George Dushon, Harold Rathgeb, Hilton Duke, Peter J. Vallentine, Nels Pilskog, Joe Miszencin, and Thomas J. Golden v. United States

Appellants brought this suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act to recover damages for injuries caused by the negligence of one Harold D. Greene, assertedly an employee of the United States. The trial court found that Greene was an employee of an independent contractor and not of the United States, and accordingly denied recovery. The sole question presented on appeal is whether or not this holding is error. We are satisfied that it is not.

Briefly summarized, the background facts are these: The Alaska Railroad, which is a single track road traversing the area between Seward and Fairbanks, Alaska, is an agency of the United States. In 1949 it entered into a contract with three heavy construction contractors, one of which was the Morris-son-Knudsen Company, Inc., for the rehabilitation of a portion of its railroad tracks south of Anchorage, between the two stations known as Potter and Indian. The terrain necessitated that men, equipment and materials be moved over the Alaska Railroad tracks to the place of work. The right of access to the job was derived from the contract, but in order to obtain such access the contractor had to provide rail motor cars and unpowered track cars, or…