In the Tilton et al. v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co., 1963, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a railroad company could be held liable for damages caused by sparks from one of its trains igniting flammable materials on nearby property. The plaintiffs, owners of a sawmill in Arkansas, alleged that their mill was destroyed when sparks from a passing train ignited sawdust and other combustible material on their property. They argued that under Arkansas law, railroads were strictly liable for fires started by locomotives. The case hinged on an interpretation of federal laws regulating interstate commerce which preempted state laws imposing liability without fault upon railroads for fire damage caused by locomotive engines. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company stating that federal law preempts state law in this matter and as such strict liability could not be imposed upon them based solely on operation causing accidental fire damage to adjacent properties unless negligence can be proven.

In the dissenting opinion for Tilton et al. v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co., it was argued that the majority's decision to allow a railroad company to be held liable for damages caused by sparks from its locomotives, despite compliance with state laws and regulations regarding spark arrestors, set a dangerous precedent. The dissenting justices believed this ruling effectively nullified any protection provided by these laws and could potentially expose railroads to an unlimited number of lawsuits without clear guidelines on how they could protect themselves from liability. They also expressed concern about the potential impact on interstate commerce if each state were allowed to impose its own standards of care upon railroads operating within their borders, which would create an inconsistent patchwork of rules that companies would have difficulty navigating.