Collopy

Action for damages to real property and for abatement of an alleged nuisance.

The complaint recites the corporate existence of defendant railway company and the operation and management by it of street railroads and suburban and interurban lines of electric roads in the counties of San Francisco and San Mateo. The facts upon which the complaint is based, chronologically stated, show that for a long period of time prior to October 6, 1890, plaintiffs were the owners of the parcel of land described in the complaint. On the date last mentioned the county of San Mateo by ordinance granted to the predecessors in interest of defendant company a franchise for the construction, maintenance, and operation of a street railroad, with all necessary side-tracks, over the main county road. This road passed through the town of Colma and along and adjacent to plaintiff’s property. The ordinance required that the grade of the railroad should conform: to the grade to be established or re-established by the board of supervisors of the county or their successors, and that the particular portion of the highway upon which the railroad was to be located or relocated should be designated by the county…