Chap. 242.—An ACT to incorporate the Chesapeake and West
Virginia railroad company.

Approved February 16, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That Francis O. French, Hugh R. Garden, J. J. Deery, T.
A. Beall, and H. D. Garden, of New York; P. Hevner, of
Philadelphia; and William P. DeSaussure, W. W. Wood-
ward, C. M. White, J. R. Marchant, Maryus Jones, James
N. Stubbs, William Campbell, C. B. Jones, C. E. Nicol, and
Chancellor Baily, of Virginia, or any three of them that
may accept the provisions of this act, their associates and
successors, be, and they are hereby, made a body politic
and corporate, under the name and style of the Chesa-
peake and West Virginia railroad company, under which
name it may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded,
contract and be contracted with; shall have perpetual suc-
cession, and may have a corporate seal and alter and re-
new the same at pleasure; and may make by-laws and
regulations for the government of said company and its
employees, not inconsistent with the laws of this com-
monwealth.

2. It shall be lawful for said Chesapeake and West Vir-
ginia railroad company to construct, operate, and main-
tain a line of railway, of standard or narrow gauge, with
single or double track, from some point on the Chesapeake
bay, or the estuaries thereof, in the counties of Gloucester,
Mathews, or Middlesex, thence by the most practicable
and desirable route in a westerly direction to such a gap
in the Blue Ridge mountain, lying between and inclusive
of Brown’s and Manassas gap, as may be found by actual
survey to be the most practicable and eligible for this
company’s line; thence to any point on the West Virginia
line bounding on the counties of Highland, Augusta,
Rockingham, or Shenandoah, as may hereafter be ascer-
tained to be to the best interests of this company in pass-
ing through the gaps of the Shenandoah range of moun-
tains into West Virginia. In constructing its railroad it
shall be lawful for said company to cross and recross the
state line into and out of said states of Virginia and West
Virginia as often as if may be deemed necessary, upon
such terms as the state entered may require, and construc-
tion may begin at either or both ends of said line or any
intermediate points thereof.

3. In order to secure a continuous line of railroad, to be
operated under one management without change of cars or
break of bulk, said company may acquire the franchises,
rights, privileges and property of other chartered railroad
companies connecting with its line in this and other
states, or which may hereafter be chartered by exchanging
its stock or by purchase or lease, and if may merge, and
for the purpose aforesaid consolidate the same or any of
them with the said Chesapeake and West Virginia railroad
company, on such terms as may be agreed upon by the
contracting parties, and may adopt another name for the
consolidated company, full power and authority being
hereby given such other companies to make and carry out
such consolidation and merger, provided it shall not merge
or consolidate with any other parallel or competing line.
Said company is authorized to lease, purchase and own
steamboats, barges and other water crafts propelled by
steam or other motive power, to be operated in connection
with its line of railroad for the transportation of freight
and passengers.

4, Said company or its successor may from time to time
issue and sell common and preferred stock in shares of
one hundred dollars each, to an amount not to. exceed
twenty million dollars for such of its main line and
branches as may be constructed in this state, and upon
such terms and at such prices as its board of directors
may direct; and it, or its successor, may issue and sell its
bonds upon like terms at any time before the issue and dis-
posal of its common or preferred stock, in whole or in part,
and may secure the same by mortgages or deeds of trust
upon its franchises and property, or any part thereof
5. To furnish a basis for raising capital it shall be law-
ful for said company or its successor to receive grants and
subscriptions in lands, coal, iron, timber and material at
their fair value, upon such terms as may be agreed upon
with the board of directors, and it may exchange its stock
or bonds therefor and may hold or sell the same at plea-
sure: provided said company shall not hold said lands
more than thirty years from the completion of the road.

6. It shall be lawful for any railroad company, incor-
porated company, , county, city or town to aid in the con-
struction of said Chesapeake and West Virginia railroad,
and for that purpose may subscribe to its capital stock, or
that of its successor, and may acquire bonds of said com-
pany under such restrictions as are prescribed by law.
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 roads with any of
said roads, and to enter upon the grounds of such railroad
companies with the necessary turnouts, sidings, switchings
and conveniences in furtherance of the objects of its con-
struction, as well as to facilitate the economical exchange
of passenger and traffic between the respective roads: pro-
vided, that the acquisition of any of the real estate of
another company shall be in the mode prescribed by the
law of this State.

7. The said company may have the right to acquire and
own, for thirty years from completion of said road, by
purchase or lease, any quarries, mines, coal beds, lumber
yards, tanneries, furnaces and rolling mills, and erect and
operate, leage or sell the same in any of the counties
through which its road may pass, or in any adjoining
county; provided, that not more than thirty thousand
acres of land so acquired shall be held or owned in any
one of said counties.

8. No stockholder shall ever be held liable for the
indebtedness of said company in a sum greater than may
he due on stock subscribed for or purchased by him at the
agreed price therefor.

9. The directors of said company shall be stockholders,
and they shall elect one of their number president; they
shall be elected, and their number fixed by the stock-
holders in their annual meetings, and they shall hold
their office until their successors are elected, and they
may fill any vacancy in their board; each stockholder
Bhall be allowed to cast one vote, either in person or by
proxy, for each share of stock owned by him.

10. For the purpose of organizing said company, the

rsons first named in this act shall constitute its first

ard of directcrs, and shall serve until its firat meeting
of stockholders, and three or more may act, and may re-
ceive subscriptions to the capital stock at any time and
place; and when the sum of fifty thousand dollars is
subscribed, they shall convene the stockholders and or-
ganize said company. At said meeting one of their num-
ber shall preside, and they shall certify said organization
on the books of the company, and their certificate, or a
copy thereof, duly authenticated by a notary public, shall
be received as evidence of the legal organization of said
company. Said company, or its successors, shall begin
the work of constructing its railroad within two years
from the passage of this act, and shall complete its main
line in this state within five years from the beginning of
construction.

11. Said company, or its successor, shall never, by
reason of any merger or consolidation with any company
in this or any other state cease to be a domestic corpora-
tion, but shall forever be and remain subject to the juris-
diction of the courts of this commonwealth.

12. All taxes which may be assessed against said com-
pany, shall be paid in lawful money of the United States.

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