Distefano v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co.

Appeal is taken from the denial of a motion to vacate a default judgment for $10,000 taken against defendants Kansas City Southern Railway Company and Morgan P. Gunderson. Appellants contend that the refusal of the trial court to vacate the default judgment was error because their failure to appear at the trial was due to inadvertence and mistake rather than negligence. Further, they contend that they have a meritorious defense.

This suit arose out of a truck-train collision at an intersection in Kansas City. Respondent sued both the engineer of the train and the railroad on the principle of…