CHAP. 190.—An ACT to incorporate the Chesapeake, Fredericks-
burg and Western railroad company.

Approved February 7, 1890.

i

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That Judson J. Embrey, P. V. D. Conway, and W. A.
Little, junior, of the state of Virginia, and Levi E. Thorne
and Edwin Bolitho, of the state of New York, their asso-
clates, successors, and assigns be, and they are hereby,
made and declared.a body politic and corporate by the
name and style of the Chesapeake, Fredericksburg and
Western railroad company.

2. The capital stock of said company shall be five mil-
lions of dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars
each, and may from time to time be increased by the
board of directors, with the consent of a majority of the
stockholders, to any amount not exceeding ten millions of
dollars.

8. The said Chesapeake, Fredericksburg and Western
railroad company is authorized and empowered to locate,
construct, equip, and operate a railroad of standard gauge,
with a single or double track, commencing at any point
it may select on or near tidewater, in the counties of Glou-
cester, Mathews, or Middlesex, and running thence by the
most practical, eligible, and direct route deemed advisa-
ble by the directors of said company, by way of Fred-
ericksburg to such point as it may elect on the West Vir-
ginia state line within the counties of Rockingham or
Augusta. And it shall be lawful for said company to
construct and maintain lateral or branch roads of stand-
ard or narrow gauge mot exceeding fifty miles each in
length, which shall have all the rights and powers and be
subject to the same restrictions as the main line.

4. The said company shall have power to purchase and
lease boats, barges, and vessels, either steam or sail, and
to operate the same in connection with its lines of rail-
road for the transportation of freight and passengers, and
otherwise to facilitate its trade and commerce.

- §. The said company shall have power to borrow money
or issue and sell its bonds from time to time on such
terms as its board of directors may deem proper and nec-
essary in the prosecution of any of its work; and to
secure the payment of said loan or loans, or bonds, the
said company may create one or more mortgages or deeds
of trust on the whole or any part of its property, chartered
rights, and franchises.

6. The said company may receive subscriptions to its cap-
ital stock in land, property, materials, and equipment at
such valuation and upon such terms as may be agreed
upon between the said company and the subscribers, and
may exchange its bonds therefor; and may hold, improve,
sell, or convey at pleasure all lands go acquired: provided,
that said company shall not hold land not needed for the
purposes of its incorporation for a longer period than
twenty years.

7. Any county, city, or town on or near the line of railroad

of said company, or any branch thereof, may subscribe to
its capital stock, in the mode prescribed by law, to the
amount of sixty thousand dollars, .
- 8. The said company shall have power to cross at grade
over or under any other railroad now constructed, or which
shall be hereafter constructed within this state, at any
point on its route, subject to the provisions of the general
law of this state; to unite its road with any of said roads
and to enter upon the grounds of such railroad companies
with the necessary turnouts, sidings, switches, and con-
veniences in furtherance of the objects of its construction,
as well as to facilitate the economical exchange of pas-
sengers and traffic between the respective roads: provided,
that the acquisition of any of the real estate of another
company shall bein the mode prescribed by the law of
this state.

9. It shall be lawful for said company to consolidate
with or to lease or purchase the works, property, franchises,
and privileges of any other railroad company, not a com-
peting line heretofore incorporated, or which shall be
hereafter incorporated, in or out of the state of Virginia,
whose line of railroad connects or will connect with the
railroad hereby authorized to be constructed; and any
railroad company heretofore incorporated in the state of
Virginia, whose line of road connects or will connect with
the railroad hereby authorized to be constructed, or which
lies along its route so as to be used as a part of its main
line, or in lieu of such lateral or branch road as this com-
pany is authorized to construct, is hereby authorized to
consolidate with or to sell or lease its works, property, fran-
chises, and privileges to the said Chesapeake, Fredericks-
burg and Western railroad company: provided, that such
consolidation, lease, purchase, or sale shall be made only
upon such terms and conditions as shall be agreed upon
by a majority of the stockholders in each of the said
companies: and provided, further, that the company
hereby incorporated shall never, by reason of consolida-
tion with any other company, lose its identity or cease to
be a domestic corporation subject to the jurisdiction of
the courts of this state.

10. The corporators named in this act shall constitute
the board of directors for the first year, and shall continue
in office until their successors shall be elected and quali-
fied. They shall have the power and authority of a presi-
dent and board of directors for the purpose of organization
and for all other purposes incidental thereto. They shall
elect one of their number president of the board, and
may appoint such officers as they may deem proper. They
shall fill any vacancy that may occur in the board or in
the office of president, and may receive subscriptions to
the capital stock of the company. Whenever one hundred
thousand dollar’ of the capital stock shall have been sub-
ecribed, the board of directors shall proceed to organize
the company by the election of a president, vice-president,
secretary, treasurer, and such other officers and agents as
may be required. . Thereupon the said company shall be
considered legally organized, and shall have all the gen-
eral powers conferred upon corporations and chartered
companies by the laws of this state, and shall be subject
to all the provisions thereof, except so far as the same are
modified or are inconsistent with this act.

11. The board of directors of said company is author-
ized at any meeting, when a majority of the directors are
present, if they deem it advisable, to change the name of
said company.

12. The said company is required to commence the con-
struction of its railroad within two years, and to complete
the construction of its main line within five years from
the date of the passage of this act.

13. All taxes which may be assessed against said com-
pany shall be paid in lawful money of the United States
and not in coupons.

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