Murray v. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis R. R.

Citations

• 263 Pa. 398
• 107 A. 21
• 1919 Pa. LEXIS 440

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads—Master and servant — Air brake — Interstate commerce.</p> <p>1. Where a local train operated entirely within the State of Pennsylvania, is employed in a private yard to shift an empty freight car from one track to another, and in doing so the car is attached to the rear end of the train, the mere fact that three cars of the train contained material consigned from points without the State to the owner of the local yard, is not sufficient in itself to sustain a finding that a brakeman injured by an alleged defective brake while riding on the empty car, was engaged in interstate commerce.</p> <p>2. In such a case, the burden was on the brakeman, in a suit against his employer, the railroad company, to show that at the time of the accident, the main purpose of the switching operation, was to further the delivery of the particular cars in the train consigned from points beyond the State, and this he failed to do.</p> <p>3. The test of employment in interstate commerce is whether the employee was, at the time of receiving the injury complained of, engaged in interstate transportation, or in work so clearly related to it, as to be practically a part of such traffic.</p> <p>Negligence — Railroads—Master -and servant — Defective brake.</p> <p>4. In an action by a brakeman against his employer, a railroad company, to recover damages for personal injuries, alleged to have been caused by the sudden giving away of a brake wheel, the plaintiff is not entitled to have his case submitted to the jury, where the evidence shows that the giving way of the wheel was due to one or other of three causes for one only of which the defendant was responsible. In such a case the plaintiff is bound to show the cause that fastened the liability upon the defendant, was the proximate cause of his injury.</p>