Gillingham v. Boston & Maine Railroad

The plaintiffs claim that the defendant might be found negligent in any one of three respects that demand consideration.

I. It is said that the train was being operated at a negligent speed. The limit prescribed by the defendant’s rules was thirty-five miles an hour at this crossing. There is no evidence that such a speed was improper. No witness estimated the speed on this occasion as greater than between thirty and thirty-five. Between the departure of the train from Newbury Station and the moment of accident, an elapsed time of eight minutes for a distance just under four miles indicated an…