Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ It is doubtful whether the statute in the word 'unite' contemplates more than intersection. It certainly did not require the contract that the petitioner made. The terms of that contract were of the petitioner's own choosing and they gave the paramount authority to the Southern road. As was to be expected the main track remained its own and subject to its control. There is no dispute that the collision was caused by an interruption of the course of the main line through the misplacement of a switch in consequence of a defect in the signal. ”

“ The Southern road had not abdicated its control over its main line or its ultimate authority over the switch. If, as the jury must have found under the instructions, the defect in the light was not due to a sudden inevitable accident but could have been avoided by care, the Southern road owed that care to the plaintiff, and therefore whether the men immediately in contact with the switch were employees of the Evansville or the Southern Company the Southern was responsible for this condition to the passengers in its train. ”

“ Other sections authorized and ratified contracts for running trains of one road over the tracks of another, and made the railroad so running its trains over the tracks of another liable to the same extent as if it owned the tracks. ”