McKeown v. Northwestern Pacific Railroad

THE COURT. An action to recover for personal injuries in which a judgment was entered for the plaintiff.

The plaintiff, who was about 45 years of age, had for several years commuted daily from Mill Valley to San Francisco. It was her custom to board defendant railroad company’s electric train at its station at Mill Valley and proceed by a connecting boat to San Francisco. The station was the end of the line, and defendant’s trains ran from Sausalito to Mill Valley and then returned. At the Mill Valley station the defendant had provided concrete platforms on both sides and between the tracks. These were raised about ten inches above .the tracks. The trains were operated by power received through a third rail which at this station was situated on the east side of the tracks. There was maintained over the top of this rail and flush with the platform a wooden plank or cover about 13% inches in width, under which ran the shoe connecting the train with the rail. This cover was painted gray and somewhat resembled the color of the adjoining concrete. The train of the type which caused injury to the plaintiff overhung this cover, the total overhang being estimated to be from 13% inches to 14% inches. On the west side of the tracks there was no third rail. On that side the overhang of the train was some three or four inches. Plaintiff testified that she had previously boarded trains from the west side, but on the morning of the accident, while awaiting its arrival from Sausalito, she walked for a distance along the center platform in that direction. When she heard the whistle of the approaching train she turned and walked back toward the station. She testified that she knew of its approach on the south track, which was on her left as she turned back. She proceeded to the station without looking toward the approaching train. According to her testimony, as she walked along the concrete the center of her body was about 18 inches from the extreme outer edge of the third rail cover. In this position it is clear that her left arm and shoulder were on a vertical line within but a few inches of the edge of the cover. The engineer saw the plaintiff when the train was approximately 216 feet away. That the whistle was sounded and the bell [326]rung is admitted, but whether the whistle sounded immediately before she was struck or afterwards is disputed, but it is admitted that the bell rang continuously. According to the engineer, when he caught sight of the plaintiff the train was traveling from 15 to 18 miles an hour. He also testified that as the train approached the plaintiff deviated from her course and moved nearer to the edge of the platform. Another witness standing on the platform corroborated this but it is denied by plaintiff. The engineer also testified that he realized her danger when about half the length of a ear away, and immediately applied the emergency brakes. The train stopped at a point beyond the place where plaintiff was standing. As it passed it struck the plaintiff’s left arm and caused the injuries of which plaintiff complains.