69-14-513. Lease or purchase of other railroads. (1) Any railroad corporation, whether chartered by or organized under the laws of Montana, the United States, or any other state, may lease or purchase the whole or any part of the railroad or rail line of any railroad corporation, constructed or unconstructed, together with all the rights, powers, immunities, privileges, franchises, and all other property or appurtenances to the railroad or rail line. The railroad company of any other state of the United States that purchases or leases a railroad or any part of a railroad in this state:
     (a) possesses and may exercise and enjoy, as to the control, management, and operation of the road, all the rights, powers, privileges, and franchises possessed by railroad corporations organized under the laws of this state, including the exercise of the power of eminent domain, as provided in Title 70, chapter 30; and
     (b) shall establish and maintain an office or offices in this state at some point or points on its line at which legal process and notice may be served, as upon railroad corporations of this state.
     (2) Any railroad company may sell or lease the whole or any part of its railroad or branches within this state, constructed or to be constructed, together with all property and rights, privileges, and franchises pertaining to the railroad or branches, to any railroad company organized or existing pursuant to the laws of the United States, this state, or any other state of the United States.
     (3) All roads or branches of a railroad in this state, whether purchased or leased, are subject to taxation and to regulation and control by the laws of this state in all respects as if the line were constructed by corporations organized under the laws of this state.
     (4) Before any lease or purchase is effective, the lease or purchase must be assented to or approved or ratified by the stockholders of each corporation by a vote in favor of the lease or purchase, at a general or special meeting of stockholders, by the holders of a majority of all the outstanding capital stock of the company.

     History: En. Sec. 704, 5th Div. Comp. Stat. 1887; re-en. Sec. 912, Civ. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 4923, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 6525, R.C.M. 1921; Cal. Civ. C. Sec. 473a; re-en. Sec. 6525, R.C.M. 1935; R.C.M. 1947, 72-223(part); amd. Sec. 46, Ch. 43, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 49, Ch. 125, L. 2001.