Buchner v. Erie Railroad Co.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Wachenfeld, J.

In the evening of December 5, 1950 the plaintiff William L. Buchner boarded a train operated by the defendant Erie Railroad Company at Jersey City, destined for Ridgefield, New Jersey. The train arrived at the defendant’s station in Ridgefield at 5:31 p. m., and plaintiff debarked, finding the station and the adjacent area "pitch black.” The absence of illumination was attributable to a severe storm about ten days earlier which had damaged and rendered useless the public utility power lines.

The general direction of the railroad tracks lay…