McAllister v. Suncook Valley Railroad

The train on which the plaintiff was employed as brakeman was backing from the Suncook station toward a switch which it was the plaintiff’s duty to open before the train could be turned and headed toward Center Barnstead. The train consisted of an engine and a combination car, which was divided into baggage, mail, and passenger compartments. At the rear of this car there was an open vestibule sixteen inches in depth.

It was a rule of the railroad that when a train had been made up and was backing, the trainman in charge must stand on the rear platform of the car with his hand on the valve of…