Orr brought action against the Southern Pacific Company, a common carrier, for personal injury claimed to have resulted from negligence in the operation of an interurban train between San Francisco and San Jose. It was tried by the court without a jury.

The Court found:

There was evidence to support all these findings. There is no dispute among the parties up to the matters stated in Paragraph 5. A passenger who saw Orr rolling alongside the track testified that there was no unusual movement or handling of the train immediately pri- or to this. A trainman who had seen the fall from the vestibule of some object, subsequently determined to be Orr, was definite that there was no unusual movement or handling of the train immediately before that time. There was no evidence to the contrary.

The record showed that on this particular commuters’ train, on account of frequent stops, the vestibule doors are left open until after the train passes the stop where Orr intended to get off. He had been riding this train for about eight months to and from this same station, but said he had not noticed the doors remaining open.

The finding that there was no negligence in either of these particulars was justified on the part of the trial judge.

There was evidence which called for the finding that plaintiff’s conduct was the sole proximate cause of his fall. He left a place of safety to pass through at least two open vestibules of a moving train. Orr testified:

He had previously said in a deposition:

He did not testify to any unusual movement or handling of the train. He said:

Orr testified he had been drinking whiskey, “not many drinks,” not more than “two or three” before boarding the train. A test of his blood taken after the accident showed a level of .15% and to attain this level he must have had at least six drinks. An expert gave an opinion with regard to this showing of alcohol in the blood:

Such testimony gives positive basis for the finding of the trial judge. The judge accurately found that the conduct of plaintiff explained why he reached for a doorknob which vanished and why he was thrown off balance by the normal swaying of a train. A finding that any other cause contributed to the result would have been clearly erroneous.

These are simple questions of fact from which there should have been no appeal.

There is an attempt to inject -questions of law. But a finding of proximate cause is one peculiarly within the province of the jury or other trier of fact. Res ipsa loquitur is a procedural rule as to evidence. It is never valid in the face of facts which adequately explain the occurrence. Here the trial judge believed the explanation found in plaintiff’s testimony was adequate. And we agree.

Two factors necessary for application of the doctrine as accurately stated in Prosser on Torts, page 291, were missing here. These are:

The trial judge found facts which show neither of these vital requirements was met.

Affirmed.