Pennsylvania Railroad v. Jones

Citations

• 155 U.S. 333
• 15 S. Ct. 136
• 39 L. Ed. 176
• 1894 U.S. LEXIS 2278

Syllabus

<p>It is the duty of a railroad company, running its trains in connection with other lines, and taking passengers and freight for transportation to points upon connecting lines, to carry them safely to the end of its own line, and'there deliver them to the next carrier in the route beyond, and, in the absence of a special agreement to extend its liability beyond its own lines, such liability will not attach; and such agreement will not be inferred from doubtful expressions or loose language, but it must be established by clear and satisfactory evidence.</p> <p>The evidence in this case is reviewed, and it is held not to establish a special undertaking by the Pennsylvania Bailroad Company that the plaintiffs should be safely carried in the train of the Virginia Midland Bailway Company, while proceeding along the road of the Alexandria and Washington Bailroad Company, between the cities of Alexandria and Washington; but that there was evidence which would warrant a jury in finding that the Baltimore and Potomac Bailroad Company, the Alexandria and Washington Bailroad Company, and the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Bail way Company had made such a special undertaking, and were jointly liable to the plaintiffs under it.</p> <p>An advertisement by a. railroad company that it runs or connects with trains of another company, so as to form through lines, without breaking bulk or transferring passengers, does not tend to show a contract between the companies to share profits and losses.</p> <p>When a railroad for which a receiver has been appointed is practically managed and controlled by the agents and employés of the company, and the receiver’s function as to business with connecting lines is restricted to the receipt of its share of the net earnings, and a passenger who receives an injury while being transported upon it to a connecting line, brings an action against the company and other connecting lines to recover damages therefor, there’is no error in instructing the jur