Kitchen v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 232 Pa. 603
• 81 A. 711
• 1911 Pa. LEXIS 770

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads—Obstructed crossing — Invitation of brakeman to cross — Evidence—“Stop, look and listen” — Case for fury.</p> <p>In an action for damages for personal injuries, the case is for the jury and a verdict for the plaintiff will be sustained where it appears that the accident occurred at a crossing of defendant’s road where there were three tracks; that the first was an unoccupied switch, and on the second track stood a long freight train which blocked the way; that the plaintiff waited near the first track between five and ten minutes, in a temperature several degrees below zero, when a brakeman walked back from the engine, uncoupled the cars and signaled the engineer, who drew part of the train off the crossing, leaving an opening some fifteen or twenty feet wide, through which the brakeman walked to the third track, turned and beckoned the plaintiff to come on; that before starting his horses the plaintiff stood up on the seat of his sled and looked and listened, and continued to look and listen, leaning forward, as he drove on the crossing; and that his sled was struck on the third track by a shifting engine running rapidly backward, of the approach of which no signal was given.</p>