Tulsa St. Ry. Co. v. Oklahoma Union Ry. Co.

1919 OK 116, 184 P. 71, 76 Okla. 102, 1919 Okla. LEXIS 135
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 15, 1919
Docket9629
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1919 OK 116 (Tulsa St. Ry. Co. v. Oklahoma Union Ry. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tulsa St. Ry. Co. v. Oklahoma Union Ry. Co., 1919 OK 116, 184 P. 71, 76 Okla. 102, 1919 Okla. LEXIS 135 (Okla. 1919).

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.

This is an appeal from an order of the Corporation Commission. This appeal brings in review an order of the Corporation Commission made on the 14th day of September, 1917, in an action instituted before the Corporation Commission by the plaintiff in error, against the defendant in error (for convenience the parties will be designated as complainant and defendant as. they appeared before the Corporation Commission), asking for an order to permit complainant to use jointly with the defendant the railway line on the approaches to the reinforced concrete bridge across the Arkansas river which is located within the city of Tulsa, Okla., and to permit the complainant to use jointly the span of wires now in place on said bridge approaches, for the purpose of supporting the trolley wires of the complainant, and for an order fixing the terms under which the complainant should jointly use with the defendant said tracks and span wires, and for an order covering the schedules and operation of cars over said tracks and said approaches and over the reinforced concrete bridge controlled by the county of Tulsa, Okla.; the said tracks on said ap-proaohes being of a length of 529 feet.

The essential facts involved in this case are substantially as follows:

Both plaintiff in error and defendant in error are operating street ear lines in the city of Tulsa, and the defendant in error is constructing an interurban line from Tulsa, through West Tulsa and Red Fork, to Sa-pulpa. It has acquired the Sapulpa Electric & Interurban line from Sapulpa to Kiefer. The Tulsa Street Railway Co. was operating under an ordinance or franchise dated the 5th day of April, 1907, giving Chas. H. Bosler and his assigns the right to construct a street car line on the streets of the city of Tulsa, except certain streets. This ordinance was accepted by Bosler at that time.

Said ordinance provided as follows:

“That at the expiration of ten years from the date of acceptance of this ordinance, any or all streets herein named not in actual use by the grantee for street railroad purposes shall revert to the city of Tulsa, and said streets shall not be bound by this franchise.”

In March, 1917, Tulsa county completed a new bridge across the- Arkansas river between Tulsa and West Tulsa, and thereon a railway track. The defendant, Oklahoma Union Railway Company, constructed a track *103 on the approach to each encl of said bridge and entered into a contract with the county commissioners to use said bridge for the sum of $200 per month. The length of track in the approaches to said bridge constructed by the defendant in error was between 500 and 000 feet.

After said track was laid and said contract with the county commissioners was procured by the defendant, it commenced running its cars over said bridge to and from West Tulsa.

The plaintiff in error, Tulsa Street Rail-, way Company, was also trying to cross the said bridge; but the defendant acquired possession of the approaches, laid its tracks thereon, cohnected with the track on the bridge at each end, procured a contract from the county commissioners for that purpose, and established its right to the use of the approaches and the bridge.

The complainant Tulsa Street Railway Company’s amended complaint is quite lengthy, and in paragraph 3 thereof will be found allegations upon which complainant based its right of action, but the following quotation we think contains a sufficient summary thereof for the purposes of this opinion:

“Complainant further alleges that it is necessary in the operation of its said line into what is known as West Tulsa, to use about five hundred and thirty-nine (539) feet of the track of the defendant over the approaches to said bridge in order to operate its said line of street railway from the main part of Tulsa into West Tulsa, and this complainant has offered to pay to the defendant any reasonable sum for the right to use, in connection with the defendant, the street railway tracks upon the approaches to said bridge, and has offered to enter into any reasonable contract to maintain and keep in repair the tracks on said approaches, and has offered to install any and all reasonable safety devices necessary for the protection of the defendant and the public at the junctions or connections on said line, and has offered to pay any reasonable sum to the defendant for the use of the span of wires on said bridge and approaches which are erected for the purpose of sustaining the trolley wires over and across said bridge and approaches.
“Complainant further alleges that the joint use of said tracks on said approaches would not interfere with the schedules of the defendant in the operation of its said line of railway, but would be a great benefit to the public who are compelled to go to and from West Tulsa from the main portion of Tulsa.
“Complainant further avers that there is no other bridge or highway over which the plaintiff can cross the Arkansas river except the bridge mentioned herein.
“Wherefore, this complainant prays that the aforesaid defendant be required to answer the charges herein, and after due hearing and investigation, that an order be made permitting this complainant to use jointly with the defendant the railway line on each approach to the said reinforced concrete bridge across said Arkansas river, and to use jointly the span of wires now in place on said bridge and approaches for the purpose of supporting the trolley wires of this complainant, and for an order fixing the •terms under which this complainant shall jointly use said track and span of wires, and for a further order covering schedules and operation of ears over said track on said approaches and over said reinforced concrete bridge, and for such other and further order as this commission may deem necessarv and just,”

On July 24, 1917, a hearing was had by the commission, at which time the following conclusions and order were made:

“Order.
“The pleadings, the transcript and the briefs in this ease have all been reviewed and considered by the commission, but at this time expression of opinion upon the merits of the case is deferred.
“The commission finds that if both the lines under consideration should extend their service to West Tulsa such act upon the part of the line, which is not at present operating in West Tulsa, would, as a matter of course, supplement the present service and thus afford an added public convenience, but on this point the commission is also of the opinion that the public would be equally as well served and the public convenience thus promoted if some arrangement or agreement could be reached by the two companies whereby the patrons of the Tulsa Street Railway Company could reach West Tulsa without being subject to excessive toll for the payment of double fare.
“The commission for the reason stated, has decided to defer further consideration of the case and the rendition of opinion and final order therein until the parties have been afforded the opportunity of carrying out the suggestion above made; and hence the commission issues this order.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1919 OK 116, 184 P. 71, 76 Okla. 102, 1919 Okla. LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tulsa-st-ry-co-v-oklahoma-union-ry-co-okla-1919.