Chap. 180.—An ACT to incorporate the Buchanan and Clifton Forge
Railway Company, and to enable the James River and Kanawha
Company to Subscribe to the Capital Stock thereof.

Approved March 27, 1876.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the James
river and Kanawha company, with such other persons, coun-
ties or, municipal corporations, except the cities of Norfolk,
Lynchburg and Petersburg, as the said company may asso-
ciate with it, shall be and they are hereby made a body
politic and corporate, under the name and style of The
Buchanan and Clifton Forge Railway Company, for the pur-
pose of constructing a railroad from some point at or near
the town of Buchanan, in the county of Botetourt, to.some
point on the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, at or near Clif-
ton Forge, in the county of Alleghany; and that said .com-
pany shall be invested with all the rights, privileges and
powers conferred, and made subject to all the rules, regula-
tions and restrictions imposed on such corporations by the
existing laws of Virginia, not inconsistent with this act.

2. The capital stock of said company shall be not less than
four hundred thousand dollars, nor more than seven hundred
thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred
dollars each; and the owners of said stock shall be entitled,
in all meetings of stockholders, to one vote for each share of
stock owned by them.

3. Subscriptions to the capital stock of said company may
be made, subject to the provisions of the first section of this
act, by individuals, or by any county, city, or incorporated
town, except the cities of Norfolk, Lynchburg and Peters-
burg, in the manner prescribed by chapter sixty-one, Code of
eighteen hundred and seventy-three, notwithstanding such
subscriptions, in the case of a city or incorporated town, may
exceed the limit of indebtedness now prescribed by law, or
by the respective charters of said cifies and incorporated
towns, and such subscriptions shall not be taken into account
in estimating the indebtedness of such municipal corpora-
tions in reference to the limit of indebtedness now prescribed
by their respective charters; and the subscriptions of the
James river and Kanawha company may be paid in bonds
of the company, or in any other of its rights and property,
at such valuation as may be agreed on with the said railroad
company.

4, That for the purposes of its subscription to the capital
stock of said railway company, the James river and Kanawha
company is hereby authorized to issue its bonds, not to ex-
ceed in amount the sum of four hundred thousand dollars,
and to secure the sam® by granting a mortgage upon the
whole or any portion of its works, property, franchises and
net revenue, at the discretion of its president and directors;
which said mortgage shall constitute a first lien upon so much
of said works, property, franchises and net revenue as may
not be embraced in any mortgage heretofore executed: pro-
vided, that the mortgage authorized under this act shall not
uffect the first and second mortgages upon the James river
and Kanawha canal, its property and franchises. |

5. It shall be lawful for any county, city, or incorporated
town, except the cities of Norfolk, Lynchburg and Peterg-
burg, to guarantee the payment of the bonds which may be
issued under the mortgage provided for in the next preced-
ing section, or to guarantee the payment of the interest on
said bonds, or to exchange its bonds tor the bonds so to be
issued under said mortgage, to the said amount of four hun-
dred thousand dollars, or any part thereof, upon such terms
as may be agreed upon between such county, city or incor-
porated town, and the said James river and Kanawha com-
pany; but before any guarantee of said bonds, or of their.
interest, or any exchange of said bonds is made, the sense of
the qualified voters of such county, city, or incorporated
town shall be taken on the question, and if three-fifths of
those voting shall be in favor of said guarantee or exchange,
and if the said three-fifths shall include a majority of the
votes entitled to be cast by freeholders at such election, and
a majority of the registered voters of the county, city, or in-
corporated town, then said guarantee or exchange may be
made by said county, city or incorporated town, notwith-
standing such guarantee or exchange, in the case of a city or
incorporated town, may exceed the limit of indebtedness or
liability now prescribed by law, or by the respective charters
of said cities and incorporated towns; and the debt or lia-
bility which any city or incorporated town may assume or
incur, or guarantee under this act, shall not be taken into
account in estimating its indebtedness or liability in refer-
ence to said limit. In taking the sense of the qualified voters
as aforesaid, and in the making and perfecting of such guar-
antes or exchange, the provisions of chapter sixty-one of the
Code of eighteen hundred and sevénty-three, regulating sub-
scriptions by counties, cities and towns to works of internal
improvement, shall govern so far as the same are not incon-
sistent with this act.

6. It shall be lawful for said railway company to borrow
money to aid in the construction and equipment of its road,
and for that purpose to mortgage its works, property and
franchises, to an amount not exceeding four hundred thou-
sand dollars. |

7. The said railway company shall build and maintain a
suitable connecting branch or turnout to connect with the
line of the James river and Kanawha company, at or near
Pattonsburg or Buchanan, and at joint expense with said
company, shall build and maintain suitable fixtures for
weighing and transferring freights from one line to the other.
Such transfer of freights shall be under the joint manage-
ment of the two companies, unless otherwise agreed upon,
and shall be at cost, including a fair sum for wear and tear.
And the said railway company shall transport over its line,
or any part of it, and deliver to the James river and Kanawha
company, any freight destined for the canal of said company,
at as low arate per ton per mile, and at as good speed as it
Shall transport similar freight from the same points to any
other connecting line, or to its eastern terminus; and shall
receive from said James river and Kanawha company, at or
near Pattonsburg or Buchanan, any freight offered, and
transport it at as low a rate per ton per mile, and at as good
speed as similar freight is received and transported from any
other connecting line destined for the same paints on or be-
yond its line: provided, however, that the said James river
and Kanawha company shall in like manner show no dis-
crimination against the said railway company.

