Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Mason City Fort Dodge Railroad Company

• Decision Date: 11 December 1911
• Docket Number: No. 31,31
• Citation: 222 U.S. 237,32 S.Ct. 86,56 L.Ed. 180
• Parties: UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, A. L. Mohler, J. M. Henry, and Henry Swagtek, Appts., v. MASON CITY & FORT DODGE RAILROAD COMPANY
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

222 U.S. 237

32 S.Ct. 86

56 L.Ed. 180

UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, A. L. Mohler, J. M. Henry, and Henry Swagtek, Appts.,

v MASON CITY & FORT DODGE RAILROAD COMPANY.

No. 31.

Argued November 2, 1911.

Decided December 11, 1911.

Messrs. Maxwell Evarts and N. H. Loomis for appellants.

Mr. John Barton Payne for appellee.

Mr. Justice McKenna delivered the opinion of the court:

The question in the case is whether the decree of the United States circuit court for the district of Nebraska, rendered in a suit brought by appellee against the Union Pacific Railroad Company in 1903, which adjudged to appellee and to its lessee, the Chicago Great Western Railway Company, the equal and joint use of the main and passing tracks of the Union Pacific, means the use of such tracks in connection with the bridge of that company over the Missouri river between Omaha and Council Bluffs, or the tracks independently of such use; or, in other words, a general use of the tracks for business having no connection with the bridge or use of it; or, to be more specific and to bring forward the particular use claimed, whether, as facilities for elevators established by appellee in Omaha 'and generally for a grain terminal,' or as shall be necessary or convenient in its business as a common carrier, it may operate its own motive power and use the tracks of the Union Pacific to deliver cars to the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific Railroad, which has connection with the tracks of the Union Pacific. The appellee contends that such right is given by the decree. The appellants assert that the Union Pacific alone has the right to deliver cars to appellee's property, or take them from it to connecting carriers, as it does, it is contended, for all other railroads, according to contracts which have obtained for many years.

The circuit court decided that the decree gave the use contended for by the appellee, and adjudged appellants guilty of contempt for obstructing such use. The decision was affirmed by the circuit court of appeals. 91 C. C. A. 530, 165 Fed. 844.

The decree adjudged that appellee and its lessee, the Chicago Great Western Railway Company, were 'admitted into the full, equal, and joint use of the main and passing tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, now located and established, or which may hereafter be located and established, from the eastern terminus of said tracks in Council Bluffs, in the state of Iowa, to a connection with the Union Stock Yards Railroad and the other railroads connecting with the Union Pacific Railroad at South Omaha, in the state of Nebraska, including the bridge over which said tracks extend across the Missouri river between the cities of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska; also the connection with, and the tracks pertaining thereto, of the general passenger station of the said Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, and said passenger station and all tracks and facilities connected therewith; also a connection with the side or spur tracks leading from the main line to the lower grade of the sidings and spur tracks in Omaha, and such extensions as may be hereafter made; also a connection with the side tracks in Omaha on which to receive from and deliver to said Union Pacific Railroad Company freight which may be handled through the warehouses, or many be switched by the said Union Pacific Railroad Company; also the connections with the Union Stock Yards tracks in South Omaha, and with the tracks of all other railway companies which now or may hereafter connect at or near South Omaha, with the tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, hereinbefore described, each and all, to the same extent and upon the same terms and conditions stated in the contracts between the Union Pacific Railroad Company and the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railway Company, and the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific Railway Company, as appears by the contracts in evidence in this case, and the depot contract, and the supplemental con- tract between the same parties, being Exhibits 6 and 7, attached to the bill of complaint herein, without preference or discrimination.'

It is manifest that the rights of appellee and its lessee company, which were adjudged by the decree, are measured by the rights of the other railroads mentioned in the decree, and what they were is defined in certain cases in which they came up for consideration.

The first of the cases was Union P. R. Co. v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co. 163 U. S. 564, 41 L. ed. 265, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1173. It was brought by the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific Railway Company against the Union Pacific Railroad Company to compel specific performance of a contract in regard to the use of the tracks of the latter. The following is a summary of the facts: The Union Pacific Company controlled and operated more than 5,000 miles of railroad, and, among others, a main line extending from Council Bluffs, Iowa, by way of Omaha and Valley Station, Nebraska, to Ogden, Utah, a distance of about 1,100 miles, and other roads not necessary to mention.

