In City of Oakland v. Schenck (1925) 197 Cal. 456, the defendants owned a strip of land in fee approximately 115 feet in width and 757 feet in length. They used the northeasterly 55 feet of the strip as a right of way for their railroad. They did not use the southwesterly 60 feet of the strip for railroad uses. The city brought a condemnation action under the Street Opening Act of 1903 to condemn a strip of land 60 feet wide across the defendants' strip for the purpose of opening and extending 89th Avenue. The trial court found that no damages would be suffered by the defendants by the taking of the portion of the land used for a railroad right of way. It explained that the use of the property as and for a public street was consistent with the continuance of the use of the property as and for a railroad right of way and that both public uses can exist together. It therefore awarded one dollar for the taking. As to the taking of the portion of the land not devoted to railroad purposes, the trial court awarded $ 300. On appeal, the defendants challenged the one-dollar award. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment. The court acknowledged the principle that a railroad's right of way is private property such that it can only be constitutionally taken under the power of eminent domain, which requires reasonable compensation to the owner. "The interest appropriated by the party condemning may be small, and the amount of compensation difficult of proper measurement, but some award should be made, however small the amount may be." (Schenck, supra, 197 Cal. at p. 460.) The court noted the following: "In the present case it was stipulated that the portion of the right of way of the appellants sought to be condemned was required for street purposes only, for use by the public in common with the use by the railroad companies; that the uses are consistent; and that the railroad operated by the defendants can exist with the street across it. Appellants, as owners of the fee in the right of way over which the street is opened, will retain their rights in the soil for all purposes which are consistent with the full enjoyment of the easement for street purposes acquired by the city." (Schenck, supra, 197 Cal. at pp. 461-462.) The court explained as follows: "But, because of the nature of the interest in the land which is acquired by a city, where a street is opened across a railroad right of way, the rule as to the amount of compensation to be allowed the railroad company is different from the rule which prevails in the case of the taking of the property of an individual for like uses. The reason for this difference is that one of the incidents of the public use to which a railroad company dedicates its property used as a right of way is the right of the public to construct street crossings wherever and whenever reasonably necessary. In condemning a right of way for a street across a railroad right of way, the inquiry must be directed to ascertaining the extent to which the value of the company's right to use the land for railroad tracks will be diminished by the opening of the street across it. If the opening of the street across the railroad tracks in this case does not unduly interfere with the companies' use for legitimate railroad purposes, then their compensation should be nominal. Whether there was such an interference, what was its extent, and what was the value of that lost by the appellants as the direct result of such interference, were questions of fact to be determined in the light of the legal principles by which the court was to be governed in fixing the amount of compensation to the owners of the railroad right of way. If, prior to the institution of the condemnation proceedings, the railroad companies had constructed upon the land embraced within the crossing buildings to be used in their business, it would have been necessary, in ascertaining the just compensaion to be awarded, to take into consideration the value of such improvements. There were no buildings in the present case. The inquiry is directed solely to the question of the diminution, if any, in value of the railroad right of way." (Schenck, supra, 197 Cal. at pp. 460-461.) The court concluded as follows: "As the right to open a street across the railroad tracks was all that the city sought to obtain by the proceedings in condemnation, it was not bound to acquire and pay for the fee in the land over which the street is opened. The extent to which the value of the companies' right to use the land for railroad tracks was unduly diminished by opening the public street across it was the only question to be determined by the jury. The burden of showing such diminution of value of the right of way was on the appellants. The evidence, on the whole, on that subject is not as satisfactory as it might be. Its weight and the inferences to be drawn therefrom were matters confided to the discretion of the trial judge, and we are not disposed to hold that it fails to support the findings and judgment of the court below." (Schenck, supra, 197 Cal. at p. 462.)