Brinton v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 230 Pa. 419
• 79 A. 671
• 1911 Pa. LEXIS 626

Syllabus

<p>Deeds — Boundaries—Actual occupancy — Ejectment—Evidence.</p> <p>1. In an action of ejectment against a railroad company to recover possession of a lot of ground alleged to have reverted to the grantor of the railroad company and his heirs, for condition broken in failing to maintain thereon a railroad station, where the establishment of the center line of the railroad’s original right of way is essential to an accurate location of the land to accord with the description in the deed, the plaintiffs may, in the absence of other proof, introduce the testimony of a surveyor locating such center line by measurement of the tracks upon the ground, in order to determine the extent of the actual occupancy.</p> <p>2. In such a case the evidence is ample to determine a description of the property, where in addition to the testimony of the surveyor, another witness for the plaintiff testifies that he was fifty-three years old at the time of the trial, was familiar with the land described in the writ from his youth up, knew that a station had been erected thereon, that such station had been used for railroad purposes for many years, that it had been removed in a year which he stated, and that he had recently gone upon the ground and located a stone wall referred to by the surveyor as being on the land.</p>