Helena & Livingston Smelting & Reduction Co. v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.
Montana Supreme Court
Appeal from District Court, Jefferson County; W. A. Clarh, Judge. Action by the Helena & Livingston Smelting & Reduction Company and others against the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Judgment for defendant and plaintiffs appeal. The authorities are practically unanimous to the effect that a railroad company cannot abandon one portion of its lines at will, but that authority must be conferred by the legislature or the Constitution of the state.
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Appeal from District Court, Jefferson County; W. A. Clarh, Judge. Action by the Helena & Livingston Smelting & Reduction Company and others against the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Judgment for defendant and plaintiffs appeal. The authorities are practically unanimous to the effect that a railroad company cannot abandon one portion of its lines at will, but that authority must be conferred by the legislature or the Constitution of the state. Any change of line is an abandonment of the portion of the road which is removed from one place to another. A recent case dealing very extensively…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Reynolds
Plaintiffs have appealed from a judgment in favor of defendant, entered after the sustaining of a demurrer to the complaint and the failure of plaintiffs to plead further. The action was brought to recover damages for the abandonment *209of a certain branch railroad and spur-tract, and the facts in connection with the matter can best be understood by a full statement of the allegations of the complaint and by liberal quotation therefrom. As set forth therein, the facts material to the consideration of the question involved in this case are:
“dffiat all the parties are corporations; that the…
2Cases cited9 opinions
- Blackwell v. Old Colony RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877
- Jones v. Newport News & M. V. Co.Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1895
- McKell v. Chesapeake & O. Ry. Co.Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1910
- Root v. Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway Co.Montana Supreme Court · 1897
- Brown v. Atlantic & Birmingham Railway Co.Supreme Court of Georgia · 1906
4 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by6 opinions
- Helena & Livingston Smelting & Refining Co. v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.Montana Supreme Court · 1922
- City of Fort Worth v. Southwest MagazineCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1962
- Sinclair v. Moore Central RailroadSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1947
- Scully v. Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation DistrictNebraska Supreme Court · 1943
- Briggs v. Great Northern Railway Co.Montana Supreme Court · 1932
1 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.