Lehigh & New England Railroad v. Bangor & Portland Railway Co.

Citations

• 228 Pa. 350
• 77 A. 552
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 488

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Agreements as to crossing — License—Basement.</p> <p>1. A grant by one railroad company to another of the right to construct a crossing over the grantor’s tracks, without containing any words indicating a grant in perpetuity or an interest in land, is a mere license, and is revocable at any time before the crossing is actually constructed.</p> <p>2. A license in respect to real estate is an authority to do a particular act or series of acts on the land of another without possessing an estate or interest therein, while an easement always implies an interest in the land in or over which it is to be enjoyed. In the grant of an easement two distinct elements are involved, a dominant tenement to which the right is appurtenant, and a servient tenement upon which the servitude is imposed. A license is in the nature of a personal privilege and may be revoked before any rights have been asserted under it, or money expended on the faith of the privilege granted.</p> <p>3. If an easement be granted in terms, or by language from which such an interest under settled rules of construction is implied, the covenants will be accordingly enforced. Where the language used is of doubtful import it is for the court to construe the instrument and determine whether the grant is of a permanent interest running with the land, or only a personal privilege affecting the rights of the parties.</p> <p>4. While licenses are usually given by parol, they may be conferred by instruments in writing. The nature and character of the grant do not depend upon the maimer of making it, nor is the rule of revocability affected thereby.</p>