Chap. 629.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to incor-
porate the Atlantic and western railroad company, approved March 4, 1898.

Approved March 65, 1900.

1. Be it enacted hy the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to incorporate the Atlantic and western railroad com-
pany, approved March fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, be
neat and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That William
J. "Payne. D. Q. Eggleston, E. W. Saunders, H. M. Turner, Edmund
Parr, S. T. Turner. B. S. Bedigo, J. P. Profit, R. O. Harvey, J. W.
Simmons, Peter Willis, W. H. Sutherland, W.S. Tipton, R. G. Wilkin-
son, 8. I. English, IE. F. Daniel, A. C. Painter, J. B. Waugh, J. W.
Vaughan, J. G. Davis, W.S. Hale, F. M. Young, S. F. Dobyns, James
Wilkinson, I. W. Early, or any five of them, who may accept the pro-
visions 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

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Atlantic and western railroad company, under which name it may sue
and be sued; plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with;
shall have perpetual succession and may make and have a corporate seal,
and alter and renew 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 commonwealth.

§ 2. It shall be lawful for said Atlantic and western railroad company
to construct, operate, and maintain in whole or in part, a line of rail-
way of standard or narrow gauge, with a single or double track, be-
gining at Rocky Mount, Virginia, and running in a westerly direction
through Franklin and Floyd counties, and from thence by the most
feasible route to a point on the Tennessee or Kentucky line, as may be
found most advantageous by actual survey. Beginning at the junction
of the Franklin and Pittsylvania railroad with the southern railway
between Danville and Lynchburg, said railroad may run in an easterly
direction to some point at or near the mouth of James river.

§ 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 rights, privileges, property, and franchises
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 it may merge, and for the purpose
aforesaid, consolidate the same, or any of them, with the said Atlantic
and western railroad company on such terms as may be agreed upon by
the contracting parties, and may adopt another name for the consoli-
dated company, full power and authority being hereby given such other
companies to make and carry out such consolidation and merger, but
said company shall never by reason of such merger or consolidation
with any company in this or other states, cease to be a domestic cor-
poration. Power is hereby given, and it shall be lawful for the Franklin
and Pittsylvania railroad company to dispose of its rights, privileges,
property, and franchises to said Atlantic and western railroad company,
and it shall be lawful for the county of Franklin, by and with the
consent of the board of supervisors of said county, to dispose of and
transfer by lease or sale, its interests in said Franklin and Pittsylvania
railroad company to said Atlantic and western railroad company.

§ 4. Said company or its successors may from time to time issue and
sell its common and preferred stock in shares of fifty dollars each, or
one hundred dollars each, as may be deemed most advantageous to the
interests of the company, to an amount not exceeding fifteen million
dollars, and upon such terms and at such price as may be authorized
by the stockholders. ,

§ 5. The said company may borrow money for its needs; may issue
and sell its bonds in whole or in part, and may secure the same by mort-
gages or deeds of trust upon its property and franchises or any part
thereof.

§ 6. To furnish a basis for raising capital it shall be lawful for said
company or its successor to receive grants and subscriptions in lands,
coal, iron, timber, material, and labor or services at their fair value,
upon such terms as may be agreed on with the board of directors of said
company, and it may make payment for same in its stock or bonds,
| may hold or sell the same at pleasure: provided, it shall not exceed
amount provided by the general law.
7. For the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad,
hall be lawful for any county, city, or town, by a vote of a majority
the voters voting, and a majority of the freeholders voting, in said
nty, city, or town, at the election ordered hereunder, to subscribe
the stock or bonds of said company under the terms and conditions
forth in the order of the court authorizing such vote, and such
nties, cities, or towns are hereby empowered to make such sub-
ption in the usual mode prescribed by law, and the board of super-
yrs or the council of such county, city, or town, as the case may be,
hereby empowered and directed to lay such a levy upon the real and
sonal property within such county, city, or town as may be necessary
provide for the interest and a sinking fund for the amount of the sub-
ption of said county, city, or town. Any such county, city, or town,
order to aid and encourage the construction of said road may, by a
ilar vote, rebate the county, city, or town taxes for such period as
y be named in order of the court authorizing such vote: provided,
rever, that nothing contained in this section shall apply to the county
Jarroll. It shall be lawful for any railroad company or other incor-
ated company to subscribe to the stock of, or aid in the construction
said Atlantic and western railroad, or may acquire the bonds of said
road company.
8. For the purpose of developing industries along its line, the said
ipany may own and develop any beds of coal or mineral, and may
scribe to or guarantee the stock or bonds of any mining, manufact-
ig, or development company, or loan money to such companies for
establishment of such industries.
9. ‘The said company shall have power to cross at grade over or
er any other railroad now constructed, or which shall hereafter be
structed, at any point on its route, in the manner prescribed by the
eral law of this state; to unite its road with any of said roads, and
snter upon the grounds of any such railroad companies with the
ssary sidings, switches and conveniences to facilitate the economical
1ange of passengers and traffic between the respective roads; all of
1 to be done in the mode prescribed by the law of this state, and
av also build branch lines not to exceed thirty miles in length.
10, No stockholder shall ever be held liable for the indebtedness of
company in a greater sum than may be due by him on stock sub-
ved for or purchased by him at the agreed price therefor.
11. The directors of said companv shall be stockholders, and the
etors shall elect from their number a president, and one or more
‘presidents; thev shall he elected and their number fixed by the
kholders in their annual meetings, and thev shall hold their office
| their successors are elected, and thev may fill any vacancy in their
ad; each stockholder shall be allowed to cast one vote, either in
on or by proxy. for each share of stock held by him.
12. Jn organizing said company the persons first named in this act.
ny five of them, shall constitute its first board of directors, and
| serve until its first meeting of stockholders, and three or more
aid incorporators may act, and may receive subscriptiona tq the
capital stock at any time and place; and when fifty thousand dollars
is subscribed they shall convene the stockholders and organize said com-
pany. At said meeting one of their number shall preside, and the chair-
man and secretary of such meeting shall certify on the books of the
company to the legal organization of said company. Said company shall
begin the work of constructing its railroad within two years from the
passage of this act, and shall complete within five years from the passage
of this act.

§ 13. All laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith are to that extent
hereby repealed.

§ 14. All taxes which may be assessed against said company shall be
paid in lawful money of the United States.

§ 15. This act shall be in force from its passage.