CHAP. 538.—An ACT to incorporate the Bristol and Northern
railroad company.

Approved March 1, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That A. D. Reynolds, Frederick B. Hubbell, John H. Din-
gee, H. W. Flournoy, John M. Wirgman, and J. Walter
White, or such of them as may accept the provisions of
this act, their associates, successors, and assigns be, and
they are hereby, incorporated and made a body politic and
corporate under the name and style of the Bristol and
Northern railroad company, and as such are authorized
and empowered to locate, construct, equip, and operate a
railroad, commencing at a point on the line between the
states of Virginia and Tennessee, in or near the town of
Bristol, and running thence by the most practicable route
through Little Moccasin gap and the counties of Washing-
ton, Scott, Russell, Dickenson, and Wise, or any of them,
to a point on the line between the states of Virginia and
Kentucky, at or near the Brakes of the Cumberland.

2. The said company shall have perpetual succession,
and have power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded,
defend and be defended in all courts, whether at law or in
equity, and may make and have a common seal, and alter
or renew the same at pleasure, and shall have, possess, and
enjoy all the rights and privileges of a corporation or body
politic in the law and necessary for the purposes of this
act.

3. The capital stock of the said company shall not be
less than fifty thousand dollars, and may from time to
time be increased to any amount not exceeding five mil-
lion dollars by issue and sale of shares, preferred or com-
mon stock, or both, upon such terms and conditions and
under such regulations as the board of directors of said
company shall prescribe, the par value of which shall be
not less than one hundred dollars; and the directors may
receive cash, labor, material, bonds, stock, real or personal
property, in payment of subscriptions to the capital stock,
at such valuation and at such prices as may be agreed
upon between the directors and the subscribers, and may
make such subscriptions payable in such manner or
amounts and at such times as may be agreed upon with
the subscribers; and whenever one hundred shares shall
have been subscribed to and the sum of ten thousand dol-
lars paid in cash, the subscribers, under the direction of
any five of the incorporators hereinbefore named, who
themselves shall be subscribers, may organize the said
company by electing a president and board of directors,
and by electing or providing for the appointment of such

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other officers as may be necessary for the control and man-
agement of the business and affairs of said company;
and thereupon they shall] have and exercise all the powers
and functions of a corporation under their charter and
the laws of this state.

4. It shall be lawful for said company to borrow money
and issue and sell its bonds from time to time for such
sums and on such terms as its board of directors may
deem expedient and proper for any of the purposes of the
company, and may secure the payment of said bonds by
mortgages or deeds of trust upon all or any portion of its
property, real or personal and mixed, its contracts and
privileges, and its chartered rights and franchises, includ-
ing its franchise to be a corporation; and it may, as the
business of the company shall require, sell, lease, convey,
and encumber the same.

5. It shall be lawful for said company to subscribe to
and hold shares in the capital stock of any mining, manu-
facturing, or other corporation; and any mining, manu-
facturing, or other corporation may subscribe to, guaran-
tee, or hold the stock or bonds of the said company.

6. The said company is authorized and empowered to
locate, construct, equip, and operate any lateral or branch
roads or tramways not to exceed twenty miles in length,
which a majority of its stockholders may determine to
construct, maintain, equip, and operate, and by such route
as may be determined by its board of directors; and the
said company may connector unite its said road with that of
any other company or companies, or consolidate and merge
its stock, property, and franchises with and into those of
any other company or companies operating or authorized to
operate a connecting line of railroad, not a competing
line, in this state or in the state of Tennessee or the
state of Kentucky, upon such terms and under such name
as may be agreed upon between the companies so uniting
or connecting, merging, or consolidating; and for that
purpose power is hereby given to it and to such other
company or companies to make and carry out such con-
tracts as will facilitate and consummate such connection,
merger, or consolidation, or any lease or sale: provided,
that a copy of every such contract of any consolidation
and merger be filed in the office of the board of public
works.

7. It shall be lawful for the company to acquire, by do-
nations or purchase, or by condemnation according to the
laws of this state, land for right of way, depots, stations,
and other purposes necessary for the successful construc-
tion and operation of its road through any of-the counties
where it is authorized to construct its line of road.

8. The said company shall be required to commence the
construction of said railroad within two years from the
passage of this act, and to complete the construction of
the main line within five vears thereafter, or otherwise
the powers, privileges, and franchises hereby granted shal]
be annulled and become void.

9. Each stockholder in the company sball, at all meet-
ings or elections, be entitled to one vote for each share of
stock registered in his name. And the president and
board of directors of said company may enact such by-
laws, rules, and regulations for the management of the
affairs of said company as they may deem proper and ex-
pedient.

10. The board of directors shal] be stockholders of said
company, and shall consist of such number as the stock-
holders may determine upon, and shall be elected at the
stockholders’ annual meeting, to be held on such days as
the by-laws of the company may direct, and shall con-
tinue in office for the term of one year from and after the
date of their election, and until their successors are elected
and accept the duties of the office, and they shall appoint
one of their number president; and in case of the death,
resignation, or incapacity of any member of the board of
directors during his term of office, the said board shall
elect his successor for the unexpired term.

11. Any county, town, or city along the line of said rail-
road, or any county adjoining another county through
which such line passes, may, pursuant to the general laws
of Virginia, subscribe to the capital stock of the said rail-
road company, and the said company is authorized to ac-
cept the same.

12. The board of directors may establish offices and
agencies at such places as they may deem proper, but the
principal office of the company shall be located in the
state.

13. All taxes due the commonwealth by said company
shall be paid in lawful money of the United States, and
not in coupons.

14. This act shall be in force from its passage, but the
general assembly of the state of Virginia reserves to itself
the right to modify, alter, or repeal this act at any time
hereafter.