Southern Railway Co. v. Fitzpatrick

105 S.E. 663, 129 Va. 246, 1921 Va. LEXIS 90
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedJanuary 20, 1921
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 105 S.E. 663 (Southern Railway Co. v. Fitzpatrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southern Railway Co. v. Fitzpatrick, 105 S.E. 663, 129 Va. 246, 1921 Va. LEXIS 90 (Va. 1921).

Opinion

Burks, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

In the year 1860 the predecessor in title of the Southern Railway Company acquired title by condemnation to a strip of land through the lands of James M. Dillard for the purpose of constructing a steam railroad, and subsequently constructed said railroad thereon. Afterwards Dillard sold to the predecessor in title of the defendant in error a lot [249]*249on the east side of, and adjacent to, said right of way. The company established a depot on its right of way on the same side thereof as the lot aforesaid, put in the usual sidings on its right of way, and operated its road as a single track railroad until 1914. This depot, or station, is known as Tye Eiver depot. • In 1914 the company determined to double track its road, and, where desirable, to change its grade. In order to accomplish this purpose, it was found necessary to acquire additional land and to raise the grade of the track at Tye Eiver depot. The company, thereupon, by condemnation proceedings, acquired an additional strip of land from Annie L. Miller on the west side of and adjoining its existing right of way, which is on the side opposite to the property of Mrs. Fitzpatrick, the defendant in error. Mrs. Fitzpatrick was not a party to that proceeding. After acquiring the necessary additional land, the Southern Eailway Company, hereinafter called the company, constructed its double track railroad, with necessary sidings, raised its grade sixteen or eighteen feet, and moved its depot to the opposite or western side of the track and about 600 feet further north. In the construction of this double track, the tracks were moved about thirteen feet further from the. Fitzpatrick property than the original single track road. Only the northbound track and a short storage track were put on the line of original.condemnation. The southbound track, the Virginia Blue Eidge interchangeable tracks and cross-overs, were placed on the land acquired in the condemnation proceedings against Annie L. Miller. The lot of Mrs. Fitzpatrick is only seven feet distant at the nearest point from the line of original condemnation of the company. Upon this lot is located a storehouse and dwelling. The present action of trespass on the case was brought by Mrs. Fitzpatrick to recover damages resulting from the new construction.

[250]*250There was a demurrer to the declaration which was overruled. The defendant pleaded the general issue and a special plea of the statute of limitations, upon which issues were joined, and the parties went to trial. Upon the first trial there was a hung jury. At the second trial, there was a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff for $800, and to this judgment the present writ' of error was awarded.

The gravamen of the plaintiff’s complaint — that is,, the injury specially and particularly complained of — is the damage resulting from raising the grade of the tracks some sixteen or eighteen feet, resulting in the discharge of great quantities of smoke, cinders, dust and dirt upon the plaintiff’s premises, but the notice also clearly and distinctly charges that “great quantities of water have run down from the sides of said fill in and upon the property of the plaintiff,’’ causing great damage thereto. Both sides took testimony on the latter subject, and the testimony for the plaintiff shows that the damage resulting therefrom was of the most serious nature. This water, in part, was collected in and conducted through a drain pipe placed on the embankment by the defendant, and discharged on the land of. the plaintiff. In speaking of the damage done by the water, the plaintiff’s husband testified, that “they have got a six or eight inch pipe to draw rainwater for hundreds of yards,” which is discharged upon the plaintiff’s yard and garden, and which has cut great ditches through the garden and practically destroyed it. The plaintiff herself testified: “It is like a river when it comes a hard rain. It comes down my front steps and the walk is left covered with mud and the steps are now covered with mud and grass growing on them, and we couldn’t keep it off, and could look behind it and see what gullies had washed, and it comes down in the garden and washes the dirt off the vegetables that grow under the ground and the vines * * *” It also appears [251]*251from the notice that in 1914 and 1915 the defendant condemned additional land adjacent to its old right of way,- and on the opposite side of the old right of way from the plaintiff’s land for the purpose of double tracking its main line, and that its right of way was widened to make room for the additional track and that the plaintiff sustained damage in consequence thereof. The notice is not as explicit as to this element of damage as it should be, and if the plaintiff intends to claim this damage she should be required to amend her notice and state more explicitly and fully the nature and extent of the damage claimed, when the case is remanded, as it must be, for a new trial.

[1] Upon the pleadings and proof, it seems plain that the plaintiff is entitled to recover for the damages done to her property by collecting and discharging the water thereon, as aforesaid, but that damage is not measured by the difference between the market value of the plaintiff’s property before and after the erection of the fill aforesaid. That was not the only cause of the depreciation in the market value of the property. The evidence introduced at the trial shows plainly that the greatest damage done the plaintiff arose from the discharge of smoke, dust, etc., upon her premises consequent upon the erection of the fill. Counsel for the plaintiff in error ignores the damage done by water, and devotes his argument to a denial of right of recovery for the damages done by smoke, dust, etc.

[2, 4] The Constitution of 1902 forbids the taking or damaging of private property for a public use without, making just compensation therefore. It cannot be denied that the casting of “great quantities of smoke, cinders, dust and dirt” by a railroad company upon the store and dwelling of an adjoining owner of land is a damage within the meaning of the Constitution. But the company insists that these damages are covered by the original condem[252]*252nation, under which it has the right to raise or lower its ■grades at will, and that this right is not affected by the Constitution of 1902. This would have been true if the company had confined itself to the original right of way condemned, but it did not do this. In 1914 it condemned an additional strip of ground alongside of its original right of way, and upon this additional strip it placed one of its main line tracks, and sidings. There could be no recovery for any additional amount of smoke, cinders, dust and dirt discharged from the original line, but that gave the company no right to make such discharge from a new and different location. Nor is it any answer to the plaintiff’s claim that the new location 'is further from the plaintiff’s property than the old, nor that the damage from the new location is less than it was from the old. There has been a new location and a new construction thereon, and the company has no right to impose any damage from the new location. The fact that the new location is parallel to and adjoins the old does not take away from the plaintiff the right to recover whatever damage is inflicted from the new location. So far as it injuriously affects the plaintiff’s property, the company has no right to be there without making just compensation.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Forest Lakes Cmty. Ass'n, Inc. v. United Land Corp. of Am.
795 S.E.2d 875 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2017)
Infant C. v. Boy Scouts of America
23 Va. Cir. 168 (Virginia Circuit Court, 1991)
Moore v. Allied Chemical Corp.
480 F. Supp. 364 (E.D. Virginia, 1979)
Sydnor & Hundley, Inc. v. Richmond Metropolitan Authority
1 Va. Cir. 99 (Richmond City Circuit Court, 1970)
Freeman v. Sproles
131 S.E.2d 410 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1963)
Forsythe v. City of South St. Paul
225 N.W. 816 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1929)
Kelly v. Schneller
139 S.E. 275 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1927)
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co. v. Ricks
135 S.E. 685 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1926)
Southern Railway Co. v. Watts
114 S.E. 736 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
105 S.E. 663, 129 Va. 246, 1921 Va. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-railway-co-v-fitzpatrick-va-1921.