Snohomish County v. Great Northern Ry. Co.

This opinion covers t.wo cases consolidated upon appeal.

Appellee, Great Northern Railway Company, a Minnesota corporation, brought two actions against Snohomish County, Washington, to recover damages alleged to have been sustained when one of the appellee’s passenger trains was wrecked in said county and state by debris which was washed upon its tracks and its train after the collapse of a highway fill on December 28, 1937.

In one action, more than $3,000.00 was sought for damages to the train, roadbed and track. The other action, for more than $3,000.00, was brought to recover money paid out by the Railway Company upon claims for personal injury and wrongful death resulting from the wreck. We shall herein refer to the former action as the damage case and the latter action as the reimbursement case.

Both cases are based on the alleged negligence of the County in the construction and maintenance of a fill and of a culvert under and through the fill to carry the waters of a natural stream. The county highway was located upon this fill.

In addition to a general denial, the County plead affirmatively: (1) The contributory negligence of the Railway Company for failure to inspect…