Chap. 243.—An ACT to authorize the construction by the Piedmont soapstone
company of tramways or railroad not exceeding twenty-five miles in length,
and the encumbering and disposal of the same.

Approved February 6, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
Piedmont soapstone company, a corporation chartered and incorpo-
rated by order of the corporation court of the city of Charlottesville,
Virginia, entered on the twenty-third day of April, eighteen hundred
and ninety-five, and the charter of which is duly recorded in the
office of the secretary of the commonwealth, be, and the said com-
pany is hereby, authorized and empowered, in addition to its powers,
rights, and franchises granted in said charter, to construct, operate,
and maintain a tramroad or railroad from a point at or near Muster-
field ford. on Buffalo river, in the county of Nelson, either to some
point on the Virginia Midland railroad (sometimes called the South-
ern railway), in the county of Amherst or Nelson, or to some point
on the James river division of the Chesapeake and Obio railroad, in
said county of Nelson, or to both; and the said Piedmont soapstone
company shall be further authorized and empowered to construct.
operate, and maintain a railroad or tramroad from any property
which it may own or acquire in the counties of Nelson or Albemarle,
either to the said Virginia Midland railroad, or the said James river
division of the said Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, or to both; pro-
vided, however, that no railroad or tramroad to be constructed as
aforesaid under this charter shall be of greater length than twenty-
five miles; and for the purpose of constructing any such railroad or
tramroad, the said company may acquire lands by condemnation in
the modes prescribed by law, and shall be vested with all the powers,
rights, and franchises conferred by the general laws of the state
upon companies incorporated for works of internal improvement.
And the said company may encumber by deed of trust or mortgage,
and may lease or sell any such tramroad or railroad.

2. Any such railroad or tramroad may be operated by steam, horse,
or other power; and any tramroad which the said company is herein
authorized to construct may be constructed and operated along one
or more of the county roads of the counties aforesaid, the same to be
so built or constructed, however, only by authority of the county
court of the county in which said county road is situated, and in all
respects as provided in section one thousand of the code of Virginia
of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.

3. The work of the construction of any such railroad or tramroad
shall be completed within five years from the passage of this act.

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