Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Driscoll

• Decision Date: 27 November 1939
• Docket Number: 8,9
• Parties: Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Driscoll et al., Appellants
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

9 A.2d 621

336 Pa. 310

Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Driscoll et al., Appellants

Nos. 8, 9

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

November 27, 1939

Argued October 30, 1939

Appeals, Nos. 8 and 9, May T., 1940, from decree of C.P Dauphin Co., No. 86, Com. Docket, 1937, and No. 1227, Equity Docket, in case of The Pennsylvania Railroad Company v Dennis J. Driscoll et al., constituting the Public Utility Commission, and Claude T. Reno, Attorney General, and George B. Rowand et al., intervening defendants. Decree affirmed.

Bill in equity. Before FOX, J.

The opinion of the court below, as adopted by the Supreme Court per curiam, is as follows:

BY THE CHANCELLOR:

This is a bill attacking the constitutionality of the act of assembly of June 1, 1937, P.L. 1120, which is commonly known as the Full Crew Act.

The issues as disclosed by the bill and answer bearing upon the constitutionality of the act are substantially as follows:

Do the requirements of the act for additional assistance have a reasonable relationship to the safety of employees and travelers; are the said requirements unreasonable and arbitrary; did the legislature have as its purpose in enacting the said law the use of the police power of the state or was the same enacted for the benefit of the additional employees; is the employment of an additional man or men unreasonable in the following: Multiple unit electric passenger train; an additional man on . . . locked baggage car[s] between terminals; an additional brakeman on a passenger train when the train consists of five or more cars [any one of which carries passengers, or on trains of ten or more passenger cars none of which carry passengers]; on freight trains when such trains consist of fifty or more cars; on local freight trains whenever and wherever such train does any switching or unloading of freight; a conductor and two brakemen for the movement of empty cars; two brakemen or helpers for switching movements in railroad yards or between yards; a third brakeman or helper on switching or yard engines, when such switching or yard engine crosses a public highway within the corporation limits of a municipality; every locomotive or self-propelled unit operating [on the main track] without cars shall carry a brakeman or conductor in addition to the engineer and fireman, or engineer's assistant; when two or more electric locomotives traveling on their own power on a main track without cars are coupled together, there must be provided a motorman and a motorman's assistant for each locomotive; is the amount of expenditures made by the plaintiff since 1913 in the way of improvements, conducive to safety and for the protection of plaintiff's employees, passengers and the general public; are any or all of these requirements for additional men unreasonable and arbitrary and in no way conducive to the safer operation of the railroad or to the safety of employees and travelers; does the instant act violate article 1, section 1; article 3, section 3 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, also the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and article 1, section 8, paragraph 3 of the latter; is the instant act, as compared with the Full Crew Act of 1911 and the Full Crew Acts of other states, arbitrary and unreasonable; would the penalties which would be imposed under the instant act, if its provisions were violated by the plaintiff, work irreparable injury and inconvenience to the plaintiff in the operation of its railroad?

Many requests for findings of fact were filed of record some of which we have affirmed and others denied and so noted. Many findings were required. The findings of fact which we have affirmed viz: 279 of the plaintiff's requests, we adopt as our own. These are filed and we order them to be printed in the event of an appeal and are not herein set forth. We do this so as to avoid a bulky and unwieldy opinion and not with any intention to violate Equity Rule No. 67.

In all of the findings of fact references were made to testimony which we have considered together with the rest of the evidence and upon which we base our findings of fact, with a few exceptions, where reference is noted to the party's brief only. However we have checked the brief and find therein the reference to the testimony to support the finding, . . . which therefore makes it unnecessary for us to include in our discussion what is there said.