The Rock Island Company owned and operated a line of railway extending from Chicago, by way of Davenport, Iowa, to St. Joseph, Missouri, and thence, through certain points, to Colorado Springs and Denver. It also operated other lines, amounting in the aggregate to more than 3,000 miles. The St. Paul Company was operating more than 6,000 miles of railroad, and one of its lines extended from Chicago to Council Bluffs.

The Rock Island Company determined to connect its lines from Chicago to Council Bluffs with its southerly line to Colorado Springs by constructing a bridge across the Missouri river at Council Bluffs, and a railroad from that terminus, by way of Omaha and South Omaha and other points, thereby shortening its line from Chicago to Denver. The St. Paul Company joined in the under- taking in order to extend its line from Council Bluffs on to Omaha and South Omaha. The two companies, to execute their purpose, caused a corporation to be created under the laws of Iowa, with power to build a bridge across the river at Omaha, Congress granting to the corporation the necessary franchise. 23 Stat. at L. 43, chap. 82. Pending the making of the surveys and other preparations, the Union Pacific Company proposed to the companies to make with them a trackage arrangement by which they could use the bridge and tracks of the Union Pacific Company between Council Bluffs and South Omaha for their terminal facilities in Omaha and South Omaha, and the continuous line desired by the Rock Island Company could be completed. The proposal was accepted and the contracts subsequently drawn. The preamble to the Rock Island Company contract recited that that company had become a domestic corporation of Nebraska, and proposed to extend its railway from its terminus at Council Bluffs to a connection with its leased line, the Chicago, Kansas, & Nebraska Railway, at the city of Beatrice; that the parties to the contract believed that the interests of all would be promoted by using for a part of said extension the main tracks of the Union Pacific Railway Company in the cities of Council Bluffs and Omaha, the bridge over the Missouri river, and portions of certain other roads not necessary to mention.

The specific and material provision was as follows, the italics being ours: 'The Pacific Company hereby lets the Rock Island Company into the full, equal, and joint possession and use of its main and passing tracks, now located and established, or which may be hereafter located and established, between the terminus of such tracks in the city of Council Bluffs, in the state of Iowa, and a line drawn at a right angle across said tracks within one and one-half (1 1/2) miles southerly from the present passenger station of South Omaha, in the state of Nebraska, includ- ing the bridge on which said tracks extend across the Missouri river, between said cities of Council Bluffs and Omaha; connections with Union Depot tracks in Omaha, the side or spur track leading from its main tracks to the lower grade of the Pacific Company's sidings and spur tracks in Omaha, and such extensions thereof as may be hereafter made; side tracks in Omaha on which to receive from and deliver to the Rock Island Company freight that may be handled through the warehouses, or switched by the Pacific Company; the connections with the Union Stock Yards tracks in South Omaha, and conveniently located grounds in South Omaha, on which the Rock Island Company may construct, maintain, and exclusively use a track or tracks, aggregating three thousand (3,000) feet in length, for the storage of cars and other purposes, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine (999) years.' The consideration is expressed, and it is provided, 'that the Pacific Company lets the Rock Island Company into the full, joint, and equal possession and use of its tracks, stations, and appurtenances along the line of the railway of the Republican Valley Company,' the Pacific Company reserving the right to admit any other company to the joint use and possession of the same tracks and property upon substantially the same terms.

Performance of the contract was entered into. Subsequently a change of management of the Pacific Company took place, and that company forcibly prevented the Rock Island Company and the St. Paul Company from using the tracks at Omaha which they were entitled to use under the contracts, and absolutely refused to perform the contracts.

Suit was then brought by those companies to compel specific performance of the contracts, and the Pacific Company set up as a defense that the contracts were ultra vires, and that the use of its road, as claimed, would deprive it of the means granted to it by the act of Congress of earning money with which to maintain its corporate existence, perform the duties of a common carrier, and meet the demands of the government. The defenses...