Russell v. Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Co.

363 S.W.2d 160, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2015
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 1, 1962
DocketNo. 6572
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 363 S.W.2d 160 (Russell v. Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Co.) 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
Russell v. Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Co., 363 S.W.2d 160, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2015 (Tex. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

McNEILL, Justice.

This is a suit for damages brought by appellant, Naomi Russell, on account of the alleged wrongful death of her husband, M. [161]*161D. Russell. She sued appellees Houston Belt and Terminal Railway Company, Kansas City Southern Railway Company, T. & N. O. Railroad Company and Texas Creosoting Company. It was alleged that Russell, while an employee of the Coastal Construction Company, was killed July 2, 1956, when a load of creosoted poles he was helping to unload from two flat cars fell upon him. Superior Insurance Company, having paid Workmen’s Compensation insurance to plaintiff on account of this accident, intervened to recover the amount paid. Since the parties occupy the same position here as in the trial court, they will be designated herein as they were in that court.

It was shown that defendant Texas Creosoting Company, herein, sometimes called creosoting company, had loaded these poles or piling in its plant at Houston, Texas, upon two flat cars, and that through the transportation by the three railway companies the load was brought to Port Arthur, Texas and delivered a month or so later to the Coastal Construction Company, consignee. The load was run onto the railroad spur track in the construction company’s plant for unloading. The construction company was in the business of building docks and driving piling in coastal waters. The load of piling was left on the spur at a place so that it sat immediately west of the water channel in which the construction company had a barge, upon which was a rig with an 80 or 90 foot boom like a dragline.

Plaintiff alleged that the deceased came to his death because of the negligence of the defendant creosoting company in failing to properly inspect the load of poles, in shipping the load which had shifted in transit producing a dangerous condition, in using an inadequate number of stakes to hold the load, in shipping the poles which were too heavy for the stakes and bands used to hold said poles, in providing an inadequate number of stakes, in failing to load the poles in compliance with the rules of the Association of American Railroads applying thereto, and in failing to alternate the butts of the poles so that part of them would be at each end of the load.

Though the railroad companies were made parties defendant by plaintiff and alleged that they were each negligent in failing to properly inspect the load of poles when delivery was made to each of them, plaintiff’s brief urges no point against the railroads.

After plaintiff had rested her primary case, the several defendants made motions for instructed verdict which were granted and judgment was entered that plaintiff take nothing.

Plaintiff urges 7 points of error. The creosoting company asserts that plaintiff’s first, second, third and fourth points are too general and are mere abstract statements of law and should not be considered. While these points are probably subject to this objection, we have, nevertheless, considered them upon the basis of the statements and arguments made thereunder. Plaintiff asserts that she raised issues of negligence upon the part of creosoting company that should have been submitted to the jury in the following respects: (1) In using an inadequate number of stakes to hold the load; (2) iii the method of loading the piling; (3) the load was not interlaced and was without sufficient number of bands; (4) in loading the poles without stake ties, and (5) without supplemental metal bindings.

In the first place, the creosoting company owed no duty to warn the employees of the Coastal Construction Company of any transitory dangers arising during the unloading of the piling. The load of piling arrived at destination in good condition. The dangerous condition which took Russell’s life was one having to do solely with the manner of unloading the piling. Undisputably this work could have been safely done. The following quotation from Moore v. Texas Company, Tex. [162]*162Civ.App., 299 S.W.2d 401 (p. 403) is, therefore, applicable:

“The danger to which appellant became subjected was a danger which came into being, not from the condition of the premises or the place of work, but from the manner of performance of the job to be done by those who were working together.”

See, also, Sword, Houston Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., v. Gulf Oil Corp. (5th Cir.), 251 F.2d 829. It was held in U. S. Steel Corp. v. McCraney (5th Cir.), 257 F.2d 457, that the duty upon the shipper of goods “was to load the car so that, when it reached destination, there would be no hidden defects in the loading, and that the consignee could, by the exercise of proper care, safely remove the lading. It owed no duty to the unloaders to see that in unloading proper safety measures were taken; this duty rested on the consignee and its employees.” However, should we be mistaken on this point, we have nevertheless carefully examined the evidence, and have reached the conclusion that it does not raise an issue of fact upon any of the five grounds contended for by plaintiff. A summary of the evidence bearing upon these issues will be reflected in the succeeding parts of this opinion.

The testimony reveals that a printed pamphlet is published by the Association of American Railroads setting forth rules as to the loading of piling and this pamphlet is in evidence. It was shown that the piling loaded was unusually large piling from 20 to 24 inches in diameter at the butt, about 6 inches at the top, and 75 feet in length. On account of the length it was necessary in shipping them to place these poles upon two connecting flat cars. The rules just stated require that the butts be alternated between the two cars so as to divide the weight evenly. The proof showed that this was done. There was some reference in the testimony to what was called interlacing the logs. By this it is not clear just what is meant unless in alternating the butts the top end of one layer of logs would lay in the cracks between the butts at the other end of the load. During examination of a witness, questions were asked about some drawings made on the blackboard with reference to the meaning of this type of loading, but these drawings were not brought up and are not -available for our consideration. One witness said that the pilings were four feet high, one on top of each other, at the stakes. We are not able to tell whether this violates the interlacing requirement.

In addition to alternating the ends, the rules require two pair of stakes to be placed at the outer end of each flat car and these are held together with wires or small bands running across the load at the top. No stakes are used during the shipping process inside these outer stakes in a twin load as this one was, evidently because of the need for flexibility in the movement of the cars. When such a load is half loaded two 2 inch heavy gauge steel bands are placed around this piling about 16 feet from either end. These are referred to as center bands. When the load is completed some 6 or 8 hands are put at intervals around the entire load of piling and the wires or bands are fastened to the stakes at the top in order to steady the load on the cars.

The evidence clearly shows that this was the procedure followed in the load involved.

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Bluebook (online)
363 S.W.2d 160, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2015, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/russell-v-houston-belt-terminal-railway-co-texapp-1962.