Eureka & K.R.R. Co. v. California & N. Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 06 May 1901
• Docket Number: 659.
• Parties: EUREKA & K.R.R. CO. v. CALIFORNIA & N. RY. CO.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

109 F. 509

EUREKA & K.R.R. CO. v. CALIFORNIA & N. RY. CO.

No. 659.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

May 6, 1901

The Eureka & Klamath River Railroad Company, the appellant above named, filed in the superior court of the county of Humboldt state of California, its bill in equity against the California & Northern Railway Company, for appellee alleging, in substance, that the appellant is a corporation incorporated under the laws of the state of California for the purpose of constructing and operating a line of railroad in Humboldt county, in that state, from Eureka by ferry to Samoa, and from Samoa by rail by way of Arcata to a point opposite the mouth of Hunter creek, on the Klamath river with one branch from Arcata, around the east shore of Humboldt Bay, to Eureka; its railroad, and has put in operation its road from Eureka by ferry to Samoa, thence by rail to Arcata, etc.; that in February, 1899, it located and commenced the construction of its branch line from Arcata around and upon the east shore of Humboldt Bay to Eureka, a distance of about eight miles, and has now engaged in such construction a large number of laborers, and has expended therein about $100,000; that, at the expense of $60,000, the appellant has purchased and acquired a parcel of land in the city of Eureka for railroad purposes, passenger and freight depot grounds, freight yards, roundhouses, etc., and that it is necessary that it shall acquire a certain described right of way, 30 feet in width, and nearly a mile in extent, in the city of Eureka, to its said terminal grounds; that, for the purpose of acquiring said right of way, it began in said superior court for Humboldt county on January 30, 1899, three several suits, 'by filing complaints' against the owners of the lands over which said right of way runs, which suits are still pending; that in February, 1900, the appellee was incorporated under the laws of the state of Nevada for the purpose of constructing, owning, and operating a line of railroad from Eureka to Crescent City, in the state of California, and that on March 13, 1900, with the object of hindering and delaying and preventing the appellant from completing its said railroad from Arcata into the city of Eureka, and to its said terminal grounds, the appellee commenced in said superior court three actions, in which it seeks to condemn the identical parcels of land so sought to be condemned by the appellant, and for that purpose it is conspiring with the several owners of said lands to hinder and delay and obstruct and prevent the appellant from completing its said road into the city of Eureka, and that said actions are fictitious and are not prosecuted in good faith; that the parties in said conspiracy are pretending to prosecute said actions for the purpose of obtaining judgment condemning the said parcels of land for right of way for the appellee for its intended road; that the appellee has not commenced the construction of any railroad, or expended any money therein, and unless it be enjoined the appellant will be irreparably damaged, and its franchise to complete its road to its depot grounds in Eureka will be lost; that all said appellee's acts were done for the purpose and with the intent to deprive the appellant of its right to construct its road into Eureka. The prayer for relief is that the appellee be enjoined from prosecuting any of the three actions, and that it be enjoined from building a railroad or instituting suits to condemn a right of way, or exercising any of the rights or powers of a railroad company over any portion of the appellant's located right of way. The case was removed by the appellee to the circuit court of the United States for the Northern district of California, and that court sustained a demurrer to the bill for want of equity, and dismissed the suit. 103 F. 897.

C. M Wheeler and S. M. Buch, for appellant.

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