The bill prays for a preliminary injunction and upon examination by the court of the contentions in the bill, a preliminary injunction was granted on June 2, 1937, and a hearing thereon was held on the 7th day of said month and year, at which time a motion was made by the Deputy Attorney General to dissolve the preliminary injunction, which the court overruled. A motion was made by the plaintiff to continue the preliminary injunction, and by agreement of the parties the hearing commenced on the 21st day of June, 1937. On June 21, 1937, several individuals representing certain brotherhoods of trainmen, et al., represented by private counsel, were permitted to intervene as parties defendant. The plaintiff put in a large volume of testimony consisting of about 2,400 pages, which was concluded July 27, 1937, whereupon the court continued the preliminary injunction until final hearing, and the 7th day of September, 1937, was set to take testimony as if on final hearing. In the meantime, on the 5th day of August, 1937, the defendants appealed to the Supreme Court from the court's granting of the preliminary injunction, and from the continuance thereof until final hearing. The appeal was disposed of on the 31st day of March, 1938, by the Supreme Court, which affirmed our court in granting the preliminary injunction, and approved our continuing the same until final hearing . . ., with a procedendo.

At the commencement of final hearing it was agreed by the parties that the evidence submitted by the plaintiff on the motion to continue the preliminary injunction should be admitted as if taken on final hearing.

The defendants on the 5th day of May filed their answer and on the 10th day of May, 1938, proceeded in taking their testimony, and that, without any interruptions, continued until the 29th day of July, 1938, consisting of approximately 4,100 pages, making a total number of pages of testimony taken of about 6,500; 379 exhibits have also been introduced by both parties.

ANALYSIS OF THE ACT.

We do not concur in the contention in the bill, and it is not urged by the plaintiff, that the title of the act is bad. We shall give no further consideration to this.

Section 1 of the act and the subsections thereunder are definitions of words and terms used in the operation of a railroad.

Section 2, in the first part thereof, in substance provides that the crew shall consist, inter alia, of . . . [one engineer, one fireman, one conductor and one] brakeman when the passenger train consists of less than five cars; and, in the latter part of the section, when the train consists of five cars or more any one of which carries passengers or consisting of ten or more cars none of which is carrying passengers. (The number of additional men shall be one brakeman) and when baggage is received, cared for and handled on any such train at least one baggageman shall be added to the members of the crew, except in a single motor unit carrying passengers when it shall be manned by not less than three men. (The evidence discloses that this section of the act would require the employment of 319 additional men.)

Section 3 relates to any freight train consisting of less than 50 cars, the crew of which shall consist of not less than one engineer, one fireman, one conductor and two brakemen.

Section 4 provides that on a freight train consisting of 50 cars or more, the crew shall consist of not less than 1 engineer, 1 fireman, 1 conductor and 3 brakemen. (The evidence disclosed that this section would require the employment of 455 additional men.)

Section 5 provides when any local freight train is doing switching or unloading of any freight of any nature whatever, the crew shall consist of not less than 1 engineer, 1 fireman, 1 conductor and 3 brakemen. (The evidence discloses that this section would require the employment of 249 additional men.)

Section 6 provides that all other trains not specifically referred to in the act shall be manned by a crew of not less than 1 engineer, 1 fireman and 2 brakemen.

Section 7 provides that it shall be unlawful for any carrier to use, operate or permit any locomotive, to be used or operated in any railroad yard, or on any railroad track to handle or switch cars or to transfer cars from one railroad to another or from one railroad yard to another railroad yard unless each and every such locomotive while so doing shall be manned by a crew which shall consist of at least 1 engineer, 1 fireman, 1 yard conductor or foreman, and two yard brakemen or helpers; or when any such locomotive is so used or operated over or upon a highway or street within the corporate limits of a municipality such locomotive shall be manned by one additional yard brakeman or helper, etc. (The evidence discloses that this section would require the employment of 850 additional men.)

By section 8 it shall be unlawful for any carrier to operate or permit to be operated on its main tracks any single locomotive unless said locomotive is manned by a crew of not less than 1 engineer, one fireman, 1 conductor or brakeman with the proviso that where two or more locomotives are operated under their own power on any main track and coupled together there shall be provided a crew of 1 engineer and 1 fireman for each locomotive, and in addition thereto 1 conductor or brakeman. (The evidence discloses that ...