Cairo V.&C. Ry. Co. v. Woodyard

• Decision Date: 18 April 1907
• Citation: 226 Ill. 331,80 N.E. 882
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court
• Parties: CAIRO, V. & C. RY. CO. v. WOODYARD et al.

226 Ill. 331

80 N.E. 882

CAIRO, V. & C. RY. CO.

v.WOODYARD et al.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Feb. 21, 1907.

Rehearing Denied April 18, 1907.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Edgar County; E. R. E. Kimbrough, Judge.

Proceedings by the Cairo, Vincennes & Chicago Railway Company for the condemnation of lands. From a judgment in favor of defendants Caleb Woodyard and others, petitioner appeals. Affirmed.R. L. McKinlay, Frank T. O'Hair, and Hamlin & Gillespie (L. J. Hackney, of counsel), for appellant.

H. S. Tanner, H. Van Seller, W. S. Lamon, and F. C. Van Seller, for appellees.

SCOTT, C. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the circuit court of Edgar county dismissing a petition filed in the court by the Cairo, Vincennes & Chicago Railway Company, by which it sought to condemn certain lands for the purpose of building a short line of railroad. This short line, approximately two miles in length, if built, would connect at each end with the present line of appellant, and the purpose of appellant is, by building this proposed line, to straighten its roadway and provide for a roadbed with a more satisfactory grade than that which exists in the portion of the roadbed which would be superseded by the new piece of track. The court below held that appellant could not exercise the power of eminent domain for the purpose of so relocating its road.

Appellant is duly incorporated under the railroad act of this state, and is authorized by its original charter to acquire real estate for right of way and for any other lawful purpose connected with the building and operation of its road, and to purchase, own, construct, operate, and maintain (and in pursuance of its charter did purchase and operate) a railway extending from the city of Cairo, in the county of Alexander, through certain counties, to Tilton, in the county of Vermilion, in the state of Illinois, together with a branch extending from St. Francisville, in Lawrence county, Ill., to the city of Vincennes, in Knox county, Ind. After appellant became the owner of said railway, and on July 1, 1905, the stockholders held a meeting, and by resolution sought to enlarge the objects for which the railway companywas formed, so that the said railway company could, among other things, ‘construct, own, operate and maintain additional lines of railway, particularly described as follows.’ Then follows a description of the line of nine proposed separate short pieces of roadway, each beginning at some point on the present right of way of appellant and ending at another point on that right of way, the effect of each of which, if constructed, would be to straighten and shorten appellant's line of road.

It appears from the petition that the railway in question has been in operation for more than 20 years; that it passes through a portion of the state of Illinois that is either rough and hilly or undulating and greatly varying in surface level; that it was built before the introduction of modern, high-class railroad equipment, and before the inauguration of the efficient methods of railroad operation now in vogue, and that it was constructed with little or no regard to economy and efficiency of operation, but chiefly with a view to cheapness of construction; that in its location hills and the high levels of surface were avoided by following waterways, making the road longer between the termini than necessary, and rendering it, by reason of its sharp curves, dangerous to persons and property being transported over the road. It further appears that the road cannot by practical engineering, unless its line be straightened, be made an efficient, modern commercial railway capable of fully answering the requirements of the communities through which it passes, or capable of being operated with such cars, engines, and trains as are used upon properly equipped railroads in Illinois passing through communities similar to those through which this road passes; that during the last 20 years the portion of Illinois traversed by this highway has grown rapidly in wealth, population, and mining, agricultural, and other industries, and needs a properly constructed, equipped, and managed railroad, and that appellant has planned a reconstruction of its road and changes in its rolling stock designed to meet this want, but that its purpose cannot be accomplished unless it can shorten the line of its road, straighten the curves, and reduce the grades; that to do this certain departures from the original line of the road will be necessary; that the proposed section of roadway involved in this litigation is designed as one of such departures, but that in this instance, as in all others, no other or greater departure or variation from the original line is made or contemplated than is necessary for the proper and practical operation of the road.

It is said that unless such changes can be made the road cannot be conducted with profit, but must be abandoned, wherefore the public interests require that portions of the line should be relocated, so that a safe and modern roadbed may be constructed, upon which trains may be operated of a character and in a maner commensurate with the needs and wants of the thrifty and progressive communities through which the road passes.

In seeking to enlarge the objects of this railway company its stockholders moved under the provisions of an act of the Legislature originally passed in 1873 and amended in 1889, entitled ‘An act to provide for changing the names, for changing the places of business, for increasing or decreasing the capital stock, for increasing or decreasing the number of directors, for...