With the Central of Georgia, the East Tennessee, and the Richmond & Danville under its control the Richmond Terminal could look for still further extension. In 1890 it acquired control of the Erlanger group of roads from Cincinnati in the north to Chattanooga, thence to Meridian, Mississippi, thence to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and to Shreveport, Louisiana. At the same time it took in the Louisville Southern, which joined Louisville with the Cincinnati lines.[342] In 1888 the Richmond & Danville had concluded a close alliance with the Atlantic Coast Line,[343] and arrangements had been made for terminal facilities at Norfolk.[344] In 1889 it leased the Georgia Pacific, and two years later, when this road reached Arkansas City, it executed a traffic agreement with the Missouri Pacific.[345] In 1891 the Georgia Pacific leased the Central Railroad & Banking Company of Georgia for ninety-nine years at 7 per cent on its capital stock.[346] This immensely improved the connection of the East Tennessee with the North and West, did away with the competition of a parallel line, and afforded another outlet upon the Mississippi. Here, then, was the Richmond Terminal system in 1890. Three great north and south lines: one from Cincinnati through Birmingham to York, over the Erlanger system; one from Bristol through Rome to Selma, over the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia; and one from Alexandria and West Point through Danville, Charlotte, and Atlanta to Montgomery. One of these took business from Indiana, Illinois, and the North and Central West; one from Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the East; one from both West and East; and all three opened upon the Gulf over the Mobile & Birmingham to Mobile. In addition, three parallel east and west lines: from Chattanooga to Memphis, from Birmingham to Arkansas City, and from Meridian to Shreveport in Alabama; outlets on the Atlantic coast at Charleston, Port Royal, Savannah, and Brunswick; and dominance of the local traffic of the whole territory east of Alabama, south of Kentucky and Tennessee, and north of Florida. It was by all odds the leading system in the South. It had a mileage of 8558.5 as compared with the 2383.4 of the Louisville & Nashville, and gross earnings, exclusive of the Erlanger lines, of $41,361,095, or more than twice those of its greatest competitor. And yet, for all its size, the Terminal group was perilously near collapse. Its physical condition was poor and much of its mileage was unprofitable; its capitalization was tainted with dishonesty; and the legality of its recent combinations had not been tested in the courts. Let us quote from the results of an examination made by a well-known banking firm three years later.