Case Name: Kenneth S. MacAffer, as Receiver of The Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company, et al., Respondents, v. Boston and Maine Railroad, Appellant
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1935-07-11
Citations: 268 N.Y. 408
Docket Number: 
Parties: Kenneth S. MacAffer, as Receiver of The Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company, et al., Respondents, v. Boston and Maine Railroad, Appellant.
Judges: Crane, Ch. J., Lehman, O’Brien, Hubbs, Crouch, Loughran and Finch, JJ., concur.
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 268
Pages: 408–410

Head Matter:
Kenneth S. MacAffer, as Receiver of The Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company, et al., Respondents, v. Boston and Maine Railroad, Appellant.
(Argued May 27, 1936;
decided July 11, 1935.)
Robert E. Whalen for appellant.
The Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company has no capacity to sue because there is no such corporation. (Rudd v. Cornell, 171 N. Y. 114; Matter of Kings, Queens & Suffolk R. R. Co., 6 App. Div. 241; City of New York v. Bryan, 196 N. Y. 158; Sturges v. Vanderbilt, 73 N. Y. 384; Steinbach v. Prudential Ins. Co., 172 N. Y. 471; Matter of L. I. R. R. Co., 143 N. Y. 67; Day v. 0. & L. C. R. R. Co., 107 N. Y. 129; Matter of N. Y. & L. I. Bridge Co., 148 N. Y. 540; Matter of B., W. & N. Ry. Co., 72 N. Y. 245; 75 N. Y. 335; Brooklyn St. T. Co. v. City of Brooklyn, 78 N. Y. 524; Farnham v. Benedict, 107 N. Y. 159; Matter of B., Q. C. & S. R. R. Co., 185 N. Y. 171.) The amendment made by chapter 552 of the Laws of 1932 to section 29 of the General Corporation Law (Cons. Laws, ch. 23) gives the Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company no standing to sue. (Heath v. Barmore, 50 N. Y. 302; Central City Sav. Bank v. Walker, 66 N. Y. 424; People v. O’Brien, 111 N. Y. 1; Matter of Friedman, 177 App. Div. 755; Central U. T. Co. v. Amer. By. T. Go., 198 App. Div. 303; 233 N. Y. 531; v. Colgate, 217 N. Y. 235; N. Y. & O. M. B. B. Co. v. Van Horn, 57 N. Y. 473; v. Bosenfeld, 265 N. Y. 76; Feiber Bealty Corp. v. Abel, 265 N. Y. 94; O’Beilly v. U., N. & C. Stage Co., 87 Hun, 406; Isola v. Weber, 147 N. Y. 329; Morrison v. B. & O. B. B. Co., 177 App. Div. 613; Cunningham v. Glauber, 133 App. Div. 10; Security Trust Co. v. Pritchard, 201 App. Div. 142; Knickerbocker v. Grotton Bridge & Mfg. Co., Ill App. Div. 145; Matter of B., W. & N.B.B. Co., 75 N. Y. 335; Matter of B., Q. C. & S. B. B., 106 App. Div. 240; 185 N. Y. 171.)
Frank L. Wiswall for The Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company, respondent.
The plaintiff, the Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company, in the instant action sues under a statutory right. (Ward v. Petrie, 157 N. Y. 301; General Corporation Law, § 29.)

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
The adjudication that Mechanicville and Fort Edward Railroad Company had not legal capacity to sue made in the ejectment action of 1916 is binding and conclusive. Section 29 of the General Corporation Law (Cons. Laws, ch. 23; Laws of 1932, ch. 552) does not apply to a railroad corporation whose " corporate powers had ceased " even before dissolution.
The order of the Appellate Division and that of the Special Term should be reversed, with costs in this court and in the Appellate Division, and the motion to dismiss granted.
The first certified question should be answered in the affirmative and the other question not answered.
Crane, Ch. J., Lehman, O'Brien, Hubbs, Crouch, Loughran and Finch, JJ., concur.
Ordered accordingly.