Chap. 491.—An ACT to incorporate the Blue Ridge Springs and
Fincastle railroad company.

Approved February 29, [892

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That Francis E. Weston, secretary and treasurer of Crozer
iron company; R. R. Lansford, W. N. Mitchell, T. F. Weeks,
E. Burd Grubb, J. H. Lewis, T. E. Nininger, A. G. Preston,
P. F. Brown, I. R. Godwin, Alfred Beckley, J. H. H. Fig-
gat, and such other persons and corporations as may be
associated with them, shall be, and they are hereby, con-
stituted and declared to be a body politic and corporate by
the name, style, and title of Blue Ridge Springs and Fin-
castle railroad company, and by that name shall have per-
petual succession, and shall be capable of being sued and
of suing in all courts of law and equity. Said company
may have and use a common seal, which it may alter or
renew at pleasure, and may make and adopt ordinances,
by-laws, and regulations not inconsistent with the provis-
ions of this act, the laws of this state or of the United
States for the government of its officers and agents and
the proper conduct of its affairs.

2. That the company created by this act shall be, and it
is hereby, authorized and empowered to locate, construct,
maintain, equip and operate a railroad of one or more
tracks, of a standard gauge, to commence at an available
point on the Norfolk and Western railroad at or near the
Blue Ridge Springs, in Botetourt county, and extend
thence by such route as shall be by it deemed most ad-
vantageous, to a point at or near Fincastle, in said county,
with power from time to time, and either before or after
the completion of its principal line of railroad, to locate,
construct, maintain, equip and operate such lateral
branches from or extensions of its said main line not ex-
ceeding ten miles in length, as may be determined to be
expedient. The said company may commence the con-
struction of its road at any point or points on its contem-
plated line, and may equip and operate the part or parts
so constructed with the like effect as if its whole line was
then completed; and said company shal! have and possess
all necessary powers for constructing and completing the
works by this section authorized.

3. That the capital stock of said company shall not
exceed one hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into
shares of one hundred dollars each; and whenever fifty
shares of said stock shall have been subscribed for and
two dollars per share shall have been paid thereon, the
organization of the said company may be forthwith com-
pleted by the election of directors as hereinafter pro-
vided. The said company is authorized and empowered
from time to time to issue its bonds to such an amount as
it may consider necessary for the purpose of locating, con-
structing, maintaining, operating, and equipping its said
railroad and all branches and extensions thereof, and may
secure the same by one or more mortgages or deeds of
trust on its railroads, franchises, and income, and the real
and personal estate of said corporation, or such part or
parts thereof as may be designated in such mortgages or
deeds of trust respectively.

4. That it may be lawful for the said company to con-
nect its line of railroad with that of the Norfolk and West-
ern railway company, or with the line of any other railroad
which may be tapped, reached, or intersected by the Jine
of railroad of the said Blue Ridge Springs and Fincastle
railway, or any of its branches or extensions by this act
authorized, upon such terms and conditions as may be
agreed upon by the said last mentioned company and the
company owning and controlling the line of railroad so
tapped, reached, or intersected.

5. In the construction of its principal line of road, or
any branch or extension, the said company is authorized
to acquire title to a roadway not exceeding one hundred
feet in width, and such additional land for station or
terminal purposes as may be needed to accommodate its
business, and the said company is expressly empowered to
acquire title to all such lands by purchase, gift or condem-
nation.

6. The corporators mentioned in section one of this act,
or such of them as accept the provisions of this charter,
shall have and possess the power and authority of a presi-
dent and board of directors for the purpose of organization
of said company, and for all other purposes, until a presi-
dent and board of directors shall have been chosen as here-
inafter provided. The acts of a majority of the said cor-
porators shall be valid, and on all questions for their de-
termination a majority thereof shall possess the like powers
as if all were present. When fifty shares of stock shall
have been subscribed for, and two dollars per share paid
thereon as provided by section three of this act, the said
corporators, or a majority of them, shall call a meeting of
said subscribers at such time and place, and upon such
notice as to them shall seem proper, for the election of a
president and board of directors.

7. The affairs of the said company shall be managed
and conducted by a board consisting of a president and
four directors, or such other number of directors as shall
be prescribed by the by-laws. The president and directors
shall be chosen by the stockholders, and the president
shall be entitled to a vote at all meetings of the board.
There shall likewise be a vice-president, to be chosen by
the board from their own number, and a secretary and
treasurer (who may be the same person), and such other
officers and agents as the board shall determine. The du-
ties of the president, vice-president, secretary and treas-
urer shall be defined by the by-laws, and the duties and
responsibilities of all other officers and agents shall be de-
fined by the board. Annual meetings for theelection ofa
president and directors shall be held at such time and
place as shall be designated by the by-laws. A failure in
any year to hold such meetings and to elect a president
and directors shall not work a dissolution of the said cor-
poration or affect its legal status or existence, but the
president and directors then in office shal! continue there-
in with full power and authority until their successors
shall have been duly elected, and with full power to fill
any vacancy that may exist in their own number or in the
office of president by reason of death, refusal to serve, or
disability to perform the duties.

8. The said company, in the construction of its princi-
pal line of railroad, or any branch or extension thereof,
shall have (subject to the provisions of section one thou-
sand and ninety-four, chapter forty-six, code-of Virginia
of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven) the power to cross
at grade or over or under any other railroad now con-
structed, or which may be hereafter constructed, and
which may be crossed by its line of railroad or any branch
or extension thereof; and also the power to bridge with
suitable bridges any stream which may be crossed by its
said line of railroad, branches or extensions.

9. That the said company shall be and is invested with
and possessed of all the powers conferred upon railroad
corporations by the general Jaws of this state relating to
railway companies, and is subject to all the restrictions
of the same not inconsistent with this act.

10. The said company shall commence work within two
years, and otherwise the powers, privileges, and franchises
by this act granted and conferred shall cease, determine,
and become null and void.

11. This charter shall at all times be subject to amend-
ment or repeal at the pleasure of the general assembly;
and it is agreed that said company takes and accepts this
charter of incorporation upon the express understanding
and condition that the said corporation will pay all taxes,
dues, and demands due the state at any time hereafter in
lawful money of the United States, and will not tender or
pay coupons therefor.

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