Northwestern Railroad v. Colclough
Northwestern Railroad v. Colclough
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
This is an appeal from a judgment upon the merits in the same action in which preliminary injunctions were granted as reported in 84 S. C. 37, 65 S. E. 950.
*557 A trial by jury of the legal issues being waived and the cause having been heard upon the merits, a decree was rendered adjudging that the strip of land in controversy had been appropriated to railroad uses for a right of way for the plaintiffs railroad, under a grant of the said land from the owner of the life estate therein, and perpetually enjoining and restraining the defendant from further interference with the use by the plaintiff of the said right of way, one hundred feet wide on each side from the center of plaintiff’s track, over and upon the land described in the complaint. By this decree, however, the defendant was granted leave to> move his fences and buildings from the said strip of land, within twenty days after notice of the filing thereof.
The finding of the Circuit Court as matter of fact is that a right of way was laid out and appropriated to railroad uses, one hundred feet -in width on each side of the track of the plaintiff railroad company,’ in pursuance of the grant of the life tenant, and subsequently it is further found that the plaintiff was in the possession and. use of such right of way, actually as to> part and constructively as to the remainder, at the time of the entry and possession, taken by the defendant. The land in question having thus been granted by the life tenant and appropriated and used by the railroad company for a right of way, during the .lifetime of the life tenant, the only right which was left in the remaindermen or in either trustee, in so- far as concerns any part of said lands which could legally be condemned for a right of way, was a right to compensation, upon the death of the life tenant, for any land belonging to them which had been so appropriated to railroad uses in accordance with the rights conferred by the charter under which the same was taken. The defendant, as grantee of the remaindermen or of their trustee, could not recover any part of the land so dedicated to, railroad uses, so far as the same was authorized by the charter to be taken for a right of way, and the defendant had no right to take possession of any part thereof so dedicated in accordance with such charter, so as to interfere with the right of easement held by the plaintiff therein, even if the same could be shown to be embraced within the limits of the defendant’s deed. Bridges v. R. R., 86 S. C. 267, 68 S. E. 267; Tomp *559 kins v. R. R., 21 S. C. 421; Railway v. Reynolds, 69 S. C. 481, 48 S. E. 416; Cureton v. R. R., 59 S. C. 371, 37 S. E. 914.
: It appears, 'however, that by the terms of its charter, the railroad company was only authorized to condemn for the purpose of its right of way a strip of land extending on each side of the center.of its roadbed a distance of seventy-five feet. While, therefore, it had the right, no- doubt,- to- accept a grant for a greater width, its power of condemnation under its charter only extended to a distance of seventy-five feet from its roadbed. Hence it follows that, after the death of the life tenant, as against the. defendant who is the grantee of the remaindermen, it could only claim an appropriation o.f the strip of land here in question to- the extent of seventy-five feet in width thereof on each side of the center of such roadbed, since that is the limit of its right to- condemnation;-and it has no easement, therefore, as against the defendant in,any part of the said strip of land beyond the limits just mentioned.
There are no considerations presented by any of the exceptions or urged in argument which would warrant a different conclusion from that just announced. The fact, if it be a fact, that the defendant may have a right to condemnation for the use of such right of way by the plaintiff, upon a proper showing to1 that end, does not in any degree deprive the plaintiff of the right to- such injunction, at least until the defendant’s right to compensation, if it exists, shall have been made to appear. It mqy be added, with reference to the third exception, that there was no' adjudication by this Court, at the former hearing, upon any question as to- the merits at issue in this case, but there'was merely a determination as to the right to1 a temporary injunction to1 preserve the status and as to' the right of possession pendente lite.
Without further reference to the points made by the several grounds of appeal, all of which have been duly considered and must be overruled, either for the reasons already stated or because they do not affect the result, the conclusion •has been reached that the judgment of the Circuit Court *561 should 'be modified in the particular above mentioned and in all other respects that the same must be affirmed.
It is, therefore, ordered that the Circuit judgment be modified in accordance with the terms of this opinion and that the cause be remanded to‘ the Circuit Court for such action as may be necessary to conform the Circuit judgment to the conclusions herein announced.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.