Lajoie v. City of Lowell

The single question presented on this record is the extent and validity of the location filed by the Framingham and Lowell Railroad Company in 1872. The statute in force at that time authorized a railroad corporation to "lay out its road not exceeding five rods wide” and to acquire necessary land outside of its location, but such land could not be taken “without the permission of the owner, unless the commissioners on the application of the corporation and after notice to the owner first prescribe the limits within which the same may be taken.” Gen. Sts. c. 63, §§ 17,19. The location, so far…