Spring City Gas Light Co. v. Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley R. R.

Citations

• 167 Pa. 6
• 31 A. 368
• 1895 Pa. LEXIS 852

Syllabus

<p>[Marked to be reported.]</p> <p>Railroads — Eminent domain — Damages.</p> <p>If a railroad company condemns an entire lot of land, the value of the lot at the time of taking determines the amount of the damages. If part only is taken the jury should ascertain the value of what remains, and the difference between this and the value of the whole before the entry was made, fixes the measure of damages.</p> <p>In a proceeding to recover damages for an injury to a lot upon which gas works were erected, in the borough of Royersford with the pipes extending through the borough of Spring City, where it appears that only a small part of the lot was taken, and that the gas works themselves were not taken, injured or destroyed, it is error for the court to charge,' without qualification, that “in ascertaining the market value of the property in question, if the jury find that its highest available use at the time of the taking was that of a gas plant, they have a right to consider the future growth of the borough of Spring City and Royersford, the increased demand for gas, as far as these considerations affect its market value; and if the jury further find that, by reason of the location of the railroad through the property, its availability has been curtailed, lessened or partly destroyed, they have the right to consider these questions as far as they affect the market value of the property as a whole immediately after the taking.”</p> <p>If the piece of ground taken, be treated as part of the gas plant, and its value fixed upon that basis, evidence of the amouut of the capital stock, and of the net earnings of the company which owned the plant, is admissible to show the value of the whole plant before the entry, and immediately afterwards.</p> <p>Damages — Expert—Evidence.</p> <p>Where a portion of a lot which is occupied by a gas works is taken by a railroad company, and it appeal’s that no injury was done to the gas plant itself, an expert in gas manufacturing who has n