Chester Traction Co. v. Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad

Citations

• 188 Pa. 105
• 41 A. 449
• 1898 Pa. LEXIS 581

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Street railways — Grossings—J^Jq^mty—Act of June 19, 1871.</p> <p>Under the Act of June 19, 1871, P. L. 1860, courts of equity in Pennsylvania will not permit the construction of grade crossings, except in cases ■of imperious necessity.</p> <p>The question of whether an overhead crossing is reasonably practicable is not to be determined by the financial ability of the road seeking to cross, but by the physical practicability of avoiding the grade crossing.</p> <p>The mere fact that two grade crossings which a street railway company has over a steam railroad are not of sufficient capacity to enable the electric railway quickly to move its cars does not constitute such “ imperious necessity” as will justify a court of equity in permitting a third crossing, inasmuch as grade crossings are not to be established to promote the mere convenience of the railroad seeking to cross.</p> <p>The fact that heavy damages may be exacted by passengers from railroad companies as a penalty for neglect to carry safely has but little weight with a court of equity in determining whether or not a grade crossing shall ■be permitted.</p> <p>A court of equity will not authorize the construction of a grade crossing by an electric railway over a steam railroad in a city of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, where it appeal's that at the proposed crossing one hundred passenger trains and almost the same number of freight trains pass in twenty-four hours; that the electric railway carried over three million passengers in the year; that at the point proposed there is much shifting ■of oars owing to the vicinity of a freight warehouse; that the view of the ■electric railway from the steam railroad is obstructed; and that an overhead crossing would cost from $150,000 to $200,000.</p> <p>The act of 1871 is, in effect, a mandate to the courts to prohibit grade •crossings, unless over or under ones are physically impracticable, and unless crossings be an imperious necessity. The courts h