Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad v. Wisconsin & Southern Railroad

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiff, DM & E for short, is a Class II Railroad (that is, a middle-sized freight-hauling railroad) that operates in a number of mid-western states. It owned rail lines in and near Janesville, Wisconsin, including a 200-foot spur line connecting one of its main lines with a plant owned by a company named Freedom Plastics, Inc. that manufactured plastic pipe and other plastic products. The plant — the only shipper located on the spur — shipped several carloads of plastic products weekly over the spur, which was the only rail line that served the plant. These…