8. The said railway company shall have the right to con-
nect the work of internal improvement, as provided in this
act, with the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, at or near Clif-
ton Forge, and shall be entitled to all the benefits, immuni-
ties and privileges reserved and secured by the seventh sec-
tion of an act entitled an act to provide for the completion
of a line or lines:of railroad from the waters of the Chesa-
peake to the Ohio river, passed March first, eighteen hundred
and sixty-seven, and the gauge of the said Buchanan and
Clifton Forge railway shall conform to that of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio railroad.

9. The location or construction of said railway shail not
interfere with the line of the James river and Kanawha
eanal, or its proposed enlargement or improvement, without
the consent of the James river and Kanawha company; but
it shall be lawful for said company to grant to the Buchanan
and Clifton Forge railway company, the right to use and oc-
cupy any of its works and property, and any portion of the
line of its location west of Buchanan, upon such terms, con-
ditions And limitations, as may by contract be agreed upon
between the two companies: provided, however, that nothing
in this act shall in any way be construed as interfering with
the extension of the James river and Kanawha canal west of
Buchanan; and that the James river and Kanawha company
shall make no contract by which the right to its line of loca-
tion shall be granted to said railway company, except upon
such terms as.shall reserve the right to remove said. railway
or any part thereof which may conflict with the location of
the canal extension, whenever hereafter such extension shall
be determined upon by the James river and Kanawha com-
pany, its succefsors or assigns. But, in the event of such re-
moval, the James river and Kanawha company shall pay to
the said railway company the full amount of damage occa-
sioned thereby, if such amount can be agreed upon between
the two companies, and if not so agreed on, then the value of
the said railway shall be ascertained by three disinterested
appraisers, one to be chosen by the James river and Kanawha
company, one by the stockholders of the Buchanan and Clif-
ton Forge railway company, other than the James river and
Kanawha company, and the third by the two so chosen; and
thereupon the work and franchises of said railway company
shall belong to and become absolutely vested in the James
river and Kanawha company.

10. The said railway shall be commenced within eight
months, and completed within twenty months from the pass-
age of this act; and if the company organized under this
charter shall, in accordance with its provisions, make a con-
nection between the James river and Kanawha canal, and
the Chesapeake and Ohio railway, it shall for the period of
thirty years have an exclusive right to said connection, and
no franchises or privileges shall, during said period, be granted
to or enjoyed by any parallel railway along said line, or within
five miles thereof: provided, the James river and Kanawha
canal is not completed to Clifton Forge before the expiration
of that period.

11. The governor of the state is hereby authorized to
furnish the James river and Kanawha company at his dis-
cretion, free of hire, so much convict labor from the peni-
tentiary of the state as he may deem proper, and upon
such conditions as to safe-keeping as may in his opinion be
necessary; such labor to be used by the said railway com-
pauy, or its contractors, in the construction of their works
under this charter, under such contract for the said labor
with the James river and Kanawha company as may be
agreed upon by the two companies: provided, tbat nothing
contained in this act shall be construed to interfere with
the provisions of any contract now in force: and provided
further, that all existing contracts for the hire of convicts
shall continue in full force, so long as the terms of said con-
tract are complied witb, until they expire by their own
limitation: and provided further, that nothing in this act
shall be construed to prevent a renewal of the present con-
tract with the Old Dominion granite company, should said
company wish said renewal.
12. Books of subscription may be opened as provided by
law, under the direction and supervision of C.S. Carrington,
T. W. McCance, F. Stearns, M. U. Straus, T.S. Bocock, James
M. Booker, John W. Johnston and Edward Dillon, or any
three of them, in the city of Richmond or elsewhere in the
state, at such times and places as they may think proper:
provided, however, that no subscription to the steck of the
company intended to be organized under the provisions of
this act, shall be allowed to be made without the consent of
the board of directors of the James river and Kanawha com-
pany, nor shall any subscription to the stock of said company
be allowed to be made by any party other than the James
river and Kanawha company, and the counties and munici-
pal corporations of the state at any time, if the aggregate of
the stock taken by said James river and Kanawha company,
and the counties and municipal corporations of the state,
shall not constitute a majority of the whole stock subscribed.

13. That the act approved March twenty, eighteen hun-
dred and seventy-five, entitled an act to incorporate the
Buchanan and Clifton Forge railway company, and the act
approved March twenty-nine, eighteen hundred and seventy-
five, entitled an act to authorize the James river and Ka-
nawha canal company to execute a mortgage and to subscribe
to the capital stock of the Buchanan and Clifton Forge rail-
way’ company, and to authorize the city of Richmond to
guarantee such subscription in whole or in part, be and the
same are hereby repealed.

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