.2d 1, 8 Ill. App. 2d 367, 1956 Ill. App. LEXIS 255
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 9, 1956
DocketGen. No. 46,580
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 132 N.E.2d 1 (Petty v. Illinois Central Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Petty v. Illinois Central Railroad, 132 N.E.2d 1, 8 Ill. App. 2d 367, 1956 Ill. App. LEXIS 255 (Ill. Ct. App. 1956).

Opinion

JUDGE BURKE

delivered the opinion of the court.

Charles Petty sued the Illinois Central Railroad Company to recover damages for injuries suffered when the automobile in which he was being driven collided with defendant’s suburban train at about 10:55 P. M. on Saturday, October 13, 1951. The court entered a judgment for $75,000 on a verdict returned by a jury. Motions by the defendant for a directed verdict, for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial were denied. Defendant appeals.

The impact occurred at the intersection of the tracks of defendant’s Blue Island suburban branch with Ash-land Avenue, a block south of Chicago. This is a single track line extending in a southwesterly direction from Kensington, a station on the south side of Chicago, to Blue Island. The branch is 4.42 miles long. Prom Blue Island station, the southwest terminal, to Burr Oak, the first station to the northeast, it is 0.55 of a mile; from Burr Oak to Ashland Avenue it is 0.49 of a mile; and from Ashland Avenue to Kensington it is 3.38 miles. The single track crosses Ashland Avenue running southwest to northeast at an angle. Ashland Avenue is a heavily traveled north and south highway, paved with concrete. It is 40 feet wide from curb to curb and carries two northbound and two southbound traffic lanes. About 200 feet north of defendant’s right of way a line of the Rock Island lines crosses Ashland Avenue in an easterly and westerly direction. The posted speed limit on Ashland Avenue in the vicinity of the crossing is 45 miles an hour. Trains run in both directions on defendant’s track. The trains crossing Ashland Avenue are classified as northbound and southbound. There are 32 southbound trains and 29 northbound trains each weekday, some labeled “express” and some “local express.” In addition to the scheduled trains, extra or nonschednled trains operate on the track and cross Ashland Avenue. These are not passenger trains. The man in the interlocking tower at West Pullman, one mile east of Ashland Avenue, recorded that on the day of the occurrence 34 southbound trains and 34 northbound trains moved over this track.

North of the tracks and west of the highway there is a one story building, used at the time as a tavern, and north of that a two story building used as a residence. The south side of the tavern building is 35 feet from the tracks. A surveyor testified for plaintiff that from “the front of the tavern to Ashland” measures “about 21% feet.” A plat admitted by agreement shows a distance of 27 feet from the front wall of the tavern to the western edge of the Ashland Avenue roadway. The gate standard in the northwest quadrant is 31 feet from the north rail and 4% feet from the west edge of the Ashland Avenue roadway. South of the track and east of Ashland Avenue is located the suburban station for Ashland Avenue. It consists of a ground level platform about 30 feet long, followed by a stairway leading to an elevated platform 209 feet long, on which platform a wooden shelter is provided for passengers. The west end of the ground level platform is 11 feet from the east edge of Ashland Avenue. The platform is 8 feet wide and runs parallel to the track on the south side thereof. South of the platform and east of Ashland Avenue there is located a trailer camp consisting of several houses surrounded by trailers.

The crossing is protected by automatic flashing signals in combination with short-arm gates. In addition there are erossbuck signs to indicate the presence of a track, and a standard highway sign located 410.2 feet north of the intersection, west of the highway, as a preliminary warning to southbound vehicular traffic. Back to back flasher lights are mounted on gate standards located in the northwest and southeast quadrants of the intersection. These lights are 7% to 8 feet high. The gate arm on the northwest corner has three red lights affixed to the top of the arm. The one at the end of the arm is steady and the other two are flickering lights. This arm is mounted on a gate standard at the northwest corner, and when lowered extends across the two southbound lanes of Ashland Avenue approximately parallel with the track, on the north side thereof. A similar arm is mounted on the southeast standard and when lowered, extends across the two northbound lanes. The crossing bell is located at the top of the standard in the southeast quadrant.

The crossing protection complies with the orders of the Illinois Commerce Commission. It is operated on a closed circuit principle. The rails are divided into sections called blocks by the placing of insulated joints at various locations. These sections of rails are energized by an alternating electric current, and at one end of the rail section or block a relay is attached by means of a cable. On the other end of the block there is a source of energy which is fed into and through one rail to the relay end, through the relay, back, through the other rail, connecting to the other end of the source, which makes a closed circuit. As long as there is no broken rail, no broken wire or train present on this track, the relay is in an energized position. In other words, it is held up against the force of gravity. When a train enters this section, the wheels of this train act as a short circuit from one rail to the other rail. It is easier for the current in the rail to come from the source through one wheel into the axle, into the other wheel, back into the rail and back again, than it is for it to go up and go through the relay. Consequently, when a train enters this section, the relay immediately drops because the energy is failing to reach it and gravity pulls it down.

A train coming from Blue Island enters one of these block sections at the starter point, which is 2024.1 feet west of Ashland Avenue, and the presence of this train on the track shunts out the energy from the relay and the relay drops. It requires about three quarters of a second for that relay to drop. The dropping of the first relay, in turn, causes another one to drop and that, in turn, causes the light on the flashers to start working and the bell to start ringing. A third relay works the gates. The dropping of the second relay causes the energy to be taken from the third relay. The third relay is a time-delay relay. "When the energy is taken, it takes approximately 3 to 4 seconds for it to release. After it releases and drops, the gates start down. "While the gates are lowering, the bells ring constantly, the lights flash on the two masts on each side of the tracks, and the lights on the gate arm burn. As the train approaches the crossing, the gates remain down and the lights on the two masts and on the two gate arms continue to burn or flash until the rear end of the train clears another section, which, at Ashland Avenue, is 5 or 6 feet east of the east edge of Ashland Avenue. As soon as the rear of the train clears that point, the gates start rising. During the lifting period the lights continue to flash and burn on the gate arms and the flashers until the gates have gotten in the clear. Then the lights and flashers go out and the gates are again in an upright position. There are two sources of energy of this installation. One source is commercial electricity. In the event that the commercial electricity goes off there is a relay that immediately drops and cuts in a set of batteries which supply energy for approximately three days in case the commercial power should not come back.

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158 N.E.2d 97 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1959)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
132 N.E.2d 1, 8 Ill. App. 2d 367, 1956 Ill. App. LEXIS 255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petty-v-illinois-central-railroad-illappct-1956.