Chap. 247.—An ACT to Incorporate the Virginia and Northwestern Rail-
road Company.

Approved July 9, 1870.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
William Milnes, Jr., Isaac Long, Peter B. Borst, Henry H.
Propes, Mann Spilter, and Reuben P. Bell, of Page county,
Virginia; Isaac G. E. Davis, James Beazley, Jr., Q. R. Hume,
George W. Mitchell, of Greene county, Virginia; John F.
Lewis, John C. Walker, Andrew B. Irick, P. S. Roller, Alger-
non 8S. Gray, Peter Paul, and George Chrisman, of Rocking-
ham county, Virginia; H. C. Cabell, Isaac Davenport, Jr.,
Wellington Goddin, Franklin Stearns, and William & Payne,
of the city of Richmond, Virginia; Joseph Skrigg, Samuel A.
McMechen, Isaac G. Mesh, John G. Hanness, and Henry G.
Davis, of West Virginia, or such of them as may accept the
provisions of this act, and such persons and corporations as
may become associated with them in the manner hereinafter
provided, shall be and they are hereby constituted a body
politic and corporate by the name of The Virginia and North-
western Railroad Company; and by that name shall have all
the powers, rights, and franchises necessary and proper to lo-
cate, construct, and maintain a railroad to be known as The
Virginia and Northwestern Railroad, to begin at Gordonsville,
on the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, in the county of Orange,
and to run thence, by the most practicable route, through the
county of Rockingham, and at or near the town of Harrison-
burg, in said county, to some point in said county on the Vir-
ini and West Virginia state line; whence the said road may

e extended through the #tate of West Virginia in such direc-
tion as to secure the most practicable and direct route from
Virginia to the Northwest.

2. That the capital stock of said company shall not exceed
the sum of ten millions of dollars, to be divided into shares of
one hundred dollars each; and whenever five hundred shares
shall have been subscribed, by persons or corporations, other
than internal improvement companies, under the direction of
any three of the corporators hereinbefore named, the subscri-
bers may organize the company by electing a president and
board of directors, and electing or appointing such other offi-
cers as may be necessary for the management of the affairs of
the company; and thereupon, they shall have and exercise all
the general powers and functions of a corporation, and be sub-
ject to all the restrictions imposed by the laws of this state,
applicable to internal improvement companies, except so far
as the same may be changed or modified by this act.

3. The capital stock of said company may be increased from
time to time by the board of directors, to such amount as they
may deem necessary for the interest of the company, not ex-
ceeding the maximum capital stock prescribed in this act; and
the board of directors of said company, to fully construct and
equip said railway, shall also have the power to issue bonds in
such sums, not less than one hundred dollars each, and bearing
interest, not exceeding the rate now allowed by law, payable,
principal and interest, at such times and places and in such
manner as may be deemed most advantageous to said com-
pany, and may secure the same by one or more mortgages on
the road, franchises, income, and the real and personal pro-
perty of the company, or such parts thereot as may be desig-
nated in the mortgage or mortgages. "

4. That it shall be lawful tor the said company to acquire,
In subscriptions to the capital stock of said company, or by
donation or otherwise, lands, mines, property, materials, or
labor, and to receive subscriptions from other companies, as-
sociations, and corporations, and to make such arrangements
as shall be mutually agreed upon by the respective boards of
direction of such companies, associations, and corporations,
for the endorsement of, sale, and exchange of stock and bonds
as to increase facilities for a speedy completion of said road;
and the said company may sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of,
any lands or other property acquired under this section, at
their pleasure.

d. The said railroad company shall haye power to build
branch and lateral roads, not exceeding ten miles each in
length, from their main line, to connect with any mines, lands,
works, or manufactories owned or operated by the said com-

any.

J 6. The said company shall allow any railroad already built,
or which may hereafter be built, to connect with its road; and
said company shall have the right to connect with, and to
cross either at or under or above grade, any railroad now or
hereafter to be constructed in the vicinity of the route thereof.
No discrimination shall be made in the charges of said com-
pany against the trade and travel of any connecting work;
but it shall jointly, with such connecting company or compa-
nies, make suitable arrangements for the convenient transfer
of freights from one road to the other, and, the gauge per-
mitting, for a free interchange of freight cars upon reasonable
terms; and no discrimination shall be made in the charges of
any connecting work against the trade and travel of the said
company. And if the connecting companies shall not be
able to agree upon terms as to such connection and transfer
of cars and freight, and as to arrangements for a fair pro
rating of charges, the question shall be referred to the board
of public works, and its decision shall be binding upon the
parties.

7. That said company may enter into arrangements with
any company connecting therewith, whether such company
connect at either terminus or at any other point along its line,
for the use of the necessary rolling stock, to be furnished to
said company; or for the lease of its road for a term not exceed-
ing twenty years upon any one contract of lease; or may con-
tract for the sale and transfer of all its property, rights, char-
ter, franchises, and stock, to any such connecting company:
provided, such sale or transfer be confirmed at any general
meeting by three-fifths of all the stockholders of said Virginia
and Northwestern railroad company.
8. That any county along the line of said road, or of any
connecting road, is hereby authorized, in the manner and under
the rules and regulations prescribed by law, to subscribe to
the capital stock of said company, each, an amount not exceed-
ing two hundred thousand dollars; and to this end, it shall be
the duty of the county courts of such counties, in, their dis-
cretion, to cause a vote to be taken, in a manner prescribed by
law, at such time as the president and directors of said Vir-

inia and Northwestern railroad company may ask; and to
issue bonds in such form, running such lengths of time and
bearing such rates of interest, and payable at such periods and
places, as the county courts of said county may determine ;
and to guarantee the payment of such bonds, so issued, when-
ever the qualified voters, in the manner above prescribed, shall
authorize.

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