Opinion ID: 1484921
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Facts in the Case.

Text: The plaintiff was injured on July 6, 1945, at Needles, California. He had begun to work at the hour of 10:00 A.M. of that day at Seligman, Arizona. At the time of the accident, he was working as a flagman on a freight train of about 70 cars. He was the flagman at the rear end of the train, in the caboose. He arrived in the yard at Needles at 1:00, the train coming to a final stop inside number 20 track. With the train coming to a stop, the plaintiff's duties ended. Track 20 was clear of the main line. The plaintiff took down the lanterns from the rear of the caboose, crawled into the cupola of the caboose and sat down, waiting for his train to move farther into the freight yard. While there, he first saw in the window of the caboose the reflection of an approaching train. This having drawn his attention to the approaching train, he turned around and looked back. The approaching train was anywhere from 600 to 1000 feet away, down the track. Thinking that the train was coming a little fast, the plaintiff put his body out of the cupola window and put out his lamp to slow down the approaching train. But it kept on coming, and gave no response to the signal. So he went back to the platform and put out his lamp to slow it down. However, the approaching train was too close to enable the plaintiff to reach for the fusee and break it. Being unable to do anything about the matter, the plaintiff went back into the caboose and jumped to the cupola, hoping for a chance to get out of the cupola window. He did not, in fact, do so. For, to one side of him was the river and to the other were piles of ties. He, therefore, took hold of a grabiron and when the train hit the caboose he was pitched up into the air and down on the floor. As he was trying to get up on his feet, a second crash occurred. He managed to crawl into a passenger train, which took him to the station. He declined to go to the hospital and was driven by another employee to his cottage in Needles. He then drove to his home in Searchlight, Nevada. He stayed in bed for about three days. On July 9, he drove to Boulder City and saw a physician, Dr. Fenlon, who ordered him to bed. No X-rays were taken. On July 17 or 18, he saw Dr. Price, in Needles, who told him that he had some bad bruises and contusions and gave him some pills to relieve the pain. Early in August he saw another doctor, Dr. Holz, who ordered him to enter the Santa Fe Hospital at Los Angeles. At the time he was suffering pains mostly in his hips, back, left shoulder and back of the head. He entered the hospital at Los Angeles on August 14. A few days after his admission, they took X-rays. Otherwise, his treatment consisted of heat treatments and pills. He left the hospital voluntarily on August 24 and went back first to Needles, then to Searchlight. While in the hospital, he talked, on August 18, to Dr. Morrison, Chief Surgeon of the hospital, who told him to go back to work. The plaintiff gave this version of his conversation with Dr. Morrison: Q. And what did he tell you? A. Well, he told me to go back to work if I possibly could, that the company was very short of men and that they needed to keep the trains operating  the war was still on, and to go back and take it easy, that I would be all right in thirty or sixty days. So he gave me a release and I went back, but I didn't go to work right at that time. Q. Dr. Morrison told you that you would be all right within thirty to sixty days? A. Thirty to sixty days, to take it easy. Q. Did he tell you to go back to work at the same type of work that you had been doing before? A. No, he didn't. Q. What did he tell you? A. Told me to take a passenger job, take it easy. Upon reaching the hospital he was handed a document certifying to his discharge from further treatment. Again quoting from the record: Q. (Mr. Emmons): Now at the time that you talked to Dr. Morrison, was there any question regarding broken bones? A. No, none at all. Q. Did he tell you that there were no broken bones? A. Told me  he didn't say there was no broken bones, he just said, `Go back and take it easy, you will be all right, you can get along.' Q. Did you ever see the x-rays? A. No. Q. That the Santa Fe Railroad took? A. No, they wouldn't show them to me.