Chap. 446.—An ACT to incorporate the Russell Fork and eastern railroad
company.

Approved February 20, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That John D.
H. Ross, A. 8S. Buford, T. P. Trigg, John B. Moon, Horace G. Buchanan,
Douglas H. Gordon, D. C. W. Thom, B. A. Simmons, and Isaac H. Wing,
or any five of them who may accept the provisions of this act, their asso-
ciates and successors, be, and they are hereby, made a body politic and
corporate, under the name and style of the Russell Fork and eastern rail-
road 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 renew the same at
pleasure, and may make by-laws and regulations for the government of
itself and its employees not inconsistent with the laws of this common-
wealth, and in such by-laws may prescribe how such by-laws may be
amended or repealed.

2. It shall be lawful for said Russell Fork and eastern railroad com-
pany to construct, operate, and maintain a line of railway of standard
or narrow gauge, with single or double track, from some point on the
line dividing the states of Virginia and Kentucky at or near the breaks
of Russell Fork of Sandy river, as may be deemed most expedient, in
the county of Dickenson or Buchanan; thence by the most desirable and
practicable route through either or both of said counties and the addi-
tional counties of Russell, Wise, and Washington, or any one or more of
said counties, to a connection with the line of the Norfolk and western
reilway, or any other railroad, at any point in any of the said counties
found hereafter to be desirable. The construction of the said road may
begin at either or both ends of said line or any intermediate points
thereof.

3. Said company or its successors may, from time to time, issue and
sell common or preferred stock, or both, in shares of one hundred dollars
($100) each, to an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000), and upon such terms and at such prices as its board of
directors may direct; and it may take in payment for its stock sold or sub-
scribed, money, supplies, or property of any kind which, in the discretion
of the board of directors, may seem proper; and it or its successors may
issue and sell its bonds upon like terms at any time before or after the is-
suance and disposal of its common or preferred stock, in whole or in part.
and may secure the same by mortgages or deeds of trust upon its fran-
chises or any or all of its property, whether real, personal, or mixed.
4, It shall be lawful for any railroad company, incorporated com-
peny, county, state, or town to aid in the construction of said Russell
Fork and eastern railroad, and for that purpose may subscribe to or
purchase its capital stock or that of its successor, and may acquire bonds
os said company under such restrictions as are prescribed by law.

5. Said company shall have the right to acquire and own by purchase
or lease, any lands, quarries, mines, coal beds, standing timber or trees,
lumber yards, tanneries, pulp and paper mills, furnaces, rolling mills,
machine-works, and wharves, and erect and operate, use, develop, lease
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 fifty thousand
acres of land so acquired shall be held, or owned in any one of said
counties, and it shall have the power to construct, maintain, and equip
and operate such branch roads as the board of directors may from time
to time determine upon, running from points on its main line in any
direction: provided, any such branch shall not exceed twenty (20) miles
in length.

6. No stockholder in said company shall ever be held liable for the
indebtedness of said company in a sum greater than may be due on stock
subscribed for by him.

7. The directors of said company shall be stockholders, and they shall
elect one of their members president, and may elect one or more vice-
presidents. The directors shall be elected, and their number, to be not
less than five, fixed by the stockholders in their annual meetings, or as
prescribed by the by-laws of the company, and they shall hold their office
until their successors are elected, and they may fill any vacancy in their
board. Each stockholder shall be allowed to cast one vote, either in
person or by proxy, for each share of stock owned by him.

8. For the purpose of organizing said company, the persons first named
in this act as incorporators, a majority of them concurring, may act and
receive subscriptions to the capital stock at any time or place, and when
the sum of five thousand dollars is subscribed, they shall convene the
stockholders for organization by the election of directors, the adoption
of by-laws, and the transaction of other business deemed necessary. At
said meeting one of their number 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 road within two
years and complete the same within five years from the passage of this
act.

9. Said company may unite and consolidate its road, property, and
franchises with those of any other company owning and operating a
railroad connecting or intended to connect with its line upon such
terms as shall be approved and authorized by the stockholders of the
respective companies so uniting; but said company, or its successors, shall
never, by reason of any merger or consolidation with any company in
this or any other state, cease to be a domestic corporation, but shall
forever be and remain subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this
commonwealth.

10. The said company upon the written request of any owner of
land, timber, or coal along its line or through which it may be con-
structed, shall construct and place along its tracks and on and over its
right of way, at suitable and convenient points or intervals therefor, all
necessary and proper sidings, side-tracks, and switches with which such
land, coal, and timber owner may connect for the purpose of loading and
shipping coal, timber, lumber, and other freight, and the construction
of such sidings, side-tracks, and switches shall be commenced by this
company, its successors or assigns within sixty days after such request
is made, and prosecuted with due diligence to completion, the actual ex-
pense thereof to be borne and paid by said applicant in advance, or as
required therefor by said company; and this company shall, as a common
culrier, furnish cars and transportation for such coal, timber, and other
products as such owner or his lessee shall desire to have transported,
and such railroad when constructed may connect with the road of the
Norfolk and western railway company, or of any other company reached
by it under this charter, and the said road shall allow and provide all
usual, sufficient, and necessary facilities for such connection, and shall
receive and transport the coal, timber, and other freights received at
as low a rate of charges and as expeditiously as for other shippers of like
freights on the said road without discrimination in any way against the
said shippers therefrom.

11. All taxes which may be assessed against said company, or its suc-
cessors, shall be paid in lawful money of the United States.

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