In anon's "Torts" class 35-years ago we learned about the hundreds of lawsuits filed by farmers, ranchers, property owners, for millions of $$$ of property damage, crops, cattle and even lives lost from the countless fires caused by the red-hot coal cinders from RR steam locomotives as the great RRs pushed westwards.
These lawsuits were invariably dismissed, or lost via judicial interference. Critical Legal Theory held that all judges got the memo that the public policy imperative of "Westward Expansion" overrode concerns over individual property rights.
"Big Rail" owned all the judges.