McCabe v. Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad

Citations

• 245 Pa. 573
• 91 A. 957

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads—Employee—Contributory negligence— Nonsuit.</p> <p>In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for personal injuries, a compulsory nonsuit was properly entered, where it appeared that the plaintiff, who had been in the defendant’s service for a number of years and had worked at the yard where the accident took place during the five preceding months, was directed by his foreman to go to the sand house on an errand; that on each side of this house there were tracks of the defendant company, the nearest being about three and one-half feet from the building and parallel to it; that a door four feet in width opened outward from the west side of the building, and when open at right angles to it extended about six inches over the nearest rail, cutting off a view of the tracks to the south; that plaintiff entered the sand house through this doorway, and a few minutes later came out of the same doorway; that before he entered the building he saw an engine standing at an ash pit to the south, on the track nearest the building; that as he turned around the door of the sand house on leaving the building, he was confronted with the engine approaching on said track, and in order to avoid being run over, pressed himself up against the building, but was caught and severely squeezed in the narrow space between the engine and building.</p>