## Facts

- A railroad received Norway Plains Company’s merchandise in Rochester, New Hampshire under printed receipts dated October 31 and November 2, 1850.
- The receipts promised to forward the goods and “deliver to or order at its depot in Boston,” with freight to be paid.
- The train arrived in Boston later than usual on November 4, 1850; the plaintiffs’ truckman (Ames), authorized to collect their goods without special instructions, waited at the depot but was told the goods were in the hindmost car on the wharf and could not then be delivered.
- Ames left, intending to return the next morning; no specific time was given when the goods would be ready.
- By customary and stipulated reasonable practice, the railroad unloaded cars in a sequence that could delay access to hindmost cars; after the depot closed, undelivered goods were discharged and placed on the platform in a fit state for delivery.
- Before daylight on November 5, 1850, the depot and the plaintiffs’ goods were destroyed by fire.
- There was no claim or showing that the railroad negligently caused or failed to prevent the fire.
- By established course of dealing, Ames commonly learned what arrived by inspecting the waybill; no separate notice of arrival was usually provided.

## Issues

1. When does a railroad’s strict liability as a common carrier terminate after goods reach the destination depot and are unloaded?
2. After unloading and storage at the destination depot without additional charge, is the railroad liable for loss by accidental fire absent negligence as a common carrier or only as a warehouseman?
3. Must the railroad give notice of arrival to the consignee as a condition of ending common-carrier liability?

## Decision

- Judgment for the railroad.
- The railroad’s common-carrier liability ended once the goods were transported to the Boston depot as contracted, unloaded, and placed in the depot/warehouse in a suitable state for delivery.
- After that point, the railroad held the goods as a warehouseman and was liable only for lack of ordinary care.
- Because the loss was by fire without negligence or default, the railroad was not liable.
- Notice of arrival was not required to shift the railroad’s status from common carrier to warehouseman under these circumstances.

## Legal Principles

- A carrier’s insurer-like liability does not continue after transit is completed and the goods are unloaded and placed in the carrier’s depot/warehouse in a fit state for delivery, held without extra charge for a reasonable time for pickup.
- Once goods are so stored at destination, the carrier becomes a warehouseman and is liable only for failure to exercise ordinary care.
- Accidental destruction by fire without negligence does not impose liability on a warehouseman.
- Where the contract calls for delivery at the carrier’s depot and pickup is contemplated by the parties’ practice, notice of arrival is not a prerequisite to termination of common-carrier liability.

## Conclusion

The court held that a railroad that contracts to deliver goods at its destination depot satisfies its common-carrier duty by transporting, unloading, and placing the goods in its depot in a condition for delivery; thereafter it is only a warehouseman, not liable for loss by accidental fire absent negligence, and it need not give notice of arrival to end common-carrier liability.


Norway Plains Co. v. Bos. & Me. R.R., 67 Mass. 263 (1854)