Chap. 494.—An ACT to incorporate the Potomac Western rail-
road company.

Approved March 4, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia
That R. T. Barton, C. M. Gibbons, James B. Russell, E
Holmes Boyd, and Charles F. Nelson, their associates.
successors, and assigns, be and they are hereby incorpo-
rated and made a body politic and corporate under the
name and style of the Potomac Western railroad company.
and by that name shall be known in law.

2. The said company shall have perpetual succession
and shall have power to sue and be sued, plead and _ be
impleaded, defend and be defended in all courts, whethe1
in law or in equity, and may make and have a common
seal, and alter or renew the same at pleasure, and shal.
have, possess, and enjoy all the rights and privileges of
corporation or body politic in the law and necessary fo!
the purposes of this act. |

3. The said company is hereby authorized and empow.
ered to locate, construct, equip, and operate a railroac
commencing at a point on or near the Potomac river, op.
posite to or in the vicinity of Washington, District 0:
Columbia, or at a point to be hereafter determined upor
on the line of a road already constructed to a point on the
Potomac river opposite Washington, District of Columbia,
running thence to a point on the line of the Shenandoah
Valley railroad company to be hereafter determined by
the stockholders and directors of this company, and ex-
tending thence to the West Virginia state line by such
route as may be deemed most advisable by the directors
of this said company; and this said company is hereby
authorized and empowered to locate, construct, equip, and
operate any part ot said line.

4. The capital stock of said company shall not be less
than twenty thousand dollars, and may from time to time
he increased to any amount not exceeding two millions of
dollars by issue and sale of shares, under such regulations
as the board of directors of said company shall prescribe,
the par value of which shall not be less than one hundred
dollars; and the directors may receive cash, labor, mate-
rial, bonds, stocks, real estate, or personal property in
payment of subscriptions to the capital stock, at such
valuation'as may be agreed upon with the subscribers;
and whenever one hundred shares shall have been sub-
scribed to, and the sum of ten thousand dollars paid in
cash, the subscribers, under the direction of the incorpo-
rators hereinbefore named, who themselves shall be sub-
scribers, may organize the said company by electing a
president and board of directors, and by electing or pro-
viding for the appointment of such other officers as may be
necessary for the contro] and management of the business
and affairs of said company; and thereupon they shall
have and exercise all the powers and functions of a cor-
poration under their charter and the laws of this state.

5. It shall be lawful for said company to borrow money
and issue and sell its bonds: from time to time for such
sums and on such terms as its board of directors may
deem expedient and proper in the prosecution of any of
its work, and may secure the payment of said bonds by
mortgages or deeds of trust upon all or any portion of its
property, real, personal, and mixed, its contracts and priv-
ileges, and its chartered rights and franchises, including
its franchise to be a corporation, and it may, as the busi-
ness of the company shall require, sell, lease, convey, and
encumber the same. .

6. It shall be lawful for said company to subscribe to
and hold shares in the capital stock of any mining, manu-
facturing, or other corporation, and any mining, manufac-
turing, or other corporation may subscribe. to, guarantee,
or hold the stock or bonds of the said company.

7. The said company is authorized and empowered to
locate, construct, equip, and operate any lateral or branch
roads or tramways not exceeding thirty miles each in
length, which a majority of its stockholders may deter-
mine to construct, maintain, equip, and operate, and by
such route as may be determined by its board of direc-
tors; and the said company may unite or connect its said
road with that of any other company or companies, or
consolidate and merge its stock, property, and franchises
with, or acquire by purchase those of any other company
or companies operating, or authorized to operate, a con-
necting line of railroad, upon such terms and under such
name as may be agreed upon between the companies so
uniting or connecting, merging, or consolidating; and for
that purpose power is hereby given to it and to such other
company or companies to make and carry out such con-
tracts ag will facilitate and consummate such connection,
merger, consolidation, or purchase: provided, that a copy
of every such contract of consolidation, merger, or pur-
chase be filed in the office of the board of public works.

8. The company may acquire by condemnation, accord-
ing to the laws of Virginia, the lands required for the
right of way of its railroads, and the necessary stations
and depots for its operation.

9. The said company shall be required to commence the
construction of the said railroad within two years from
the passage of this act, and to complete the construction
of not less than ten miles thereof within ten years there-
after; otherwise the powers, privileges, and franchises
hereby granted shall be ipso facto void.

10. Each stockholder of the company shall at all meet-
ings or elections be entitled to one vote for each share of
stock registered in his name. And the president and
board of directors of said company may enact such by-
laws, rules, and regulations for the management of the
affairs of said company as they may deem proper and
expedient. ,

11. The board of directors shall be stockholders of said

company, and shall consist of such members as the stock-
holders may determine upon, and shall be elected at the
stockholders’ annual meeting, to be held on such day as
the by-laws of the company may direct, and shall continue
in office for the term of one year from and after the day
of their election, and until their successors are elected and
accept the duties of the office; and they shall appoint one
of their number,president, and in case of the death, resig-
nation, or incapacity of any member of the board of direc-
tors during his term of office, the said board shal] elect his
successor for the unexpired term.
- 12, Any county, town, or city along the line of said rail-
road, or any county adjoining another county through
which such line passes, may, pursuant to the general laws
of Virginia, subscribe to the capital stock of said railroad
company, and the said company is authorized to accept
the same. |
13. Whenever the corporation shall exercise any of the
privileges conferred by this act, it shall be liable to the
same taxes as may be imposed by the law upon other like
corporations or persons exercising like privileges; and all
taxes due the commonwealth by said company shall be
paid in lawful money of the United States and not in
coupons.

14. This act shall be in force from its passage. *