Thompson v. Magnolia Petroleum Co. Et Al‪.‬

A rich oil field was discovered in Illinois in 1938. Thereupon, this dispute arose between a trustee of a railroad in reorganization under ? 77 of the Bankruptcy Act (11 U. S. C. 205) and other claimants as to the legal right to drill for and capture fugitive oil under the railroads right of way traversing the newly discovered field. The trustee asserts fee simple ownership of the right of way lands with consequent right to reduce the underlying oil to possession. Respondents deny the trustees alleged title or that he has any interest in the land beyond a mere easement -- a limited right to use the surface for railroad purposes only. They allege that ownership of the fee is in others, from whom they have obtained oil leases. This determinative question of fee simple ownership can be decided only by interpretation, under Illinois law, of instruments granting the railroad its right of way.