Wilkes v. Buffalo

Citations

• 216 Pa. 355
• 65 A. 787
• 1907 Pa. LEXIS 819

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads—Passenger—Locomotive engineer — Master and servant.</p> <p>In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s husband, it appeared that the deceased prior to his death had successfully passed an examination for the position of locomotive engineer on the defendant’s railroad. Wishing to inform himself more particularly about a section of the road where the signals had been changed, he secured an employee’s pass, and written permission from the company to ride on any of the locomotives of the division. He took the trip voluntarily, and without any compensation. In the course of the journey he first rode in one of the cars, and later on took his place in the locomotive cab. While riding there, the train left the tracks owing to the negligence of the engineer in charge, and the deceased was killed. Reid, (1) that the question whether the deceased was or was not a passenger was for the jury, and (2) that a verdict and judgment for plaintiff should be sustained.</p>