The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-11 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND.

The directors state in their report that the re-
ceipts, compared with those of the corresponding
half-year of 1861, under the several heads, aro as
follow :—From coaching, £424,110, showing an
increase of £18,889 ; from minerals, £243,356, show-
ing a decrease of £7,355; from merchandize,
£455,195, showing an increase of £18,361 ; from
cattle, £18,360, showing an increase of £978; the
result of the whole being an increase of £30,873.
The balance available to dividend is £408,734, of
which £2,081 is brought from the account of the
previous half-year; and the directors are enabled
to recommend the declaration of the following divi-
dends (less income-tax), payable on the 2d of March
next:—£3 55. upon each £lOO Consolidated Stock;
£2 Ile. 3d. upon each £lOO Consolidated Birming-
ham and Derby Stock ; £3 upon each £lOO Conso-
lidated Preferential Stock; £3 ss. upon each £lOO
Consolidated Erewash Valley Stock ; £2 ss. upon
each £lOO Consolidated 41 per cent. Preferential
Stock; £2 upon each £lOO Leicester and Hitchin
Preferential Stock ; £2 ss. upon each £lOO Conso-
lidated Irredeemable 41 per cent, Preferential
Stock ; 2s. lid. upon each £6 4s. share, being half-
year on £2 145., and 75 days on £1 10s. per share,
at £6 lOs per cent. per annum, leaving a balance of
£4,186 for the current half-year. The remainder
of the £6 4s. shares left unallotted in the hands of
the company have been sold during the half-year,
and the premiums realised upon the sale, amount-
ing to £1,063, placed to the credit of the insurance
fund, which now amounts to £55,363. Mr. Kirt-
ley reports—" That the rolling stock is in good
working order, and that, during the half-year end-
ing the 31st of December, 1862, the mileage per-
formed by trains has been as follows—With pas-
senger trains, 2,106,959 miles; with goods and
mineral trains, 2,279,534 miles ; total, 5,086,493
miles ; which, compared with the corresponding
period of last year, show an increase with the
passenger trains of 274,485 miles, and with
goods and mineral trains of 236,005 ; total in-
crease, 510,690. The renewals of locomotive
stock for the half-year have been twelve engines,
13 carriages, 17 break-vans, 8 horse boxes, 4 car-
riage trucks, and 138 waggons, the entire cost of
which has been charged to revenue." The works of
the Rowsley and Buxton line have progressed to
the satisfaction of the engineer ; the tunnels and
other heavy portions are well advanced, and the
directors expect that the line will be ready for traffic
on the first of June next. The contract for the
Whitacre and Nuneaton line was let in November
last, and the works have been commenced ; the
period for completion stipulated in the contract is
the Ist of July, 1864. A contract 'for the construc-
tion of the Ashchurch & Evesham Railway has also
been let, and the directors expect the line will be
completed in the course of the present year. After
mature deliberation the directors have arrived at the
conclusion that it is now necessary to provide an
independent access for the great and rapidly increas-
ing traffic to and from the metropolis. The occupa-
tion for this purpose of the district lying between
the Great Northern and London and North Western
Railways, by an extension of the Midland Railway,
will at the same time be attended with much local
as well as general public convenience. The neces-
sary steps have accordingly been taken for promot-
ing a bill in the present session of Parliament to
enable the company to construct a railway from
Bedford, by way of Ampthill, Luton, and St. Albans
to London. The length of railway and branches
to bo made is 511 miles, and the estimates cost
£1,750,000. The directors have, with the assent of
the directors of the Bristol and Exeter Railway
Company, introduced a bill to effect a junction be-
tween the Bristol and Birmingham line and that of
the Bristol and Exeter Railway in the city of
Bristol, and also to enter into agreements with that
company to lay down additional lines of railway on
the narrow gauge between the point of junction and
the passenger and goods stations of the Bristol and
Exeter Railway Company at Bristol, and for the
use of those stations by the Midland Company.
The estimated cost of the line and works is £15,000.
The directors have also introduced a bill for en-
abling the Midland Railway Company to construct
a branch to connect the town of Barnsley, and
the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway
at Barnsley, with the Midland Railway near the
Cudworth Station. It is about 41 miles in length,
and the estimated cost £78,278 ; also a branch to
connect the town of Wirksworth and the Cromford,
and High Peak Railway with the Midland Railway
at Duffield. Its length will be 91 miles, and the
estimated cost £59,636. A line from Staveley to
the Doe Lea Valley ; length about 51 miles ; esti-
mated cost £27,990. This branch will connect the
Midland Railway with a very large and valuable
coalfield for which the proprietors are desirous to find
an outlet. The directors believe it will bring a con-
siderable increase of traffic to the main line, and
prove in other respects advantageous to the company.
The directors are also the promoters of a bill, jointly
with the Furness Railway Company, for the con-
struction of a railway to be called the " Furness and
Midland Railway," for the purpose of connecting
the coast railways of Cumberland and Westmore-
land and the Lake District, with the Midland Rail-
way, by a line commencing at Carnforth and termi-
nating at or near Wennington, on the Little North
Western Railway. The line is about 10 miles in
length, and the estimated cost £150,000, of which
the Midland Company is to contribute one-half. The
new railways and works authorised by Parliament
in the sessions of 1861 and 1862 having been com-
menced, it has now become necessary to raise capi-
tal under the provisions of the following Acts of Par-
liament, or some of them—namely, the Midland
Railway (New Lines) Act, 1861, £390,000; Addi-
tional Powers Act, 1861, £100,000; the Otley and
Ilkley Extension Act, 1861, £150,000: the Rowsley
and Buxton Extension Act, 1862, £380,000 ; the Ad-
ditional Powers Acts, 1862, £120,000. The shares
to be created under the Acts of 1861 will be of £5
each, and those under the Acts of 1862 of £4 each,
and such shares are to be entitled to a preferential
dividend at the rate of £5 per centum per annum,
payable half-yearly, the first payment to be for the
half-year ending the 31st of December, 1865, and
to be paid with the dividends of the ordinary stock
of the company.