Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. City of Covington
Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. City of Covington
Opinion of the Court
Opinion of the Court by
Affirming.
The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company brought this suit to enjoin the city of Covington and its mayor and commissioners from interfering with it in laying a water main from a point on the Licking river, on its own property, along its right of way and under certain streets in the- city of Covington. A demurrer was sustained to the petition and the petition dismissed. The railroad company appeals.
The allegations of the petition are in substance as follows: Plaintiff is a trunk line railway and a common carrier. In the maintenance and operation of its business it maintains railway yards,- machine shops, round houses, etc., in the city of Covington and in Latonia, which is a part of the city of Covington. It also maintains large yards with repair and machine shops at De-Coursey, four miles south of Covington. In the operation of its railroad it is compelled to use great quantities of water and has no means of supplying itself with water in the yards and shops at DeCoursey except by a system constructed and maintained by itself. It is now using in its yards and shops in the city of Covington and Latonia, water furnished by the city of Covington. The supply of water thus furnished has been wholly inadequate, and at times the supply has been
Sub-section 5, section 768, Kentucky Statutes, confers upon railroad companies the power:
“To construct its road upon or across any watercourse, private or plank road, highway, street, lane or alley, and across any railroad or canal; but the corporation shall restore the watercourse, private or plank road, highway, street, lane, alley, railroad or canal to its'
The argument in behalf of the railroad company is as follows: The above statute not only confers the power to construct its road across any street of the city, but the incidental power to make any use of the street necessary for the successful operation of the road that will not interfere with the use of the street by others, and, therefore, the right to lay water mains underneath and across the streets for the purpose of supplying the water necessary for its shops, engines, and cars. That b.eing true, the. city may not arbitrarily refuse to grant the privilege, and if it does, the company may proceed with the work and enjoin the city and its officers from interfering therewith. It will be observed that the statute does, not confer upon the railroad company the absolute right to construct its road upon or across any street, but the right to do so “upon such terms and conditions as shall be agreed upon.between the corporation and the authorities of any city.” In other words the statute provides that the city shall have a voice in fixing the terms and conditions, and does not • authorize the company to proceed with the work until the terms and conditions have in some way been agreed upon by the parties. That being true, the company, upon the mere rejection of its own terms and conditions, can not proceed to lay its water mains and enforce its right by enjoining the city authorities from interfering with the work.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.