The railway's practice of mixing passengers and cargo amid declining traffic resulted in a $500 personal injury suit. 65-year-old farmer S. O. Butler claimed that he was injured on June 10, 1939, while disembarking from a moving train which had slowed down at Palmyra, rather than coming to a complete stop, because of its heavy load. The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled in favor of parent company C&O on June 8, 1942, as the conductor had discussed the circumstances ahead of time with the passengers and did not compel Butler to leave the train. By June 1954, all remaining mixed train service had come to an end.