L. & N. R. R. Co. v. Goodwin
| Decision Date | 30 November 1910 |
| Parties | L. & N. Railroad Co. v. Goodwin. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Jefferson Circuit Court (Common Pleas Branch, Third Division).
HELM & HELM, BENJAMIN D. WARFIELD and CHARLES H. MOORMAN for appellant.
A. T. BURGEVIN for appellee.
The appellee in this action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by him while in the employ of the appellant company, recovered $1,500.00.
At the time of his injury, he was employed in operating a machine used in smoothing uneven or flat places on railroad car wheels. In a general way, the labor at which appellee was employed may be described as follows: Two car wheels, with the axle attached, would be rolled on a track to a point under an air hoist. This hoist consisted in part of a cylinder about four feet long and eight inches in diameter. The top end of the cylinder was closed by an air-tight cap, and was suspended by a bolt from a single overhead track some two feet above the cylinder, on which track it could be moved backward and forward. Attached to the bottom cap of the cylinder was an air pipe, through which air was admitted into the cylinder for the purpose of forcing the piston rod up. There was also an escape valve to let the air out and thereby lower the piston rod. The piston rod projected out of the lower end of the cylinder some two feet, and on the lower end of this piston rod was a hook. On this hook a chain some eight feet long was fastened in the center, and each end of it hooked around the axle, so that when the piston rod was raised the axle as well as the wheels would be lifted from the track. When so raised the cylinder, with the axle and wheels, would be rolled by means of the wheels on the overhead track to the machine in which the wheels were to be placed to be smoothed. When they were placed in this machine, which weighed about thirteen tons, the ends of the axle that projected outside the wheels would be fastened by a clutch, which while holding the wheels and axle firm and steady, permitted them to turn, and in this position a lathe that was a part of the machine, would be applied to the wheel and the operation of smoothing executed.
At a point in this air hose, about two inches below the bottom cap of the cylinder, there was a valve operated by a cross-piece six inches in length, to each end of which a small chain was attached. By pulling one of these small chains, the valve on the air pipe would open and the air pressure escape into the cylinder, raising the piston rod. By pulling the other chain, the air in the cylinder was allowed to escape, thereby lowering the piston rod.
On January 3rd, appellee discovered that air leaked through the bottom cap of the cylinder on account of insufficient packing, and so he requested that it be repaired, and the repairs were made on that day. On the morning of January 4th, when appellee commenced to work, he discovered that the bottom cap of the cylinder had not been screwed on properly, the effect of which was that the cross-piece, from each end of which was suspended the small chains that were used in moving it to let air in and out of the cylinder, was placed on the opposite side of the cylinder cap from the place where he stood in working these chains. In other words, the cap should have been screwed on so that the cross-piece would be on the side of the cylinder cap nearest to where the operator stood, in place of being on the side of the cap farthest from him. As a result of this improper adjustment of the cap, the chains that he used in opening and...
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