Hampden Paint & Chemical Co. v. Springfield, Athol & Northeastern Railroad
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Petition to the county commissioners for a jury to assess damages for the taking of land for the construction of the respondent’s railroad.
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Petition to the county commissioners for a jury to assess damages for the taking of land for the construction of the respondent’s railroad. At the trial, before a sheriff’s jury, there was evidence, admitted against the respondent’s objection, tending to show the value of the land and that the respondent began work thereon in the construction of its railroad in August, 1873. The location of the railroad was not filed until March 20,1874. The respondent asked the presiding officer to instruct the jury that the petition* er’s damages were to be assessed as of the date of the filing of the…
1Opinion of the CourtSoule, J.
A railroad corporation has no right to take the lands of any person for the construction of its road, except under, and in strict compliance with, the provisions of' the statutes giving the authority and prescribing the course of proceeding; and any attempt by such corporation to assert rights in the land of others, without first taking the prescribed steps, is illegal, and subjects the corporation to restraint by injunction. By the Gen. Sts. c. 63, §§ 17, 18, railroad corporations are authorized to lay out their roads five rods wide, and are required to file the location of their roads with…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Edmands v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1871
- Housatonic Railroad v. Lee & Hudson RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1875
- Reed v. Hanover Branch RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1870
- Derby v. Framingham & Lowell RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1876
3Cited by7 opinions
- Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. Randolph Town-Site Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1890
- Bancroft v. City of CambridgeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1879
- Bates v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1905
- Imbescheid v. Old Colony RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1898
- Cohasset Water Co. v. Town of CohassetMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1947
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