Opinion
12-14-1899
TRENTON, L. & P. R. R. v. PHILADELPHIA & R. RY. CO. et al.
Linton Satterthwaite, for petitioner. James J. Bergen, for defendants.
Petition by the Trenton, Lawrenceville & Princeton Railroad against the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company and others to fix the manner, in which petitioning railroad shall cross defendants' railroad. Decree for petitioner.
Linton Satterthwaite, for petitioner.
James J. Bergen, for defendants.
REED, V. C. This is an application to fix the manner in which the petitioning railroad, now in course of construction, shall cross the railway of the defendants, an already existing road. The petitioner is a spur of the Trenton Branch of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company. It is used for gathering and delivering freight, and the trains upon it are infrequent. I see no reason for compelling the petitioner to cross either above or below the grade of the old road. The crossing should be at the grade of the main track of this spur. I use the term "main track of the spur," because at the point of crossing there is a siding which, starting from the main track at a point northerly from the place of crossing, gradually rises, so that at the point of crossing it is about 2 1/2 feet above the grade of the main track. This siding is quite a recent adjunct to the spur, and its position will have to be changed if it is to be used after the crossing is completed. The change can be readily made, at an expense so moderate that the presence of the siding presents no substantial obstacle to a grade crossing. Compensation for the change can be made by agreement, or can be fixed by a proceeding to condemn. The crossing should be guarded by a safety throw-off and signal, which may be operated by the train hands of the petitioner's road; the train coming to a fullstop before crossing, and remaining so until the train hand throws the signal upon seeing that no train upon the cross road is within a distance which will make it unsafe for the petitioner's train to cross; or the petitioners can employ a person to attend the signal, upon which its trains can cross without stopping. The details necessary to effect a safe method of crossing will be more fully embodied in a decree which I will sign upon notice by the petitioner's counsel to the counsel of defendants.