In the year 1915 the plaintiff, A. T. Dorsey, purchased a tract of timber land, containing about 1, 700 acres, situated on Chamber’s creek, in Swain county, and lying from three to six miles from the nearest railroad point, for the purpose of conducting a lumbering operation. Immediately after the purchase of the tract the plaintiff negotiated with the several landowners holding property between the tract purchased, and the railroad, for the purchase of a right of way extending from said timber tract to the railroad, as a location for a flume line, over which to transport his lumber, pulp, and acid wood to the railroad for shipment.