Post v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co.
Post v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
On November 9, 1909, the plaintiff was engaged in unloading a ear of coal for the consignee thereof upon the track of the defendant at Orange City. He was engaged in delivering the coal by shoveling from the car into a coal-house located about six feet from the railroad track. A gangway extended across from the car door to the side of the coal-house. One end rested on the iron track beneath the door of the car, and the other rested on the supports attached to the coalhouse. The coal was of a character to handle readily with a shovel, and plaintiff, in unloading same, commenced at the middle of the car, and after working down to the bottom would fill a shovel, step out on the gangplank with one foot,
The following excerpts therefrom comprise all that is material to the question:
As I was shoveling I happened to notice a son of Mr. Tott’s south of the elevator where he was loading grain. I asked him if they were going to switch, and I heard him reply and I made up my mind that he said ‘Yes,’ so I throwed down my shovel, and took away the platform and grabbed for my coat, but before I could get my coat I was knocked up against the ceiling of the car, one of the'crossbeams ; then I was unconscious for a short while; then I came to my mind, and grabbed for my coat, and after I had my coat on I got out of the car, and it was moving slowly as it approached the crossing, almost a car length from the hole where I was shoveling in the coal. . . . The platform I had removed was the one between the car and the bin I stood on to shovel. I would naturally stand with one foot on this platform shoveling into the bin. I saw Mr. Tott’s son remove the spout from one of the cars beyond mine, and 1 asked him if they were going to switch. I could not very well understand what he said, but I made up my mind that they were going to because he would not otherwise take out the spout. They were loading the car with grain, and I thought he said ‘Yes,’ they were going to. I could not exactly say the words. . . . The car door on the south side of my car was closed, and there was no opening at the south end of the car. . . . The only reason why I thought they might switch was because I saw Mr. Tott’s son remove the spout from the car beyond mine. I then threw the shovel aside, pushed the platform out, and was about to get my coat which was hanging up inside of the car overhead of the coal. Whether it was lying on the coal I do not know, but I had to get on the coal in order to get it. I had to climb almost up to the top of the coal to get my coat. When I got my coat, the car was struck. At the time I was facing east. . , ,*643 The coal I was unloading on November 9th was common soft coal. I handled it with a shovel. It was in small pieces, and it was in a box car. When I started, I had to work down from the middle of the car, and I put a platform outside to stand on' while I was doing it. After getting into the car I would stand in the car. I think I commenced unloading that car on the afternoon of November 8th, and had about half of the coal out when the accident happened. The floor of the ear in the center was all cleaned up, and the coal was in a pile in each end. After getting to that point I would stand in the • ear and shovel into the bin, but I had to step out on the platform to throw the coal into the bin. The platform rested on the iron that the car door slid on. It was loose at the other end, and in taking it up I would let it drop between the car and the bin, or pull it into the ear. On the occasion when the boy told me the engine was coming in, I took up the platform and let it drop. It did not take long.. I did it very quickly. My coat was in the east end of the car, and I was working -there in my shirt sleeves. Shoveling coal was pretty warm work. It made me sweat some, and I was a little warm, but I had the south door of the car closed. ... I could have opened the door if I wanted to, but I did not want to because it was cold and cloudy. The coal in the east end of the car was as high as they would allow them to have it. I guess about half way between the bottom and the top, about half full. . . . That coal sloped from the top down to the floor, and was not straight up and down. I had to climb up that slope to get my coat. I did not climb clear to the top of the coal. I could not get there before I was thrown up to the ceiling. I had not got hold of my coat yet. I am not sure whether the coat was hanging on a nail or was on the coal.....The bump lifted me up. I was thrown up against this cross-piece by the jar of the car. I was on the slope, and I don’t know how close my head was to the top of the ear when the jar came, but it was not as high as the rafter. I don’t have any idea how far my head was below the rafter. So far as I know, my head may have been fully as high as the rafter. I don’t know whether I would expect a jar on the end of the car to lift me upward or not. I do not know how I would judge of the jar, except from the fact that I went up against the ceiling. When my head struck the car, I became unconscious. I did not know anything*644 when I was unconscious. . . . My head struck the car before I knew it. It was a hard bump as shown by the wound I got, and the unconsciousness I got. That is the only reason I have for thinking it was a hard bump. I did not see how fast the, engine was coming, or how many cars were coming with it. I don’t know what you railroad men call a hard bump. ... At the time I removed the platform from between the car and the coal bin, I did not look back to see how far the engine was away. As I threw out the shovel of coal, I happened to see Hubert Tott getting the spout out. It was just about a car length between his car and mine, and there was not anything between. When I saw him take his spout down, I supposed the engine was coming in, and I asked him if the engine was coming, and I understood him to say it was coming, and after that I laid down my scoop and picked up this platform and dropped it down between the car and the bin, and then started to climb up on the coal, and the bump came. I asked Hubert Tott if the engine was coming in for fear they were going to switch, and he answered me back, as I understood it, that the engine was coming. I then laid down my scoop, dropped the platform between the car and the bin, and turned to walk up on the coal to get my coat, and before I got my coat the bump came. That is about the way the thing happened, so far as I can recollect. The track curves to the south as you come east. I expected the engine to come from the east.
The only other evidence on the subject is that of Hubert Tott, who testified as follows:
I was loading grain right next to the elevator, and Mr. Post was unloading coal in the coal chute on the same track my car was on, and about a car length away to the west. I did not say anything to him about the engine coming in that morning until they were coming into the yards, and he asked if it was coming in, and I said it was. At that time he was standing in the doorway of his ear, that would be on the north side. At that time I was going to take my spout down. At that time the engine was on the track going towards the switch. It was on the side track on the other side of the main line. It had to go to the east end of the yards to get to the switch, and then go in along the elevator. To do that it had*645 to go across the main line. The switch it had to go through was between 600 and 700 feet east of Mr. Post’s car. It probably took five minutes from the time I told him the engine was coming in until the engine did come in to my ear. The engine came in in just the ordinary way they always did. It was pushing some cars at the time it struck my car. It struck my car the ordinary way, just about the same as usual to make the coupling. They kept on moving slowly after coupling on to my car. They coupled on to Mr. Post’s ear. I did not see it strike the ear, but the way I seen other cars they were pushing, they were going about the same way they hit my car.
"We may ignore at this point the testimony of the brakeman to the effect that he had passed that way and given plaintiff warning. Inasmuch as he had the warning, it is immaterial whether he received it from Tott or the brakeman. Reilly v. Railway Co., 122 Iowa, 525; McGill v. Railway Co., 113 Iowa, 358; Railroad Co. v. Judah, 65 Kan. 474 (70 Pac. 346). It necessarily follows that this ground of alleged negligence is not available herein.
In view of this conclusion, it seems hardly necessary that we should give consideration to other questions argued.
For the reason indicated, the judgment must be Reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- C. L. Post v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company
- Status
- Published