Caldwell v. East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Co.
Caldwell v. East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff in 1884 by deed granted to the defendant a right of way over his land for a railroad. The only condition in the deed is that the defendant shall erect, at or near a place designated, a freight and passenger station with sidings necessary for the convenient shipment of freight to and from the station. More than six years after the completion of the road the bill in this case was filed to compel by injunction the location of a siding in such a manner that the plaintiff can connect with it a track to his sawmill, and to require the operation and maintenance of the defendant’s road in such a manner as to restore a water power on the plaintiff’s property, and to establish a station to be named “ Caldwell.” All of the rights claimed by the plaintiff, except that of having a station and siding, rest upon an alleged oral agreement made at or before the delivery of the deed.
It is alleged in the answer that the defendant has complied with the conditions of the deed as far as it was permitted to do so by the plaintiff; that a station has been built within a few feet of the place fixed by the deed, and a siding constructed , and that any failure in an exact compliance with the deed has been due to the plaintiff’s refusal to give land for the purpose, as he had agreed, at a point where it was practicable to establish a station. The answer further distinctly denies that there was any agreement between the parties except that shown by the deed, and sets out that prior to the filing of the bill in this case the plaintiff instituted an action of ejectment to recover the land conveyed, and also an action to recover damages for the injuries complained of in the bill. Both of these actions are still pending.
As stated in the opinion of the learned judge of the Common Pleas, any trespass of which the defendant is guilty consists in the negligent exercise of an undoubted right, and for this the plaintiff has a full and adequate remedy at law, to which in the first instance he resorted, and to which he should now be left.
The decree is affirmed at the cost of the appellant.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.